LITR 4632: Literature of the Future

Student Future-Visions Presentation 2009

James Larson

15 June

   Rosemary's Baby

In Rosemary's Baby, the Apocalypse is occurring. In contradiction to The Revelation of John, there is not a massive destruction of the Earth. It ends with the noises of a city: traffic, people mumbling, and construction. The above average heat is the only physical (worldly) implication that the worst has happened. An earlier line in the book is "People are actually dying in this heat," which is an actual occurrence in the real world. The end of the world is (in the book) a slow process without the quick destruction. Everyday life goes on normally with a slow destruction.

     The book was published in 1967 when the world was in turmoil (racial tensions, Viet Nam). As a child (in the early 1980's), I was intrigued by the story because a local church (in Nebraska) had preached that the events had actually happened. There had been a global conspiracy set in place. I thought  about this story last week while reading The Revelation of John. I had recently read a play by Ira Levin (Deathtrap) and his work was (and still is) on my mind. In the Revelation of John, only God knows when the Earth will end. Rosemary's Baby contradicts it here because the neighbors (along with her husband) conspire to kill God. Why does God allow this to happen?

     Tying it To the Parable of the Sower, "God is change." is a theme of the story. The cult does not mold God into what they want God to be. Rather, they control God and ultimately commit murder. They have a power, which is another common theme. Humans have a power to change God and God having a power to possibly allow or prohibit that change.