A Review and Commentary on Religion and How it is Utilized in the Sci-fi/Fantasy Genre By: Chris Hennelly

Science Fiction and Fantasy is a large and diverse genre. The setting can be anything from a world identical to ours with the exception of one mysterious event to an entirely fictitious world filled with names and words designed to tie your tongue in knots. This genre roots itself in belief, of course crazy sentient robots are not real (yet) and neither do people disappear into thin air, but when we visit these worlds we suspend those notions and experience what the author intended, the good ones are the ones that can sound so crazy on paper and yet through characters, details, events relate to us on a deep level. There is not a single society or culture that has not developed a system of shared beliefs, no matter how ramshackle, everyone has grappled with the questions of “why are we here?,” “how did we get here?,” This leads to an interesting facet of storytelling and world building in sci-fi/fantasy, religion.

Any fictitious world created, the good ones at least, have a core of truth to them. Using religion an author is able to create a new layer that bleeds into everything from the cultures, characters, and motivations. Through the semester we have read books as well as found television shows that utilize religion especially to commentate on our own religious institutions and how they affect our society, solidify the fictitious worlds and peoples created, and finally there are works that address faith and belief head on and experiment with scenarios where that is put to the test.

Regarding usage of religion that challenges our institutions today, at the beginning of the semester we read Ursula K. Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness. This novel puts us into the backseat of Genly Ai, an explorer sent from a futuristic society based on scientific knowledge and trade advancement. He is sent to a world that has yet to recieve outside influence. Here we are introduced to a society crafted by Le Guin for the purposes of her message and story. From being genderless, to the harsh conditions that the people are accustomed too we immediately identify the different circumstances these people are under, however we also discover their religion. The two competing religions that belong to the leading country’s are the Yomeshta and the Handarrata which have a loose correlation with western and eastern ideologies. The Yomeshta seek fulfillment in light and the one path over the other lesser one, much how western religions focus more on good vs. evil. The Handarrata on the other hand take after more eastern sense of balance between two forces, both light and dark.

When put into the context of the two countries that hold these religions we see that Ogoryen (Yomeshta) seemingly strive to be good and yet as Genly Ai discovers people still languish hidden in the dark. We first see it when the town Genly is staying in is attacked and the government steps in to evacuate. Those refugees without papers are immediately stuffed into a dark room and left there. In the seemingly more advanced and transcendent Orgoryen, we discover that for all the talk of the light, they are no different from anyone else and are capable of evil, and in this case the willful ignoring of this other half has caused a society where atrocious things happen being the scenes throughout the book. On themes that have ties to religion in the book there is the idea of the one (light) and the other (dark). While the Handarrata embrace both and welcome Genly, conversely the Orgoryen pose the greatest threat to him as they fear what the other has to offer. I felt that this tied in nicely with ideas presented by the relgious similarites with our world. Many religions today that preach of a more righteous path and of love above evil find themselves susceptible to sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and other version of hate for the other.

There were also novels that dealt with religious ideologies getting out of control and creating a dystopic scenarios. The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood is a good example of this. In an alternate timeline to ours now, America had been struck with some sort of virus that rendered us infertile. The resulting chaos was only tempered by a rising radical religious group who took power. The result was a world centered around the commoditization of women’s bodies, traditional values taken to extremes as doctors are hung and infertile women are put into labor camps. Atwood intended her story to be told as speculative fiction, coming up with a premise being wild and yet all it took was an extrapolation of behaviors and ideas that currently reside in our religious make up. This books message was to show a glimpse of a world where a religion had taken over completely like they did in the past and still do in some places today, as well as show how fast radicalized beliefs can warp a society.

Another dystopic scenario would be in Game of Thrones. The Seven of the Sept a religion very similar to that of Christianity, was given rights to militarize during a civil war that was tearing apart the land. While this seemed an innocuous decision at the time the resulting movement meant to keep peace turned wild as masses of poor and unsettled flocked to the religion. The displacement of peoples coupled with the unhappiness with the ruling family led to the militarize church taking over and began to ‘cleanse’ the capitol of sin, by first beating it out of its denizens. While their intent was to help save the people the radicalized nature of their efforts led to a frightening result, as the people were forced into submission.

In terms of world building the religions are often used to give us insight on the groups of peoples we come across in the story. Many times the people motivations, origins, and demeanor have correlation with the types of religious practice we are shown. A perfect example of this would be the set of religions crafted for Game of Thrones. They are some of the most detailed and well thought out, as George RR Martin tackles and entire world not just a single country or two competing religions. In the series there are dozens of religions alluded too, and quite a handful of them are heavily relevant to the story and deeply rooted in the universes mythos.

The first one the reader comes across is that of the Old Gods. This religion takes on influence from druidic cults and is very much about communion with nature and greater forces. The main continent we find the story taking place on, Westeros, has the northern half largely un-swayed from this old belief system as the series takes place much after its prime after it was largely eradicated in the southern part of the continent. This religion does not rely on a particular deity or group of them, rather it is based on things such as the woods, animals, and ancestors. It also is heavily based in ritual sacrifice and mysticism and it speaks to their steadfast sense of tradition as well as their primal nature. The parallel to this is the Seven of the Sept a much more Christian influenced religion that was forced upon the people of the south thousands of years ago, not unlike activity shown by the Roman Catholics during the crusades. These two cultures end up in civil war with one another, while there are many reasons in between that have caused this the difference in their ideologies certainly had a hand in it. In fact understanding these religions explains much of events in season 1. As Ned Stark Lord of the North and poster boy for the Old God practices, who would embrace treason, a necessary evil, in order to do what was right and save his friend from the treachery of the Lannisters. While Cersei and Jaime under the guise of faithful southerners plotted the kings murder behind his back while both practicing adultery and incest in the dark.

There is also an idea of religion clueing us in on the environment that shaped these societies. Here as well as Left Hand  share tropes of a more rugged colder environment producing people who place more stock in ancestors as well as a willingness to accept the darker parts of human nature. One could guess that due to the terrible conditions faced the peoples view of their world and one created by an god to be more gray and crueler than others believe, and a need to rely on those who came before to learn to survive. Both novels also include a counter to this in the form of a more moderate-climated culture. While they look to contain more progressive people each case shows them to be just as flawed. I feel that this lesson is important as in both cases it shows that something as simple as the weather was able to pit people against one another and create a divide that would not have been present otherwise.

Also within the Game of Thrones universe are a few minor societies who’s religions are closely tied to ways of life and how the cultures came to be established. While our character interaction with them is smaller their religion is able to flesh out their cultures and this influences our perception of the world as living and breathing. The first being the Dothraki, a nomadic people who reside in great plains. Their belief system is strictly tied to their use of horse as a means of survival, including travel and hunting. The connection between a man and his horse is seen as sacred, and influences funeral practices as they are burned on a pyre together.

It is one of the only religions that discusses an afterlife seeing it as a eternal ride through the stars with no mention of an worse fate to be had from immoral action. I found this interesting as this seems to lead to a largely amoral culture outside of loyalty to your leader (Khal) and to your own horse. The Dothraki prove themselves the most savage culture in Essos as they takes slaves, rape, and pillage all over the east. The slave culture being especially prevalent as any man without a horse is seen as less of one, and easily dissociated to the level of property.

Another note worthy of mention is that the very thing that makes them so dangerous is also the one holding them back from coming to conflict with our protagonists. The narrow sea that separates the two people is easy enough to cross by boat, however the religions reliance on horses has strongly forbidden any contact with water not drinkable by the animal (salt water), and any travel where a horse is unable.

The second minor religion to discuss would be that of the Many Faced God. This religion centers around only one idea, death. They recognize each and every god worshipped by other cultures around the world and all they see when looking at the different, grand, sometimes garish statues or altars is death in its many forms. The main followers of this religion are later found out to be centered on an guild of assassins. The guild as well as the religion grew hand in hand as a service offered to slaves who were ready to lay down and depart. Those who prayed to death would receive his gift and so on. The following eventually grew big enough to topple smaller slave colonies and the escaped slaves founded a new home in Bravos, where the guild operates out of still. Another parallel with Left Hand would be to the Hanndarata and their belief of death being the one true certainty in life, which matches nicely with “Valar Morghulis” (all men must die), a similar ideal and yet due to circumstance set upon the slaves they took an active role and their beliefs delivering the dead themselves.

Fiction allow us to examine things not possible to our world. Often the story is used to explore the unknown or unexplainable especially in Science fiction and fantasy novels. While it may be magic or mysticism like in Game of Thrones or Left Hand of Darkness, it could also simply be an occurrence that is left a mystery like in The Leftovers or Children of Men. With so many strides in science we have begun to answer many questions that we once looked to the church for guidance on. Science fiction allows for a return to a time when mysteries and miracles still surrounded us, as well as speculating what would happen if we had to confront such a mystery with all we know now.

In the Left Hand of Darkness we are on a journey with Genly Ai, a member of a very advanced community one who’s religion is more understated or in some cases eclipsed by the wealth of knowledge gathered from the galaxy. However we come to this one planet with a society far less advanced from a scientific viewpoint and yet we discover a mystery (miracle) in the form of foretelling. The very notion of actually casting out into the future for answers is seen as ludicrous to Genly Ai, however we are both swayed when witnessing the ritual firsthand. One of the messages that this scene gives us that for all our advancements we make in science there still is more unexplained to us out in the universe.

Game of Thrones also has a commentary on mysticism and belief. While currently in the timeline magic and sorcery are regarded as dead and gone at best, or in some cases complete mythical fantasy, by the people of Westeros. While each of the religious factions have rituals based in magical practice even the believers have accepted that the time for magic is passed. However as the story begins to unfold the readers realize that the people are on a brink of a resurgence. Dragons are hatching, people are being resurrected, and zombies are marching. This lull in magic sets up the public in Westeros to parallel us well in terms of being just as surprised and rocked as we would be seeing such impossibilities occur in front of them.

Finally there are other works that deal with altering the world we live in today with something unexplainable and letting things unfold. The first being The Leftovers, where in an event very similar to that of the biblical rapture occurs, and with it takes 2 million people away into thin air. The world we are presented with after isn’t terribly altered, at least not directly due to the disappearance of the people. Plagues, natural disasters, war have all taken from the population, 2 million spread our amongst the world sound almost like it could be overlooked in the grand scheme. In the show life has gone on, but everyone now has had their beliefs shaken. I found this particularly interesting because even though the Bible specifically mentions the rapture, many are drawn away from Christian, instead many find cults or simply stop believing altogether. It’s possible that truly committing to the belief could be scary to us now considering it more real than ever, and especially when subscribing to the rapture theory means banking on things only getting worse (ie the apocalypse). There also is the aspect of guilt. If God has taken who wants from the bunch what does that mean for the people who are left. It would make sense that many would abandon a church that preaches about making it into heaven even though doors were already opened and closed. This idea is represented in the show by the Preacher Matt, who tries desperately to prove that those who departed were no better than anyone else and in some cases were terrible sinners. However this still pales in comparison to the real mystery of the disappearances themselves.

The novel Children of Men by P.D. James also drops the reader into a world that has been blown of course by some event. In this situations the entire human population has lost the ability to procreate all at once. The book picks up a generation after this occurrence in leaving us in a world without children. This forces us to examine to motivations behind our religious practices. We read in the novel that many people have abandoned faith completely, many resort to suicide, and others simply are waiting out for the end. The idea of children and their involvement in religious motivation interested me. The idea of passing on something of our society to each generation as a way of living, acting, and believing but if that chain were to be broken would we continue practicing till the end. The novel also uses tons of religious imagery especially surrounding the one remaining pregnant girl who serves as hope between man and religion going forward. We see as our protagonist Faron goes from reminiscent but lacking faith to full believer after his travels with Julian, sending a message about how hope can be rekindled and religion found again.

There is an interesting parallel with Children of Men and Handmaids Tale. Both deal with a sudden infertility event and both utilize religious elements. However, I feel that their messages towards religious are counter to one another, Atwood using this speculative world to warn us of the dangers of religious belief and its ability to repress and control if allowed to run rampant. While Children of Men shows us a society that has lost all faith and hope, and takes us on a journey of regaining these virtues for the better.

In conclusion, religion is a cornerstone of our culture and life. In all of the works religion is utilized to deepen the world created and presented to the reader (or watcher). While some may integrate it with the intention of sending a message or if it simply makes for good storytelling to include that kind of depth, it is an important part of science fiction and fantasy works.

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The Black Mirror Episode “White Bear” is by far the best in the series. The anthology series has already built a reputation for wacky and horrible scenarios by the time the viewer arrives at season two, and the beginning of the episode is set up to meet this expectation. Our dependence on cell phones has come back and bitten us on the ass when someone uploads a virus controlling anyone looking at a screen, at least that is what many of the supporting characters lead us to believe. But as we follow our forgetful lead through to the end of the day we discover along with her and to both our horror the truth behind this snapshot of a world gone wrong. This is Black Mirrors strongest delivery of its message. By putting us in the passenger seat and letting us experience a day in the life of our main character we see the extent to which the justice system in this place has been perverted.

Black mirror enjoys taking a aspect of our current day society that is somewhat benign as of now and extrapolating it until we can see the dangerous paths these aspects create. I feel that the aspect that this episode targets is much more deep then some of the others. Surface level we can see the commentary on bystander effect, and the new fad of living and experiencing through screens, however after the big reveal we are left with something that is much more intertwined with human nature. The fact that we are all not that different. We are all capable of terrible things and instead of realizing this in ourselves we tend to dehumanize those of us who have done wrong as a way of distancing ourselves. The world shown in this episode has taken this to extreme and are placing their guilty under horrid conditions. This is why the decision to keep the truth of our main characters crimes ambiguous until the end frames its message so clearly. By rooting the character in the protagonists position and placing us in her point of view the show humanizes her and by the end we are confronting this aspect of society within ourselves. We are all uncomfortable and asking to what extent she deserves this, how different could she have been from one of us. This is where I believe Black Mirror has sent its most poignant message and it is the reason behind why it is the episode I recommend to others.

The last two novels that we covering class were Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood and Children of Men by P.D. James. Both feature worlds where infertility as arisen in the human population, and with science totally baffled by this development, governments have risen to power in response. Similarities include oppressive actions taken against the people in the form of labor camps used for undesirables, class systems, and both governments employ a secret police to deal with dissension. However, I believe that religion is one of the critical points where the two novels have opposing messages on.

This sharp contrast begins at the opening of both books where religions place in society is determined. Initially we see that Gilead the society in Handmaids tale has been entirely developed around a hyper traditional religion that has formed in the wake of this problems. The Britain presented by the Children of Men on the other hand as seen a drastic decrease in church goers as well as a general loss of faith and hope among the community. Over the course of each book the theme of religion in these two communities is flipped. In Gilead we slowly learn through the experiences of Offred that the men at the top of this government do not hold themselves to the standards they enforce through their religion. This can be seen clearing in the existence of Jezebels a secret whore house frequented by important male officials, and in much of the Commanders actions. Later in the historical notes we see that much of the religious propaganda and doctrine was designed purely to subjugate the women in society and create a hold over the people.

Children of Men while initially pointing to a general apathy when it came to religion, is loaded with symbolism of biblical figures as well as a parallel to the second coming in the form of Julian’s son. Throughout the story we see a revitalization of faith especially in Theo as he grows to care for Julian and come to terms with her fervent belief. In the end we are presented with hope for a future of man and in ways we see the people’s faith restored as the leaders of the government come to see the new baby at the manger.

The messages of these two books move in nearly opposite trajectories on this matter. Atwood using this speculative world to warn us of the dangers of religious belief and its ability to repress and control if allowed to run rampant. While Children of Men shows us a society that has lost all faith and hope, and takes us on a journey of regaining these virtues for the better. Hopefully there is a sweet spot between a world devoid of faith, and another radicalized one. Where we won’t encounter any such oppressive governments.

Hey everybody, this past week we wrapped up Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood. I wanted to dedicate this blog to something I notice over the course of the book. While this was a society where men have subjugated and commoditized women, most the actions that directly repress our female characters are perpetrated by other females.

There were multiple systems within the Gilean society that led me to this observation. First was a web of surveillance and informing, including the Aunts as well as each Maid being paired off with a partner. This made it so women were inadvertently responsible for their own day to day oppression, especially of free speech as Offred experiences. Another instance of this was the direct slut shaming at the Red Center we saw when Janine recounted her horrible rape story. Even Offred who despises her cannot bring herself to feel comfortable berating and humiliating her in such away. Finally the Wives also have control of the household including discipline over the Martha’s as well as the Maids. By separating these classes among the female population(wives, marthas, maids, econowives, unwomen) these classification create system where women resent each other, dividing themselves even further.

I think that this was included to highlight the issue of women impeding progress in their own equal rights with men or in the case of the book their own genders sovereignty from men. When researching this further, I found that the second wave of feminism, which took place the decades leading up to the writing and publication of this book, ultimately failed to past their flagship legislation the Equal Rights Amendment due to infighting and anti-feminist sentiment from other women. I also found that a conflict soon after took place within the movement over the topic of sexuality, all of which would have taken place around the time of this books writing. With this in mind I believe that Atwood used her speculative fiction to show women a world where feminist movements ultimately fail, and women are left vulnerable to old beliefs that place restrictions on women’s sexuality as well as their own agency.

Hey guys this is the link to are over sized first podcast.

-Andrew, Walter, Chris

So I just finished The Left Hand of Darkness yesterday, and gave myself the night to sleep on it. The more and more I think about it, to me it seems that this story is centered around Estraven and his character. I’ll go into my reasons further down below but to start I would like to reference the ending. We see that Genly takes the journal that Estraven has written in (and has at times narrated events to us) to the land of Estre where as Estraven explained previously that it would be interred with other information regarding Estraven’s life to be available to his son. Now looking back at the story we see that it has all been Genly’s recollection of events, we know this by certain passages alluding to the future “they were experts at starving themselves as I would come to know,” as if he’s telling his story (“I would very much like to hear that” -Lord of Estre pg. 324). This story is also supplemented with passages from Estraven’s journal which is in Genly’s possession but never Estraven’s direct recollection of events.

The one piece that I found strange are the tiny anecdotes throughout the book gathered from history and other sources. However, I think that these tales were compiled by Genly and others because they are massively important in understanding Estraven’s past, motives, and character. There were two specifically that had the most impact.

First we have the story of incest between two brothers. I would say this is the most important one because it taps something that the book only alludes to and that is that Estraven was required to kemmer with his brother Arek and produce a son (who we see at the end with the name Harth meaning it was Estraven’s son of the flesh, and he only ever sired sons with Ashe), we also get hints that their relationship was much more and they indeed tried to stay together, such as Genly’s (his new love) voice in mind speak was in “truth” the voice of Arek to Estraven (while on the ice much like the story), Estraven also mentions that he was promised to another before meeting Ashe and therefore cheapened their bond, it would also explain why Estraven was exiled from Handarratta in mirror of the story.

The second was the story of Estraven the Traitor (that one was handed to us), I like many of us was upset with the ambiguity of the Kings hedging answer when asked to lift the exile, and sadly it probably never will be as this story shows us the original Estraven betrayed his people by loving Therem Stok (both namesakes of our Estraven) however in doing so he saved his people and brought peace. He like our Estraven will always be remembered as a traitor.

Finally, while Genly and Estraven are on the Ice, Estraven reveals through a poem that “the left hand of darkness is light.” I believe Estraven to be the Left Hand of Darkness that this book is named after. Throughout the story he has done things that his people find most abhorrent. He holds on to an incestuous relationship with his brother, he is taken for a traitor and exiled, he disregards shifgrethor to warn/advise Genly, and also steals to keep him alive. I would also go so far as to add that he commits suicide at the border. Estraven showed how well he understood the political machinations of his world and knowing how desperate Tibe wanted him dead, he willing sacrificed himself to eliminate the threat to Genly’s mission (Tibe only resigned once he got word of his death). Suicide under any circumstance being the end all be all sin for Gethenians.  However, all of these things so regarded as wrong and left and dark by his people were done to light their way into the new age within the Ekumen.