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(2015
midterm assignment) Model Student Midterm answers 2015 (Index) Essay 1: Compare, contrast, and evaluate Narratives of the Future |
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Karin Cooper
6/25/15
The Alternative Evolution of the Apocalypse
There are three types of narratives that work as a sort of category that
one can put science fiction into. These three categories are not mutually
exclusive. These narratives are alternative, evolution and apocalyptic. Saying
that a work of science fiction is in one of these categories does not limit it,
it simply helps the reader focus in on certain features of the individual story.
These categories are more often combined than not. Criss-crossing across each
other in stories, these narratives sometimes leave the reader with strong
arguments as to why the story should be categorized in all three narratives. In
contrast some works of science fiction plant themselves firmly in one narrative
or another. In this essay we will look at all three of the narratives, some of
the things that make them unique from one another, and which stories have a home
in each narrative.
The apocalyptic narrative is one which many authors never tire of
telling. The apocalyptic narrative finds its base in religion, and has a very
definite beginning and end. When the ending that is predicted in this narrative
will come to pass can be confirmed nor denied by no one. The
Book of Revelation by John is the
classic work of Apocalyptic literature giving the reader a prediction of the end
of the word that is imminent yet undefined. It describes what indeed will happen
when the world ends, and what God will do, as well as what the devil will
do. Revelations is rich with
detail, and actually follows the romance narrative including elements of the
sublime, Jesus Christ as the hero, and transcendence to a better place. Unlike
the other two narratives there is a very specific beginning and end in the
apocalypse narrative, this is called a linear time line. Aside from
Revelations, another text that it can
be argued has elements of the apocalyptic narrative is
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.
The Time Machine indicates that the
world is coming to an end when in the deep future the time traveler tells us:
"All the sounds of man, the bleating of sheep, the cries of birds, the hum of
insects, the stir that makes the background of our lives—all that was over"
(Wells). Wells describes a sort of apocalypse by saying everything we know was
over. As in Revelation,
Time Machine deals with the ending of
the world, and what leads up to it.
The Time Machine is actually
an example of a work with pieces of all three narratives of the future, the next
one we will be discussing is the evolution narrative. The evolution narrative
looks at time as a more cyclical time line, rather than the linear of the
apocalyptic, or any other shape that the alternative might take. The
Time Machine shows us the evolution
narrative, by showing us how people evolve in the future. This gives the reader
the potential to see that life continues even when it seems the world as we know
it has already come to an end. It shows us the potential for continuing life
past the end of what we know as the world, when the dark thing comes out of the
water, near the end of the book. Time
Machine shows the reader that even after everything else familiar is gone,
the possibility of life, which is the unifying element in all of us, will
continue to survive. Time Machine
does not hold the monopoly on the evolution narrative. The evolution narrative
also shows up in The Parable of the Sower
by Octavia Butler. The way you see it in
Parable is how out of the mass
destruction surrounding Lauren in the
Parable she brings new life in the Earthseed community which she starts. It
is very much working within the bounds of the evolution narrative because while
the community she starts has similarities to the one she came from, it does have
changes that make it more able to survive in the new environment in which it was
founded. Parable is a wonderful
example of survival of the fittest. Survival of the fittest, and the evolution
narrative are also found in "Stone Lives" by Paul Di Filipo. The only reason
that the bungle where Stone comes from even exists is because the large
corporations keep fighting to secure their place on top, the story exemplifies
the evolution narrative in action. Also when Alice Citrine passes her life's
work on to Stone it simulates evolution, and the cyclical way that the evolution
narrative treats time.
While the evolution narrative has a cyclical shape in time, and the
apocalyptic narrative has a linear time line, the alternative narrative does not
have one specific shape that it fits into. The Alternative narrative can use
time lines that are shaped like tree branches, or a forked road, or something
else entirely. There is not one specific time line that you can say defines all
of the alternative narrative. When you look at alternative narrative time lines
you can find time travel, sex change, and multiple universes.
There is a wide variety of subject matter found in the alternative
narrative. In "Better be Ready 'bout Half Past Eight", the character Zach
decides to get a sex change. This sex change is an example of an alternative
narrative. Zach starts the story on one path in his life and then his story
branches off away from the version that people expected his life to take.
Time Machine as previously mentioned
makes use of the alternative narrative with its use of time travel. Time travel
is definitely in the alternative category, creating a branch, or path that would
not have been possible without it. The third text I would like to point out with
features of the alternative narrative is "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson.
Now I can see arguments to place this in the evolution narrative, I want to
point out its alternative narrative features, and reiterate to the reader that
these two narratives are not mutually exclusive. "Bears" is alternative because
it is almost a reverse evolution. The narrator feels that people are losing
basic skills that they once had because of the dependence on technology, this is
an example of devolving. The narrator wants to make sure is nephew Wallace Jr.
is not disadvantaged by not knowing important life skills, such as changing a
tire: "On Thursday, I kept Wallace Jr. home from school and showed him how to do
this until he got it right" (Bisson 22). This is not the only place where it
seems that humans are less evolved than bears, it seems to be a recurring theme
throughout the story. This fits the alternative narrative because it is not the
natural evolutionary cycle which sees humans as being the best of what evolution
has to offer, it shows a slightly different version of how evolution could work.
The apocalyptic, evolution, and alternative narratives, are tools used in
literature of the future to talk about ideas in our world that do not have many
other venues in common conversation. The apocalyptic narrative with use of the
linear time line is one that can be found in use in the Bible, and any texts
based in Judea-Christian denominations, but is not limited to those stories. The
evolutionary narrative is based in the scientific theory that is commonly
accepted, and taught in schools. The alternative narrative is somewhat a catch
all for the things that do not fit into the other two categories. Categorizing a
work of literature does not limit the work, it is merely a tool for thought, and
discussion, so that many people can have have discussions about the the things
in these works of literature that make them think. As taught in class,
literature of the future is the literature of ideas. The literature of ideas
works in minds to intrigue, and pique the interest of the reader about things
that the reader would not have taken the time to think of or discuss. Even
though science fiction can quickly become outdated, the genre will never just
fizzle out because people will always wonder, and imagine what is going to
happen next.
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