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Science Fictions (Themes (Paranoia # (Fear of alien invasion (Fear can…
Science Fictions
Themes
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Environmental
In The Word For World Is Forrest the forrest is everything to the Athsheans, and the humans come in to destroy and take all of it. Environmentalism was at the forefront of debates at the time this book was written. Deforestation remains an issue today, and the conflicts portrayed in this novel show how Science Fiction can try to teach us something.
Technological
There can also be moral dilemas when it comes to technology like in Do Androids Dream. Specifically the moment when Rick is thinking about Luba Luft and her talent as a singer, he questions why they have to kill her. The moral dilema here is that it might not be ok to just destroy something that resembles human consciousness.
Most importantly, there must be a moral and ethical debate of how certain technologies will be used before they are put into circulation because it's not right to manipulate and control people through technologies they don't fully understand.
Human Rights
Never Let Me Go deals with some heavy ethical issues when it comes to human rights. It creates a world where clones are grown and given a form of life for the purpose of harvesting organs. The book deal with the debate of whether or not clones should be treated like humans; all the while showing us that they have souls and emotions and desires just like us. The novel is a tear jerker because of the universally accepted unjust practices of the world.
Fear of alien invasion
In Arrival, the fear of an alien attack is what leads to the death Costello as well as the beginnings of a world war with every nation for themselves.
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During the Cold War and the space race, everyone looked to the sky in fear of what was to come. These fears are what fueled the Sci-Fi genre during this era.
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Science Fiction draws on the fear of the masses to generate imaginary, yet strangely relatable content. #
Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" is set in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust where all that remains is technology and a few wasting away creatures. It is irony fueled by fear of nuclear war that created this image. It is a snapshot of how our creations will lead to our destruction, and how flawed the human race really is.
Identity
Ex Machina takes paranoia to a whole new level linking technology and identity. In this film Caleb has his mind blown by the technology he witnesses and is forced to question his own identity and reality because of it. He doesn't trust whether or not he's real or a robot because he learns that everything he knows could be fabricated. So he goes to the extreme of cutting open his body to clarify his identity as a human. #
The movie Her takes the concept of identity and almost eliminates it entirely. What I mean by this is that the film creates a world in which everything relevant in ones life is accessible at all times via a small tablet and an ear piece. Theodore's identity is summed up by answering a few simple questions while setting up his operating system. From that point on, the OS takes over and makes him who he is. He goes on dates, advances in his career by publishing a book, and even falls in love all due to the OS. It gets to a point where he so invested in the identity created for him, that when Samantha leaves he is lost and unsure of who he is or what his purpose is.
In Story of Your Life and Arrival, the language Louise learns alters the way she thinks and gives her the overwhelming ability to be present in all time at once. This then shapes her identity, and makes her realize who she is and who she wants to be, which leads her to make the decision to have a child and be a mother even though she know her child is going to die.
Story of Your Life and Do Androids Dream among other texts question our autonomy. They question whether or not we have free will, which is something that is effected by all elements of the science fiction genre and near impossible to answer.
Race
Slavery
In Kindred, Dana is confronted with the actual institution of slavery when she falls through time, and learns what it would have been like to be a black woman in the US during the early 1800s.
The system put in place on the colonies in Do Androids Dream is representative of the institution of slavery, and the androids deal with similar dilemas and choices to African American slaves.
Religion
In Station Eleven, religion plays a very important role in post-apocalyptic society. The Prophet shows up and seizes the opportunity to take control of the people by creating a religion and giving the people something to believe in when all else is lost.
Religion provides structure and purpose which people sometimes need more than anything. This is why religion has been used so often in the past and in fiction to manipulate the masses. Even if the people don't like what a religion says, they will most likely be unquestioningly obedient. #
In Do Androids Dream, Mercerism has become the one true religion of the people and has turned prayer into what can be assumed a drug induced euphoria that has made the masses addicted to its presence. People like Rick Deckard who are skeptical, are inevitably sucked into the vortex that is religion.
Language/Communication
In both Story of Your Life and Arrival language is used to remove the othering factors of interactions between two races. In this way language and communication represent universal forms of peace, and are necessary for a functioning community, society, or world.
In The Word For World Is Forrest, the importance of language is even evident in the title. The play with language in this novel deals with the potential consequences that could occur if there is a lack of effort to learn. Just because certain cultures are different doesn't mean they aren't equal. (Anthropological approach)
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Gender
In Science Fiction technology tends to be sexualized and, to use the term of the semester, there are "sexy lady robots" everywhere in sci-fi. This is most prevalent in Battlestar Galactica when a hot blonde Cylon uses her sexuality to quite literally exterminate the human race. However, we also see this trope appear in Do Androids Dream in the form of Rachel, as well as in the movie Her where the whole plot is centered around the main character falling in love with an operating system that has a sexy female voice (Scarlett Johansson).
There is an obsession with masculinity in The Word For World Is Forrest. LeGuin creates this overtly masculine society hooked on the taming of the Athshean planet and the taming of women. She links this with the concept of Imperialism and "the white man's burden" to make a statement about the skewed social norms in the world during the time of the Vietnam War.
Setting
In the case of most Sci-fi texts, we can have a futuristic setting. This setting provides the most room for creation and artistic freedom.
The genre can be set in the present with slight alterations to daily life, or like the Walking Dead where we witness the start of an apocalypse.
Significance
The setting of a science fiction text is significant because it provides a backdrop for the message the author is trying to send. When using the past it is possible to use events like wars and mistakes we've made to enlighten the reader/viewer, and hopefully teach them about the present. Similarly using the future provides an avenue for speculation about current trends in the world. These methods are very relatable for the texts' audience and allow for connections to made in an effective and approachable way.
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Science Fiction texts typically come with a lesson. It's up to the reader/viewer to receive the message and reflect on its meaning.
Some novels can be heavy handed like The Word For World Is Forrest. In this novel the messages are very clear. It is clearly an allegory for and indictment of the Vietnam War, as well as a statement against practices that are harmful to the environment. And all of this makes sense given the societal context during the time is was written.
Others can be less obvious like Do Androids Dream. This message is much less obvious, and it takes some reading between the lines to realize that Dick is arguing against the rapid innovation of technology. Humanity is a fragile thing and we are putting it at risk with our current trend of tech dependency.
Dystopia vs Utopia
H.G. Wells' The Time Machine is a great example.The future world at first appears to be a utopia with the Eloi living in harmony and peace. However, upon closer examination it is discovered that no, the Eloi are actually provided this seemingly carefree lifestyle by the Morlacks so that the latter has a continual food supply and can survive underground. This world becomes a clear dystopia and was brought on by the evolution of two classes to their respective extremes.
Utopia: is a place where everything is perfect. Dystopia: is a place that often seems like a utopia at first glance, but is actually the opposite.
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Sci-fi poetry is a great way to reflect on the genre and experiment with its different meanings as seen in the poems by Tracy K. Smith, Lisel Mueller, and Les Murray.
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