Give Me Children, Or Else I Die

Why Biological Children Are Important in A World with Infertility

Introduction

As Ursula K Le Guin said in the introduction to her novel The Left Hand of Darkness “The science fiction writer is supposed to take a trend or phenomenon of the here-and-now, purify and intensify it for dramatic effect, and extend it into the future” (Le Guin I). Infertility is something that affects not just the here and now but the lives of almost anyone who has ever lived. Offspring is a necessity to all life and many animals are willing to die in order to procreate, for example, male preying mantises risk being cannibalised by the females during the mating ritual (Lawrence 569-583). To paraphrase the film Lucy (Lucy), life has only one purpose, gaining time. When the habitat is favourable, the human race as well as many other animals, choose to reproduce. This allows knowledge and essential information to continue on through generations. Children provide a vital way to continue the progress of the species even after death; it is this reason that causes infertility, particularly mass fertility, to be a large presence, not just in speculative fiction but in all genres of literature.

Although it is clear why infertility as a whole is an issue that is addressed in culture and particularly in speculative works, one element of this that seems to reoccur frequently in works of science fiction is the idea that children, alone, are not fully satisfactory in a world where infertility is a problem; the children must be biological descendants or, at least in some way, belong to the parents genetically. In the works touched on later, in looking for a cure to infertility, a trend towards “natural” methods and away from artificial cures such as IVF is seen. The reasoning behind this desire to keep things “within the family” could have multiple different explanations, such as genetics, faith, and power, these motives can be seen in the novels The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Atwood, The Children of Men by P.D.James, Seveneves by Neil Stephenson and Prototype by M.D. Waters.

Children as a Way to Spread Genetic Material

The primary reasoning for most animals to reproduce is to spread their genetic material. In the case of humanity, it is important to pass down their genes, knowledge and family name. As humans we generally want to leave something behind of ourselves and often parents look for their own traits in their children, they look to have children who are like them or their partners in some way. This idea of wanting to leave something behind for the next generation in the form of offspring is used heavily in the early chapters of Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. In these chapters, the world has just learned that the earth will be destroyed within two years and the only hope for humanity is to send a small contingent into space orbit in order to later colonise other planets and asteroids. To placate the people of earth “frozen sperm, eggs, and embryos would be sent up there too, so that even those who were left behind to die on the Earth’s surface could enjoy some hope their offspring would one day grow to maturity in orbiting space colonies “(Stephenson 44). This form of pacification makes sense since those on earth would begin to feel as though there was nothing left to live for without the prospect of children (this listlessness and lack of purpose can be seen throughout Children of Men in which there is almost no hope of a child being born); giving the people hope ensures that they will not only have something to live for but that they will also support the mission to take people into space. Allowing the general population to give something of themselves to the new colony, removes some of the distance that could easily be created between those on Earth and those who are fortunate enough to survive in the contingent.

This preserving of genetic material also seems to provide some comfort to those that are chosen to survive in the orbiting colony. Through the preservation, they can, in some small way, keep a part of their home planet; their home countries and even, in Doc Dubois’ case, a part of their family, alive. When the scientist, Doc Dubois, realizes that he is likely to be called up to the colony, without his fiancée, “they got busy making an embryo for him to carry up into space for implantation in some other, unknown woman’s womb” (Stevenson 47). Because there are many women set to be aboard the colony ships it is likely that Doc Dubois could one day be the adoptive or even biological father to one or many children; however, he chooses to create his “child” in his own way with his partner who he knows will die. This is done in order to preserve some part of the family he may have had, had the tragedy not occurred.

In Seveneves, the characters are looking to create children who are biologically theirs. However, in a speculative fiction world where infertility is rife, it is reasonable to assume that the idea and meaning of a child belonging to someone would change; this occurs in both The Handmaid’s Tale and The Children of Men. In both novels, the readers see society as a whole eliminate a certain set of people from their efforts to repopulate.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the idea of excluding certain people is not shown throughout the majority of the novel, however, it becomes clearer in the “Historical Notes” section. In this section, we see a symposium held at the University of Denay, Nunavit by the Department of Caucasian Anthropology in 2195. It is explained that the rest of the novel is a memoir from the Gileadean society, written in the late twentieth century. From the name of the department that the symposium is held at, it can be inferred that the majority (if not all) of the Caucasian population has been eradicated by the infertility crisis since the symposium is held by the Department of Caucasian Anthropology. This is further backed up by the fact that the names and places that are mentioned in the notes are not traditionally Caucasian in nature. For example, the speakers that are mentioned have names such as Cresent Moon, Pieixoto and Running Dog (Atwood 311). Although it is not clear, these names seem likely to be of Native American origin. This is an interesting development because there is little mention of race throughout the memoir section of the novel and it seems that the majority of those that are powerful in the Gileadean society are Caucasian and the named Commanders are called Waterford and Judd, which are more traditionally Caucasian surnames. This seems to imply, as a whole section, that the infertility mainly, if not wholly, affected Caucasian people and it is explicitly stated that the plummeting birth rate was “a phenomenon observable not only in Gilead but in most northern Caucasian societies of the time” (Atwood 316). Seeing as Caucasians are now few in the later part of The Handmaid’s Tale, those in power must have either not noticed that those of other races were not affected or must have ignored it, showing a singlemindedness to protect “their” genes and exclude those of others when breeding. If the Caucasians had bred with other races it is likely that the infertility would not have been so vast for them. Because the Gileadean government runs mostly on sanctions and restrictions and has shown other kinds of exclusion throughout the novel, by shipping the Jewish to Israel and the old to the “colonies”, so it is not unreasonable to consider that they would have furthered this exclusion when breeding.

In The Children of Men, once the infertility has been realized, the government passed laws which ensure that every able person will submit themselves to fertility testing. In particular, the males are required to do this because the males are the ones that are infertile. However, males with physical or mental disabilities or criminal records are not required to be tested. Similar prejudice is put upon women meaning “no one who was in any way physically deformed, or mentally or physically unhealthy, was on the list of women from whom the new race would be bred…. [they were] saved from the six-monthly … re-examinations. “(James 38). This prejudice against people, some of whom may not even have hereditary problems, seems to be somewhat foolish since, in the world of the novel, there have been no births for 25 years. As expected, this prejudice does turn out to be great error when it is discovered that a woman with physical disability is pregnant with the child of a man with history of a neuro-disability.

Although it is not outright stated in The Handmaid’s Tale, it is clear in The Children of Men that the reason behind this discrimination is to avoid “undesirable” traits in the possible offspring. Speaking about those with disabilities, the Warden of England, Xan says “if they can breed, good luck to them, but while there are limited facilities for the testing, let’s keep it for the physically and morally fit …. No one with a criminal record or a family record of offending ought to be allowed to breed, if we have a choice” (James 101). This statement from the head of the government makes it clear that they wish to preserve their own “good” genes rather than those they deem to be unfit.

These examples show that there is a strong bias towards personal genetics and traits, even if they are not directly biological, when tackling infertility. There is a primal desire to spread one’s own traits and to exclude those that are different, even when the choice is somewhat restricted.

Children as a Way to Practice Our Religion

Many religions teach that family is a vital component in life. For example, family is one of the central values in Islam and the Qur’an states that a free individual is a part of two different entities, the community and the family (Blyth and Landau 26). Connected to this, many religions encourage their followers to have children and in some cases it is specifically encouraged to have many children. In the Jewish faith, the first commandment of the Torah states that follows should ‘be fruitful and multiply’ (Blyth and Landau 30). Because of this religious pressure to have children, it seems natural that those of faith would want to claim children as their own. Through this they can be seen to be better observing their faith.  It is also natural that during a time of hardship such as an inability to bear children, those of faith would turn to their god to help them and so by proclaiming their faith they are likely hoping to appeal to their god for help.

In The Handmaid’s Tale we see a world with mass infertility and a governmental structure which is almost entirely based on religious views. In this society, more powerful families who are no longer able to produce children are given handmaids whose job it is to bear their children. The handmaids are trained for their position in re-education centres where they are taught the Gileadean belief that women should be subservient to men. Once in their positions they are responsible for very little in the household other than grocery shopping and producing children. The majority of the rules within the society seem to be based within the religious beliefs of the Sons of Jacob which is a sect of the Christian religion and the Bible is used as their holy book. In order to battle the widespread infertility, the Sons of Jacob have turned to the story of Rachel and Jacob, in which Rachel is unable to bare children for Jacob and so she “[says], behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her” (The Holy Bible, Genesis, 30:1-3). This story allows for children to be conceived and birthed by an outsider to the family unit, yet the child is still thought to be mothered by the wife of the family unit.

In the society of Gilead, the women go through many rituals in order to make the child part of the original family and detach them from the actual mother. The two most prominent of these rituals occur at the two most important times in the child’s creation, the conception and the birth. For the conception of the child, the Handmaid and the man of the house have sex while the Wife is not only present, but a true part of the whole process. In the novel, the narrator Offred recounts the process as follows: “Above me, towards the head of the bed, [the wife] is arranged, outspread. Her legs are apart, I lie between them, my head on her stomach, her pubic bone under the base of my skull, her thighs on either side of me… [she] grips my hands as if it is she, not I, who’s being fucked” (Atwood, 104). It is clear from this description that the Wife is fully involved in the conception process, in order to make it seem as though, throughout the whole gestation, that the child is truly hers. The whole affair is described as being fairly formal and unemotional with the participants being mostly clothed. This procedure seems to be almost mechanical or clinical and Offred is used only as an instrument to the couple’s procreation. Similarly, at the birth of the child, it is treated as though the Wife is the mother of the child and the handmaid is cast aside soon after the birth. What is interesting about this whole interaction is that the society of Gilead has banned reproductive technologies such as artificial insemination yet has fully embraced a form of surrogacy.  Artificial Insemination and other forms of reproductive technology are rebuked by many modern Christian faiths due to the fact that they “infringe the child’s right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 509) and it is deemed to be a “depersonalisation of sex extracting procreation from relationship, and adultery for both women and semen donor”( Blyth and Landau 64) , so it makes sense for them to not approve of these methods .These arguments also apply to surrogacy and certainly to what we see in The Handmaid’s Tale , yet surrogacy is the chosen method used to increase birth rates in a Christian society. It seems clear that the reasoning behind this choice is that it is the most personal of the options available. It allows the husband and wife to be fully integrated into the conception, and uses a human intermediate rather than a medical or scientific method. By making it as though the child is truly that of the husband and wife, the couple are able to fulfil their religious duty to create a family in their married life and their societal duty to provide children.

As an addition to the faith elements present in the reasoning behind these ceremonies that assure the child’s belonging to a family, there is also an element of power play involved.

Children as a Tool of Power

Religious beliefs as well as other social standards regarding fertility can cause a hierarchy where women who are less fertile are not valued in the same way as those that are easily able to have many children, even without the presence of an infertile society.

In the society of Gilead, there is a lot of power play and the whole family benefit a power lift from the birth of a child so makes sense for those in the household, the Commander and his Wife, to want to make the child theirs and not someone else’s. For the commander, a child will bring a rise is power in the government structure and an assurance of his manhood, his virility and his ability to provide for the society. For the handmaid, a child means that she has a secure future, after another handmaid’s child has been born, Ofglen says of the handmaid “she’ll never be sent to the Colonies, she’ll never be declared Unwoman. That is her reward.” (Atwood 137). For the Wife, it gives this more power within her group of other Wives as they have little else to do except to hope for a child. Hence, it is important or all those in the family to follow the rules and to pretend that the child truly “belongs” to the Commander and Wife of the family.

We also see children used as a way to increase someone’s power in The Children of Men. When it is discovered after 25 years of infertility that a child is going to be born, both the Warden of England, Xan, and the mother’s husband, Rolf, seem to want to use the child in order to gain power for themselves. Xan’s motives are fairly transparent, as the Warden of England he is clearly used to power and is comfortable with it. To display his power, he even wears the royal coronation ring to proclaim his title. Xan’s plan to use the child for purposes of power and to possibly claim them as his own are also fairly transparent. Theo says of Xan “Once the child was born he had only to kill Theo and Julian and it would be possible to claim the baby as his own.” (James 232) and Xan even confesses his own motives directly to Theo saying “I’ll probably marry her…good god, Theo, do you realise what power is in our hands?” (James 235). It is clear from this that his only reasoning behind caring for the child at all is to use it and it is also apparent that he plans to make it appear as though the child is his own. Being able to claim the child as his own will lead the people he rules over to be in awe of him as he is the one who has given them hope of new life, “Once he gets possession of the child his power will be immensely increased, not just in Britain, all over the world.” (James 164)

In the earlier parts of the novel Rolf, also focuses on the idea of her child being a tool of power rather a miracle of life, he says “I’m not worried for [the mother, Julian’s] safety, the council won’t harm her…But it will be me … who presents my child to the world, and then we’ll see who’s Warden of England” (James 164). It seems clear from this statement that Rolf hardly cares about his family when compared to the power that they could provide him. This is further shown when, after learning that the child is not actually his, he leaves almost immediately in order to inform the Council of the child. This is a futile attempt to gain some power from the situation once he realises that his original plan of using the child is no longer valid.

Although it is less apparent than in the earlier examples, our main character, Theo, can also be seen to have power on his mind. From shortly after meeting Julian, he becomes attracted to her and says of her “I was seized with a ludicrous urge to dash to the flower- stall… It was a romantic impulse” (James 129). Once he is on the run from the authorities with her, he begins using affectionate terms to refer to her such as “dear” and towards of the novel he proclaims his love, saying “Nothing and no one will separate us, not life nor death, nor principalities, nor powers, nor anything that is of the heavens nor that is of the earth.” (James 234). It seems that his love for her is what drives him to wish, “with a sudden surge of anguish and envy, that it was his child which with such an agony of effort they were bringing into the world.” (James 225), but there is also an underlying element of power to this want. This want for power seems to be completely incongruous with Theo’s character throughout the novel as he has previous denied a place among the council who are the main body of government for the country. Yet, once the child is born and he realises that Xan will try to claim it for himself, Theo kills Xan and in order to claim Xan’s power, “He took the ring from Xan’s finger…Theo held up the ring, then deliberately placed it on his finger” (James 237). This instant claim for the power symbol seems to show that although he may be mainly looking out for his love, Julian, he is also somewhat attracted to power. It could even be said that part of his love, although likely not all, was due to her pregnancy and the power that she could give him if he were in some way able to call the child his own. This is made somewhat more likely by the fact that Theo accidentally killed his own child before the infertility outbreak, so he is in some part probably trying to make up for that with the love of this new child.

Although these men use Julian to their advantage once she is pregnant, they do not directly try to hurt or manipulate her. In Archetype by M.D.Waters we see Declan control Emma throughout and manipulate her in order to use her fertility.  In the world of this novel, there is mass infertility, few women and the main character Emma, begins the novel with almost no memories and even has trouble comprehending the world around her. It is shown early on that Declan is her “husband” and it is when she is learning this that he begins to show his controlling tendencies towards her. When she struggles to comprehend the meaning of the word wife, Declan says to her “One day you will say it and believe it.” (Waters 4). That this is one of the first things that he teaches her emphasises how important it is to him that she believes this and knows her place. Although he seems to be a loving husband, there are moments when his controlling nature shines through the façade. One instance of this is when Emma refuses to restrict her activities and she protests saying “you cannot do this to me” and he replies with “I can and I will” (Waters 51). This shows that even though she feels that she has some freedom, Declan is willing to take it away from her at any time he pleases. As time progresses it becomes more and more apparent that even though Declan appears to be giving Emma more freedom he is still heavily controlling of her actions. When he presents her with the gift of a painting studio, she realises that there is only one way out which is a teleport that Declan can easily monitor. Later, Emma is told that she is a clone and that Declan took her “soul” from her original’s dying body so that he could have her for himself. He does this because when they were originally married, they were both forced into it and Declan’s father paid for her to wed him. The resistance saves her from the woman’s camp that forced her into the marriage and so Declan feels he has been conned out of his chance to have a wife in this world where women are scarce. His possessiveness comes out more and more throughout the later part of the novel, he says that “I never would have let my father force me into this marriage if I didn’t want you the moment I saw you… I’m not giving you up. You’re Mine.” (Waters 275-276) and “You [can’t] run from me forever; I always get what I pay for” (Waters 334). These statements show not only that he is possessive of her but that he enjoys the power he has over her. Controlling Emma is not just a way to show his power over her but by keeping her and cloning her to make her fertile he is also striving to gain the power within the society that comes from having a wife and children. As part of his controlling nature, he also almost forces her to bear his children and does not allow her to use any sort of protection. This could be seen as normal in this world as it is illegal to use protection yet he does not seem to have any respect for the law in other areas of his life and if he truly cared about her and wanted the best for her, he would allow her to have this freedom. Rather than helping her to avoid conception, he subjects her to regular testing and it is clear to Emma that he is displeased with the lack of progress as he “comes home with the usual glum expression after hearing the news that [Emma is] not carrying his child yet.” (Waters 255). As there are not enough women for the men of the world, having one that is fertile is a huge show of power and influence in the community. However, as a rich and powerful man, it seems that he would be easily able to buy another wife if he wished yet he is fixed upon Emma and as we see in the sequel Prototype he is willing to chase after her when she leaves him for a second time. This single mindedness to have her as his wife and as the mother of his children is likely his need to exert his power over her and to show his power to the resistance.

Declan is not alone in his controlling nature over women and he facilitates the cloning and murders of other women so that their husbands can erase their memories and make them more fertile in one operation. This is seen when Charles and his wife Ruby are introduced. Although Ruby is only in the beginning stages of the recovery from the cloning operation, Charles still takes her away from the recovery centre and conceives a child with her. It is clear from this as well as some other aspects of the society as a whole that controlling women is much more normal than it is in our society and so it makes sense that Declan would feel that it is his right to have a marriage and a child with the woman he chooses and has paid for.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the examples from these four novels show that in a number of science fiction worlds where fertility or lack of children is a problem, the characters still move away from options such as adoption and strive to have children that are in some way their own. As Ursula Le Guin said in her introduction (Le Guin), science fiction is often an extrapolation of things that we see in the real world. This is certainly true in this case as biological children have often been preferred to others even in times of trouble. A historical example of this phenomenon is Henry VIII’s insistence that he could have a male child at the expense of other people so that his heir would not be female and so that he could exhibit his personal virility to his subjects. Only time will tell if this trend of “biology is best” will continue into the real future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Le Guin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness. New York: Ace Books, 2000. Print.

Lawrence, S.E. “Sexual Cannibalism in The Praying Mantid, Mantis Religiosa: A Field Study”. Animal Behaviour 43.4 (1992): 569-583. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.

Lucy. Hollywood: Luc Besson, 2014. film.

Stephenson, Neal. Seveneves. New York: William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2015. Print.

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. London: Vintage, 1996. Print.

James, P. D. The Children of Men. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1993. Print.

Blyth, Eric and Ruth Landau. Faith and Fertility. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2009. Print.

Catechism of the Catholic Church. London: Burns Oats, 2002. Print.

Waters, M.D. Archetype. New York: Penguin Group, 2013. Print.

Waters, M.D. Prototype. Turtleback Books, 2014. Print.

Harry Potter, Ender Wiggin, Ursula Todd, Jonas of The Giver. Each of these characters from books and movies have two main traits in common: they are the Chosen One, the character that the entire plot surrounds, the owner of some unique quality that allows them to succeed in the story’s biggest problem and they are all also children. The reason for the “Chosen One” concept is not too difficult to figure out: the story has to have a hero, someone to talk about. The question I would like to focus on is if, hypothetically speaking, these “Chosen Ones” have a choice in their destiny and how their decisions made as children contributes to that choice or lack thereof. I will mainly be focusing on Ender Wiggins from Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game and Ursula Todd from Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life. Both of these novels portray the main character as a child for a large portion, if not the entirety, of the story. This is because each character was actually “chosen” before his or her birth. Therefore, due to the outside forces controlling each character’s destiny before they were even able to make a choice, their position as the “Chosen One” is involuntary however it is vital for the story that each character believes he or she is making the choice to accept his or her fate.

Ender Wiggin is the child protagonist of Ender’s Game. From the very first chapter the reader is aware that Ender is special, as the unknown narrator says within the first sentence of the novel, “I tell you he’s the one.”[1]At the time of the conversation and the beginning of the novel Ender is only six years old. Later, Ender is given a choice whether to go to the training school that will be his home for years to come in order to train to become the world’s savior. The conversation between young Ender and Colonel Graff of the school is interesting, as Graff states, “But for Ender, the choice has not been made at all,” indicating that Ender truly has a choice in his destiny.[2] However, it is revealed that Ender was “commissioned” as a hope for the perfect tempered person to command the attack fleet against the incoming alien enemies.[3] This concept in the future setting of Ender’s Game is that no family can have more than two children unless commissioned by the government. Therefore, Ender was created for a purpose, that purpose hopefully being to destroy the incoming aliens.

Likewise, Ursula Todd’s purpose, though not realized until nearly the end of her novel, is decided arguably before her birth. Since Ursula’s “power” is the power to be reborn an unknown amount of times, it is difficult to say when her destiny was decided. Additionally, unlike Ender’s Game, we are unaware of the powers who rule over Ursula’s destiny. We do not know why or how she was given this ability, or if others possess the same ability. Given this information, can we really say Ursula has a specific destiny at all? She decides that she is a witness[4], but is that truly her destiny, or just her perspective of it? In this case, it would appear that Ursula does have a choice in her destiny, as she decides she is a witness. Additionally, throughout her many lives she makes different decisions that may or may not lead her to the outcome of killing Hitler. The perspective of the “Chosen One” may be exactly what is needed for them to make the right decisions. Are they really chosen or special if they are not given the freedom to make the decisions that in turn make them that one special individual who can accomplish the task at hand?

When given the choice of whether he wishes to go with Colonel Graff or not, Ender gives three different answers, with Graff only accepting the last: “I’m afraid but I’ll go with you,” “It’s what I was born for, isn’t it? If I don’t go, why am I alive?” and finally, “I don’t want to go, but I will.”[5] The novel depicts children that are above normal intelligence, which accounts for Ender’s reasonable and well thought out responses even as a six year old. The first response is nearly identical to the last one that Graff actually accepts, so why does he not accept this first response that acknowledges Ender’s fear at going to battle school? Even in children fear is not enough reason to justify actions and decisions. As the “Chosen One,” Graff could not accept Ender’s agreement to join the battle school if it was out of fear, because that would mean that Ender felt like he did not have a choice lest he be seen as a coward. He needed to make the decision truly because it was the right thing to do. Ender’s second response relates directly to the idea that Ender’s existence is not under his own control. This too is rejected by Graff, because Ender does have control. He was brought into existence for a purpose, but no one can make him fulfill that purpose. The final response is the only one Graff accepts because Ender acknowledges that although it is something he does not want to do, he knows he must in order to follow his destiny. So in this case, it appears as though the child Ender though born for a specific purpose has chosen to stay within the path that was laid out for him. However, as he is a child, albeit an incredibly intelligent one, is it possible that he has been manipulated into believing he has chosen this path?

Ursula is a child throughout quite a bit of Life After Life and throughout many of her lifetimes she decides slightly different actions based on a feeling she gets when something bad might be in the realm of happening. Again, she feels as though she is following the right path at the time, as those negative feelings of darkness keep her from straying into the “wrong” paths. However, this too could be a manipulation. While no one other than Ursula is truly aware of her ability, it is possible that her future and past adult mind is manipulating her child mind into following a particular path. This is supported by the fact that the “right” path cannot be determined solely on her not dying, because even in the lifetime that she achieves her goal of killing Hitler she still dies in the end. There is no definitive way to say that her life’s goal is to kill Hitler, because regardless she apparently is reborn even when she does that. Therefore, the children are choosing the path but not entirely of their own will, but rather through the manipulation of adults.

Why is it that in so many of these novels the “Chosen One” is a child? Especially as these books are not exactly children’s novels or even young adult novels. In Orson Scott Card’s added introduction to Ender’s Game, he recalls many adult readers not only struggling to relate to Ender, but actually opposing the concept that a child could think and act the way the children in Ender’s game behave. True, in both Ender’s Game and Life After Life children commit extremely violent acts that confront our typical innocent view of young ones. However, the behavior of these “Chosen Ones” is necessary as part of who they are. Ender is not extraordinarily different from his peers when it comes to violence, as all of them understand the necessity of it in war. However, everyone, even his “jackal” of a brother Peter is surprised by Ender’s outbursts of violence. Ursula also commits violent acts, as everyone is shocked by her pushing Bridget down the stairs. These acts were necessary as chosen ones and also important for it to occur by the hands of children. It shows that even as children these characters are important, unique, rational, and above all else in the right position as “Chosen One.” By making these children commit acts of violence it gives the reader reason to question the child’s maturity and abilities.

Ender and Ursula both exceed expectations in their ability to rationalize. Yes, Ender not only injures other children, but also accidentally kills them. However, his reasoning is exactly why Graff allowed him to continue on into the Battle School and it is the exact reason why we as readers forgive Ender. By hurting the other children beyond their ability to ever hurt him, Ender created a logical path for us as readers to not only forgive him but agree with his side of the story. If he were an adult and knew that he was actually killing his peers, no amount of reasoning would allow forgiveness. It is his adult reasoning in the innocent child mind that allows his violent behavior. Likewise Ursula’s act of shoving Bridget down the stairs, though she cannot reason why she did it at the time, is forgivable because of the innocence behind the act. An adult could not get away with pushing someone down the stairs “because they had a feeling,” but for Ursula, we understand that her feeling is her power leading her down the path of what she believes is her destiny. The ability of Ursula and Ender to reason logically as children sets them apart and allows them to commit acts of violence that otherwise would not be forgiven. However, in these cases it simply emphasizes their “otherness” that makes them “chosen.”

Concerning any outside manipulation of Ender’s destiny is a slew of people. All the government that allowed for his conception as a third child paved the way for his existence and set him up to be different from the beginning. However, there is an unspoken and unwritten suggestion that eggs, sperm, zygotes or something of the type are able to be manipulated. Graff states that the government suggested that Ender’s parents choose a boy this round. This combined with the fact that Peter, Valentine and Ender are all incredibly intelligent, even by their parents’ standards suggests that humans can be created in particular ways at that point in the future. So if the government essentially created Ender, they must have had a particular fate in mind for Ender: to be the next Mazer Rackham, the next war hero against the aliens. So pre-birth Ender already had a set fate. However, it appears as though Ender has options throughout the novel. He could attend the battle school or not, he could become a leader or not, he could accept the positions offered to him by the military or not. These choices make it appear as though Ender has the option whether to follow through on the “Chosen One” path or not. However, seeing as how Ender was created specifically for that task, the mental abilities, temperament and reactions within him were also engineered and manipulated. Therefore, Ender really had no control over his destiny other than to behave the way he was created to behave.

Likewise, Ursula could have been created similarly. Since she appears to have the rebirthing ability throughout time, it can be assumed that she was engineered to retain some memory of her past lives in order to guide herself down a particular path. However, why was her path decidedly leading to the death of Hitler? The lifetime after she killed Hitler, it does not give any indication whether she gets her feeling of dread leading up to shooting him, even though her assassination of him directly causes her own death and those feelings typically occur in order to sway her from death’s clutches. In this case, Ursula’s real destiny is simply as “a witness.” However, she decides this herself and as she is the only one who can control her actions and in theory is the one who creates her feelings of dread from past lives, it seems that Ursula truly is in control of her destiny. However, in reality no matter what she does or how she ends her life she will constantly be reborn. There is no indication if killing Hitler is her destiny, if simply being a witness is her destiny, or if she has no real determined destiny what so ever. Regardless, it is beyond her control to be reborn and that power is what really makes her a “Chosen One.”

The chosen children of novels are important not just for the story they create but for the message they send. It is not just about someone who is just chosen in adulthood, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Genly Ai. The importance of the child creates a feeling of lifelong purpose. It creates the feeling that one is born special, rather than just falling into that role. When reading Ender’s Game for the first time at age twelve I felt I was in Ender’s role. Because of that I felt all the shock and disgust Ender felt when he realized the battle simulations were not just a game, but that he had truly just destroyed an entire alien race. The Harry Potter series created the same sense of lifelong purpose. Ursula Todd was born over and over again into a role that created a unique kind of feeling towards her. By making their main characters children it allows the reader to feel related to the character, because everyone has been in that position in life, but it also creates a sort of otherness feeling towards them. The idea that you are not just born into a role, but that an entire set of events was put in motion simply because you exist is a feeling that all of us try to create but do not typically really feel. That is the captivating part of these novels in which the main character is chosen at or before birth. That strange notion of “I relate to their emotions and thoughts,” while simultaneously wishing to have that sense of purpose in the world. For me that is a deeper meaning in than the novels in which someone leads a “normal” life up until some event that is put in motion regardless of their existence. For Ender, his reactions were seemingly of his own devices, but when you realize that he was created for the sole purpose of destroying an entire species it seems to question if his reactions really are is own or if they are just the product of what the government had created him to be. For Ursula there was the complicated emotion of knowing why she was doing what she was doing, even if she did not fully realize it, but still somehow feeling like she was not in complete control of her situation. She described it best when talking to Dr. Kellet: “Time isn’t circular. It’s like a…palimpsest.”[6] She was able to control little changes in her life, but overall her life would end and begin again. That seems like utter lack of control in all honesty, as no matter what she does she will inevitably, as far as we know as readers, be born into the same world. However, I got the same feeling from Ursula reading Life After Life for the first time as I did from Ender the first time. I understood her thinking, I was in her shoes, confused at the déjà vu and shocked when things did not work out. But there was the overwhelming sense of no relation. I could not relate in any way to her reliving life since, as far as I am aware, I have not been reborn into my exact life. Ursula has a sense of duty and purpose, even if she is creating it herself. The other important aspect as chosen children of novels is that their minds are not restrained in any way. This is something you can get a better sense of in Life After Life, as we can clearly see that when she is a child, she has no concept of where she might go in life but later when she is an adult she seems set in her path. There are less decisions made as an adult than there are as a child. As children it appears that their path is a bit more malleable. For Ursula it seemed that past age twenty or so her life had been decided which way she went: she was either in Germany on the path that would lead her to death or Hitler’s assassination, or she was still in the UK. The idea that the choices we make as children, children who are typically not near as intelligent and understanding as Ender or as supernaturally gifted as Ursula, are the decisions that create the rest of our lives is terrifying, but seemingly not false.

Children in “Chosen One” novels are special, not just to me but in general. They portray seemingly innocent individuals who can commit serious acts of violence but still maintain to loyalty of the reader. They also bring to question whether they have a choice in their destiny or not. In the case of Ender Wiggin and Ursula Todd I believe the answer is no. They were born into their role with the intent to set a series of events in motion just by existing. They also were given the tools to react just as they are “supposed” to by who created them. In Ender’s case he responded to actions in exactly the way the government wanted him to, but with the notion that it was all his idea. With Ursula, she followed in the path her adult self set up for her by creating negative boundaries in directions that would lead her astray from what she felt was her true purpose. Therefore, neither of these characters had true control over their position in their respective stories. I absolutely adored both of these novels and I do not think it was a coincidence that the narrator of both of them was a child, at least for most of the novel. The feeling of possibilities that a child’s mind creates is unique to their young age and innocence towards the world. At the same time, the idea that their seemingly infinitesimal decisions alter not just the path that their own lives take but potentially the very reality that they live in is amazing and terrifying at the same time, and it makes me wonder what decisions I may have made as a six year old that could have led me to the very spot I am sitting in right now.

[1] Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game, pg 1.

[2] Card, Ender’s Game, pg 20.

[3] Card, Ender’s Game, pg 24.

[4] Kate Atkinson, Life After Life, pg 509.

[5] Card, Ender’s Game, pg 26.

[6] Atkinson, Life After Life.

Quick disclaimer that I have not read the other books in the Outlander series, so all of this is my own analysis and speculation after having just finished the first one.

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Three eclectic women (named Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which) speak in quotes or a strange version of English and reference things you do not understand. Would you trust them when they say they can help you find your missing father? A naked man calls to you from the forest and asks for clothes and food before disappearing before your eyes. Would you give him what he asks for and listen to his story? You come across a stone circle, buzzing louder and louder as you approach the center. Would you reach out and touch the center stone?

When asked these questions on their own without context, most sane people would instinctively say no. However, Meg Murry (from A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle), Clare Abshire (from The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger), and Claire Randall Fraser (from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon) did the above (respectively) and were victims of time and space traveling either directly or secondhand. These three characters did not directly choose to time travel or face the difficulties of dealing with a time traveler and were only able to choose how to react to the situation and how to proceed. While these three lead characters had very different experiences, their reactions were pretty similar—none of them allowed the experience to paralyze them and they all chose to move on relatively quickly. Meg decided to trust everyone around her and focus on finding her father rather than questioning how she got to another planet, and was eventually successful. Clare took her father’s old clothes and gave them to Henry, the time traveler, and tells him that she believes him, begetting a friendship that blossoms into a romantic relationship that lasts her lifetime, even though Henry is only around for less than half of it. Claire constantly thinks about returning back to the stone circle to go back to “the present” (for her, post World War II) but when given the choice, she willingly chooses to stay in sixteenth-century Scotland.

What made them so adaptable? As a simple sampling of other time travelers in literature can confirm, most characters who time travel to the past share a curious nature, or at least ones that allowed them to accept their predicament and move forward rather than dwell on how badly their life has changed (and in the moment, usually for the worst). Dana, from Kindred by Octavia Butler, for example, lived a simple life in the 1970s but she lived it with a determined character. Even before she was taken to the antebellum South, Dana stood up to her then-boyfriend, Kevin, when she did not want to do something he wanted her to do, and she stood by her convictions and dreams even when Kevin questioned her path. As with the Meg, Clare, and Claire, Dana’s decisive character helped to move the characters into action, thereby speeding up the pace of the story. What would have happened if these characters were not this way? We would have seen much more confusion and the story would have dragged as the character slowly came to grips with reality, much like a contemporary fantasy novel that will not be named (Wait, what? Edward’s a vampire???). As a subset of science fiction that is plot-driven, it is essential that time traveling lead characters have the tendency to get things done. In fact, when asked in an interview, Gabaldon said that she had not intended to include a science fiction component to the novel. She had wanted to write a historical fiction novel but Claire’s strong, 20^th century character took over so Gabaldon had to include the time traveling to explain how such a character ended up in 18^th century Scotland.

Claire’s experience in Outlander is one that stands out of all the previously mentioned stories because she chooses to stay in the time she traveled to even after given the opportunity to go back to her old life. I think what prompted this difference was the opportune timing of the time travel. In the years prior to the beginning of this novel, Claire and her husband, Frank, had been separated because of World War II. Claire had served as a military nurse and Frank had been a government officer as well as a recruit of MI6. The six years of separation left a strange chasm in the relationship, and in effort to get to know each other again, the two traveled to the Scottish Highlands, which is where they had their honeymoon and where Frank’s family originates. While they were clearly still mentally and physically compatible and responsive to each other, their interests differed quite strikingly. Frank was very interested in collecting his family’s history, and Claire repeatedly thought of her time as a war nurse as she did random, trivial things such as buying a vase (and deeply contemplating what it means to be able to purchase a vase) and press flowers to fill her time. Frank had a purpose and strove to fulfill it, while Claire was in limbo, having just been an active, necessary member of society to now serving no real purpose besides being someone for her husband to tell his discoveries to. To Frank’s defense, he did attempt to include Claire in the conversations and did bring her along to old ruins, but it was clear that she was not as interested in history as Frank was, and he did not even try to take part in her interests (Way to let your wife wander the Scottish Highlands for flowers at the crack of dawn by herself, Frank.). Because Frank and Claire did not know each other as well as most married couples at this point and Claire did not have a pressing goal or position, this gave Claire the opportunity to truly choose whether she wanted to go back to her old life or not. In the case of Meg and Dana, familial bonds prompted them to want to go back at the first available opportunity (or in the case of Dana, creating her opportunity when she could not take the antebellum South anymore).

Claire’s decision to stay is a large departure from many time travel novels. Despite the extreme contrast between the danger in the Scottish Highlands life with Jamie and the relatively carefree life she led with Frank, she chose the danger. This unconventional break from the genre not only allows the author to write an eight-books-long series, but also allows for an interesting plotline—Claire is able to live two completely different lives in one. Because she chose to live one life and ultimately put the other life on pause (since we do not yet know whether time continues in the other life), Claire was able to still be married to Frank and have that sophisticated English woman persona while accepting the changed person she’s become. Throughout Outlander, Claire grappled with what it meant to be married to both Jamie and Frank at the same time (and yet, at different times!). She wears both wedding rings at the same time, and she consistently feels selfish and guilty for not choosing to go back to Frank even when she knew where she was and was able to get back to the stone circle. Her morals call for her to consistently think of Frank and consider what her decisions might mean for that relationship. However, in the 18^th century, Claire was able to be more of who she really was right after World War II. There is no doubt that Claire feels more useful in this life, just as she did during the Great War. She went back to having a purpose again, namely using her knowledge to heal the sick or injured and helping Jamie evade political strife rather than merely following Frank around and collecting plants as a hobby. While she initially married Jamie for safety, she eventually comes to love him as a husband. Her interests clearly lied with Jamie more than Frank—she took interest in his interests and enthusiastically listened to him explain his family history, a fraction of which she could not muster with Frank’s family history. One could argue that this knowledge had practical reasons, but the fact remains that she was still captivated by his rich family history and actively asked him questions, prompting him to tell more than he initially wanted to. Despite going to a place where survival was constantly questioned, or rather maybe because of it, Claire was able to be herself more with Jamie than she could with Frank. It is also interesting to note that Jamie did not care, or at least did not let it offend him, that Claire had been married before. He saw her sexual experience as something that would benefit them, and while he was curious about Frank, he did not push her to tell him any more than she was comfortable with. Frank, on the other hand, seemed to have had a very difficult time coming to terms with even the possibility of Claire having an affair during their six-year separation. Despite going back to a time closely associated with very strict rules around marriage and valuing virginity above personal characteristics, Claire experienced less criticism for having been with another man than she did in 1945. Not only is 18^th century Claire more progressive than the 20^th century one, her partner from the 18^th century is as well.

What would have happened if Frank was the one to have gone through the stones? He was also (arguably) looking for escape post-World War II. While the trip to Scotland was meant to be a way for him to reconnect with Claire, he spent more time looking into his family history and talking to the locals. Even when the weather was forecasted to pour rain, he chose to leave Claire and drink with a solicitor to pour over more historical records. And honestly, I really do not think there is anyone more to blame for Claire’s predicament than Frank because he did not accompany her to a place that he’d understood to be highly sacred and religious. Even if one did not believe in the Druids, one should respect their space and not touch anything, and while Claire approached because of the buzzing, Frank should have been there to stop her from placing her hand on the stone. If his actions and choices with Claire was any indication for his yearn to escape, then Frank would most likely have accepted the time travel with open arms. If he had come out of the stones at the same time that Claire did (18^th century Scotland), he would have come face-to-face with his hero and star ancestor, Jonathan “Jack” Randall, also known as “Black Jack”. How would Frank have reacted? We as readers do not know Frank very well (besides his somewhat negligent and selfish nature) so this is where the speculation begins. After the initial surprise, Frank probably would have recognized Jack from the bust of him in the highland museum and would have tried to introduce himself to his doppelganger with a smile. This is where it gets tricky: would Jack have then tried to kill his lookalike? Or would he have tried to rape him? Because if we’re to judge his actions based on his actions we see later in Outlander, Jack most definitely would not have tried to have a decent conversation with Frank. Let’s say he tries to rape him, as he tried to when Claire came through. Jack has this unfortunate habit of destroying people mentally and physically before they die, so it is not too far off to say that he would try to do that to someone who looks just like him. Frank was in MI6, so he most likely has had some combat training. A struggle between the two ensues, and Frank, in full war mode, accidentally kills Jack without meaning to (he was only trying to get to know his ancestor!). As it dawns on him what he has just done, he would quickly draw upon his knowledge of his family tree and try to understand what this means. He remembers that Jack dies at Culloden, and would have a moment of panic. What if his actions meant that he obliterated the rest of his ancestral line? He then hears men give a battle cry in old Gaelic, and thinking quickly, would have exchanged his clothes for Jack’s. If he was lucky, he would run into the English army and would be recognized by the uniform. He would then have run off, with no goal in mind other than getting out of the area. A million thoughts would flit by as he sped off: what happened? How did he get here? Where is here? Can he go back? And how could he have killed off his ancestor before knowing his life story? Eventually, he would have reached the English army, and they would most likely welcome him back as Captain Jack Randall and Frank would have accepted, for he realizes this is a much safer status to have than to be known as the one who killed Captain Jack Randall. He would have had some difficulty blending in (for the original Captain Jack Randall already had an infamous reputation and drew enough wary looks, let alone a confused-looking Captain “Jack” Randall who forgot where his bunk was or how to properly saddle a horse). However, once he was settled into the 18^th century English way of life, Frank’s excitement over being able to live history would most likely overcome any guilt or thoughts he had of returning to the 1940s. He would eventually figure out that the Druid ritual he and Claire had witnessed was not just a fairy tale but was something truly sacred and real—so real he was able to cross time and space through it. He would constantly think of Claire, of course, but to console himself, he would make the assumption that that time has stood still, and this was all for research. When else would someone have this grand opportunity to live the 18^th century life first hand from the lens of the 20^th century? He would have asked around to see if the original Jack Randall had procreated and upon finding out that he had many illegitimate children, Frank would have lain that concern to rest. Many years would pass by, and as Captain Jack Randall, Frank would have led the English army against the Scottish. This was what was written in history, and he would fulfill history as best as he could. Eventually, the Battle of Culloden would take place, but Frank’s limited war strategies would not be enough for this great battle. He would not have foreseen the alliances that the highland clans formed, and would not have anticipated how far the clans would go to keep their culture alive. He would eventually get stabbed by Jamie Fraser himself, and as he lay dying on the field, he realizes that history had recorded his death as Captain Jack Randall’s because that’s who he appeared to be.

In the past several days, as I mused about time traveling, I started asking people, “If you could travel back in time to anywhere, at anytime, and fully be able to interact with the people around you, where would you go, and why?” The question had humble beginnings—I was mostly curious, and since it seemed like a standard SAT question that did not require too much thought, I figured it would be a good study break. In fact, when I asked the question and explained that I was writing a paper on time traveling without further context, one of my friends remarked that this seemed like a juvenile topic to end my college career with. I suppose this is true—how many times have we thought, “Man, I wish I’d been there” when we learned about the visionary Founding Fathers, or the majesty of the Ice Age Creatures, or the crazy, glamourous parties of the Roaring Twenties? However, in my conversations with anyone who has shared a silence longer than three seconds with me, I saw an interesting trend. Most of the responders who identified as a first generation immigrant wanted to go back to their homeland to a time within the past 150 years. When asked why, there were many references to family and an easier lifestyle. Interestingly, when prompted to expand further, many admitted that they thought about how their status as a non-white female would impact how people responded to them and that deterred them from choosing a more conventional time in history (or one that would be studied in a history class). One of them outright said that they would not be comfortable anywhere other than her home country if she emerged before the 1980s. Most of the other respondents did not mention this, so it is unknown whether or not it crossed their minds. Of course, this trend was not perfect—there were people who did not fit this demographic who would choose to spend more time with family members who have passed away and there were those who fit in this demographic who chose to see the dinosaurs or be a part of Sparta, Ancient Greece in its heyday. However, the responses were frequent enough for me to see how different levels of privilege affects different people’s responses. Take the Roaring Twenties, for example. It seems like a great time to be alive—the economy had never been better, penicillin had just been discovered, and jazz had taken over the music scene. However, what is not normally associated with this fun image of the Roaring Twenties is the increase in Ku Klux Klan numbers due to the Great Migration of African Americans from the Southern countryside to the Northern cities. In addition, a “Red Scare” was going around in the early 20s that led to the prioritization of European immigrants over Asian immigrants (and of course, anti-Asian sentiments nationwide). As fun as the Gatsby parties would have been on the Long Island Gold Coast, that life would not have been available to most of the people who time travel back there now. Those who are not considered privileged today are more conscientious of these inequalities in history and are reminded of them by questions as simple as “Where in history would you go”?

 

References

Butler, Octavia E. Kindred. Boston: Beacon, 2003. Print.

Gabaldon, Diana. Outlander. New York, NY: Delacorte, 1991. Print.

L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1962. Print.

Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler’s Wife. San Francisco: MacAdam/Cage, 2003. Print.

 

Edit from the next day: Thank you very much for such a fun class! I’m glad this was the one that ended my undergraduate career 🙂

 

Jared Goldberg

Boyd

April 29, 2016

English 146

Extraterrestrials in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game

            Ender’s Game has always been lauded for its unique take on the classic coming-of-age tale, and rightfully so. Ender’s Game is a character oriented novel which uses its in depth sci-fi plot to develop Ender’s character. So generally, it is not surprising that most would claim this novel to be about Ender, not about alien warfare. In fact, an argument could be made that the plot of this book could be interchanged with that of a young man being trained to fight in World War II. Said young man might demonstrate immense skill with a rifle in the same way that Ender demonstrated skill in managing space fleets. The point here is that much of the critical analysis of Ender’s Game dismisses the plot and setting as mere tools used to formulate Ender’s character.  In my discussion of Ender’s Game, I will be doing the opposite. I will be focusing less on Ender, Valentine, and Bean, and instead I will be honing in on the larger fictional universe that Orson Scott Card has created. Specifically, how this future earth responds to militarized, intelligent alien life, and how that’s relevant to our real world search for extraterrestrials.

In Ender’s Game, humanity is in a constant face off against an alien civilization called “Buggers”. The novel begins far after first contact, and instead starts the narrative during a Cold War type conflict with these insect-like aliens. As the novel progresses, we are slowly given more knowledge as to the nature of these beings. Interestingly, unlike many other conceptualizations of possible extraterrestrial beings in literature, Buggers are extremely different than humans. While their physically inhuman traits are obvious (they have bug-like bodies), their mental state is what truly sets them apart. Buggers don’t think for themselves. Instead, they are controlled by “queens” who can instantaneously communicate with and control the “worker” Buggers, similar to an ant colony. Due to this hive-minded system, the Bugger civilization is vastly exotic to humans, and thus it is clear why negotiations with them might have been difficult earlier in the timeline.

The Buggers are strikingly more “alien” than many other extraterrestrial beings that are portrayed literature. For instance, in Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel The Left Hand of Darkness, we are introduced to the Gethenians of Karhide. Luckily for the protagonist Genly Ai, these beings are extremely similar to human beings. Their anatomical and cultural anomalies are subtle and thus Ai is able to negotiate with them. An argument could be made that Ai is indeed often shocked or distracted by their “alien” properties, but if Ai were to attempt to get the Buggers to join the Ekumen, his task would be borderline impossible. Perhaps in the Ender’s Game universe humanity had already sent a Genly Ai type “mobile” to the Bugger’s home world, and since the Buggers are so inherently different to humans, he found it impossible to communicate with them. Such an incident could be a catalyst to an all-out war.

Ender’s Game does a good job at expressing this inability to communicate between species through the Bugger’s attempts to communicate with Ender. After the destruction of their species, Ender finds that the Buggers had peered into his mind and arranged for him to find a surviving queen pupa. This seems to be the only real communication between the Buggers and a human, and it’s still quite vague. Had the Bugger-human relations been more transparent, Ender might have sooner found out that the Buggers did not actually want to fight and abandoned his training. However instead, Ender learns that the Buggers are victims only after he has destroyed them, creating a relatively somber ending to this novel.

All of this poses a meaningful question. What if one day, humans were to encounter extraterrestrial life like the Buggers? Strictly speaking, alien life that is so hauntingly “unnatural” due to its appearance, culture, or form of communication, that us humans simply cannot correspond with it. Beyond Ender’s Game, several other pieces of science fiction have attempted to answer that question. In the 1997 film Contact, an alien civilization reaches out to earth, sending us a frequency containing a string of numbers. Decoding the numbers, humans were able to construct a machine that transported the protagonist (Arroway) to an alien world. However, once transported, Arroway found herself on a tropical beach met by an alien that took the form of her dead father. This comforted Arroway, and allowed them to conduct a civil conversation about humanities future relations with these beings. In many ways, this momentous meeting between races accomplishes what the humans and Buggers in Ender’s Game couldn’t. The key here is that the Contact aliens approached the situation carefully and took the proper precautions to ensure that they gave off a we-come-in-peace vibe. These aliens easily could have been as bizarre as the Buggers. Yet we can assume that after the narrative shown in Contact, humanity reached out to this alien community and formed an alliance. Essentially, the opposite of what occurs in Ender’s Game.

From this, we can learn that in order to avoid making the mistakes that the Ender’s Game society made, initial interactions with aliens should be guided by aesthetic aids, such as the human disguise that the Contact alien wore. We can assume that the fact that the Buggers are likely nightmare creatures from our perspective unconsciously turns our mindset hostile, and vice versa. Klaatu’s arrival on earth in The Day the Earth Stood Still is another excellent example of this phenomenon. When he originally walks out of his space ship, Klaatu is wearing a very unusual looking helmet. This intimidating appearance contributes to his being shot by a frightened soldier. Once Klaatu is removed from his space suit, he easily passes for human, and has a much easier time interacting with the other characters.

George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise poses an interesting take on the topic as well. Unlike in Ender’s Game, the Star Wars universe features a plethora of alien species who generally seem to be “species-blind”. The different characters in this galaxy fight alongside other aliens for causes that are strictly political. These films never feature an alien being killed just for belonging to a certain species (although there does seem to be prejudice towards droids). Of course an argument could be made that the Empire is generally composed of humans, but that seems to be a side effect of the cloning process. Star Wars delivers a very different message than Ender’s Game or The Day the Earth Stood Still; that different species of intelligent life can be unbiased towards one another regardless of appearance or other oddities. That being said, most aliens in the Star Wars franchise are English speaking humanoids, not insect-like Buggers, and so an argument could be made that these aliens aren’t “different” enough to have difficulties interacting with each other.

Beyond making a speculative statement that human-kind might have trouble peacefully communicating with extraterrestrials, Ender’s Game challenges the efficiency of humans in general. The Bugger’s are a hive-mind, meaning they act as one. This makes them very difficult to battle against, hence humanities previous failures fighting them. Ender changes the outcome of the war by making his fleet of ships a hive-mind itself, with Ender as the “queen”. In other words, the reason Ender is such an effective commander is that he does his best to mimic the hive-mind mentality that the Buggers have evolutionarily programmed into their minds.

So why didn’t humanity evolve as a hive-mind? As shown in Ender’s Game, it is a far more efficient mental state, especially when it comes to warfare. Currently, humans do have a few “hive-mind” like tendencies. For instance, a mother’s maternal instincts are strictly selfless. These instincts exist in order to ensure the future of the human race, and have nothing to do with the mother’s individual survival. When a mother is acting on maternal instinct, she dismissing the self and acting purely for the good of the “hive”. This can be compared to one of Ender’s pilots flying into his/her death for the sake of winning the fight. The human tendency to fall in love can also be explained by this logic. It would be inefficient for a society of beings to be completely selfish and only focused on their own survival. Love promotes teamwork and the human race as a whole, similar to the way certain animals move in packs. As unromantic a concept as it may seem, love exists as a facet of the subtle human hive-mind. Feelings of empathy and pity also fall into this category.

However, the human hive-mind is limited, and nothing in comparison to that of the Buggers in Ender’s Game. Humans can easily disregard feelings of pity and empathy, and kill one another to benefit their own survival. In many ways, this is illogical and inefficient. A robber might kill three people in order to take their money and survive. From the robber’s point of view, this may have been his only chance at not starving to death. However, evolutionarily speaking, this is a one-for-three deal and is extremely inefficient. Had Ender been guiding the robber and the family, he would have realized that three deaths are more than one, and commanded the robber to starve to death. Yet, in our society, the family would die, and the remorseless robber would go on living. Why is this possible? How did humans evolve to not be like the Buggers, a single unit which operates in the most efficient way possible?

Many might argue that we would lose our “humanity” if we were to submit to a hive-mind. The Bugger’s seem strange to us because it is difficult to imagine being a worker Bugger and having no individuality whatsoever. In comparison to the rest of the hive, your life is meaningless and disposable. That is a disturbing thought to us. The reason Ender is special is because he realizes this, and can command an army without any recognition of an individual soldier’s life. In a way, in a hive-mind, the Queen is the only being who is actually alive. Since she thinks for her workers, the workers can be considered to be her extremities. This concept seems to lessen the moral impact of Ender’s Game, as Ender really only killed the Queen Bugger, and the workers themselves weren’t really alive. This may have been an intentional move by Orson Scott Card to make the book less brutal and to make sure his protagonist didn’t actually conduct a genocide.

It is important to consider why humans have evolved with selfish instincts, as opposed to the Bugger’s who are an efficient, selfless hive-mind. What evolutionary benefits are there to individuality? While Ender is definitely the poster boy for the pro hive-mind argument, his ability to hone in on its potential is only possible because he is a unique individual. While this is very circular reasoning, it does contribute to my point. Individuality is key proponent to natural selection. While a purely hive-minded society might be more efficient at first, such a society has no ability to progress and evolve via natural selection. If the humans in Ender’s Game were a hive-mind like the Buggers, Ender would never have been able to use his special gift. Ender would have simply been over looked as another “worker bee” that can be thrown into space ship and sent to his death. Since this was not the case, Ender was able to flourish into the talented man that he is, and proceed to defeat the Buggers using their own hive-mind tactics.

This confirms that a society of individuals can both become a hive-mind when necessary, or allow themselves to exist as unique entities with their own strengths and weaknesses. A historical example of this phenomena is D-Day Omaha Beach landing during World War II. During this assault against Germany’s Atlantic Wall, American troops landed on a fully fortified beach in German territory. Their goal was to break through the fortifications and push towards the mainland. While this assault featured many American military miscalculations which led to severe casualties, it was generally known amongst the soldiers landing on the beach that they were being sent to their deaths. Regardless of this fact, American soldiers pushed through barbed wire, booby traps and thick machine gun fire to complete their mission. When an individual essentially commits suicide for the benefit of his/her country, he is tapping into a hive-mind mentality. This mentality is encouraged by military officers, and most forms of military training around the world are centered around it. Troops are trained to follow tight schedules, follow orders (often blindly), cope with unnaturally uncomfortable conditions and die for their causes.

Perhaps then, the Bugger mindset is only practical for military purposes. Most of the examples I have given so far have proved its efficiency in military operations, but also proved that the hive-mindset’s tendency to eliminate individuality can be inefficient for conducting natural selection. Yet, there are other element of our culture that seem to be endorsed by this way of thinking. Firstly, I must reference the notion of communism. Simply put, communism is a political ideology that endorses universal sharing of goods. Private property is non-existant in communist society. In many ways, this is the way the Bugger’s likely conduct their civilization. A loss of private property implies a loss of individuality. The government in a communist society can be compared to the Bugger Queens. They dictate the people and make decisions for the good of the country as a whole. While collapsed governments like Soviet Russia prove that communism is flawed, perhaps communism can succeed in an environment with more resources. This is likely considering statistically, communism is indeed the most efficient way to run a country.  Other examples of hive-mindedness in our world include nationalism, racial pride, or even cheering on a beloved sport team. It is evident that humans truly do have an instinctual urge to be “part of something bigger”.

Finally, I would like to address the propaganda that occurs in the Ender’s Game reality. Throughout this essay I have referred to the Ender’s Game creatures as “Buggers”. This term was actually a slanderous nickname that was given to these aliens by humans. This term separates them from humans and likely did not originate naturally. After all, humans in this novel don’t actually come into direct contact with the Buggers at all. I speculate that “Buggers” was probably created by news stations in order usher on animosity. This is significant, as propaganda like this allowed the war to take place. Since we learn that the Buggers did not actually want to fight, and were only defending themselves at the close of the narrative, it is clear that the human military was intentionally trying to wipe them out for the sake of wiping them out. This genocide probably occurred in order to allow for colonies to be created on the now abandoned Bugger worlds, as explained by Valentine.

It can be assumed that had earth’s population been aware that the Bugger’s did not want to fight, the war would not have taken place. Yet, citizens demonized the Buggers, idolized Rackham for killing them, and generally supported the battles that took place. The government had essentially manipulated the people into thinking the Buggers were the enemy. This has disturbing implications when considering the outcome of possible future alien contact in the real world, and when contemplating the power of the press. The circulation of Boston Massacre propaganda in 1770 colonial America is a similar incident. The killing of five colonials at British rifle point could easily have gone under the radar. However, the colonial press blew up this incident, demonizing the British, and contributing to the start of a full on war. One could easily imagine a scenario in which the press was explicitly told by the colonial government to broadcast this event in order to provoke a war, and satisfy their own agendas. Of course, unlike in Ender’s Game, the war that followed was generally considered to be justified.

While much focus is placed upon the development of Ender’s character, Oson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game offers an interesting take on a possible military exchange with extraterrestrials. These “Buggers” are unique due to their extremely inhuman characteristics, and their hive-minded social structure. Humanity’s actions in response to their presence in this novel provides a look at our own hive-mindedness as a species, and the influence of the press.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

“The Boston Massacre.” Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Game of Thrones, a television series based off George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire book series, possesses a unique vantage on Fantasy as a genre. Every aspect of the story is intricately designed and painstakingly webbed such that every detail is somehow intertwined and connected to every other detail. What is interesting about Game of Thrones in comparison to other shows and literature is the method by which the plot progresses. Most stories are constructed with the conflict as the focal point. The story is then told via a series of events that return to the conflict and ultimately lead to a resolution. Game of Thrones, however, relies much more heavily on character development to outline the plot, rarely bringing the initial conflict presented to the forefront.

To give some background, Game of Thrones focuses on the power struggle that exists with determining who the rightful heir to the Iron Throne is. Whoever sits upon the Iron Throne controls all the seven kingdoms that make up Westeros, the “country” in which the plot takes place. Westeros is made up of numerous different regions and locations, but the three most important include Winterfell, home of the Starks, King’s Landing, home of the Lannister and some of the Baratheon families, and The Wall. The Wall, commonly referred to as Castle Black,  is where society’s rejects and volunteers, who then become men of The Night’s Watch, live out a life sentence of protecting Westeros from the wildlings and creatures north of The Wall. The War of the Five Kings specifically refers to Joffrey Baratheon (Lannister), deceased King Robert Baratheon’s assumed son, though technically Queen Cersei and Jamie Lannister’s bastard, Stannis Baratheon, the middle Baratheon brother and technical heir due to Queen Cersei’s incest, Renly Baratheon, the youngest brother, Balon Greyjoy, and Robb Stark, Ned Stark’s eldest son. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne for quite some time while Stannis Baratheon resides as “King” of the Narrow Sea, Renly as “King” of Highgarden, Robb as “King” of the North, and Baylon as “King” of the Iron Isles. Relevant to the war but not included in the list is Daenerys Targaryen. She is the daughter of The Mad King who reigned before Robert Baratheon. Another crucial component to Game of Thrones is the white walkers. The white walkers are essentially ice zombies who also appear to be building an army and trying to take over. As the show currently stands, there exists no true King and a majority of the main characters are either being killed off or fleeing to protect themselves.

Season one, episode one begins by introducing White Walkers. Basically, these are living dead icemen that roam north of The Wall and appear to be building an army. No one seems to be concerned except for the men of The Night’s Watch – volunteers and exiles who commit the remainder of their lives to guarding the wall and ensuring safety for all the realms south of it – and Ned Stark – short-lived Warden of Winterfell – who continuously reminds everyone that “winter is coming.” It is from this opening scene that this main conflict is drawn. The goal, then, being to spread the news about the White Walkers and configure a way to stop them. Instead of building the plot around this, the story really revolves around the lives of six significant characters. Cersei Lannister, regent Queen of King’s Landing, Tyrion Lannister, a clever yet hated dwarf with nothing short of an interesting background, Jon Snow, Ned Stark’s bastard son who has volunteered for the Night’s Watch, Arya Stark, Ned Stark’s youngest daughter who escaped King’s Landing and lives as a runaway for the majority of seasons one through five, Brandon Stark, Ned Stark’s second youngest son who becomes crippled and possesses a power called “the sight”, and Daenerys Targaryen, the daughter of the late Mad King and the mother of dragons who strongly believes in justice and freedom. All the other character story lines, whether major or minor, find themselves in some way tied to one of these six significant characters.

Cersei Lannister begins the show as Queen of the Iron Throne and wife to King Robert Baratheon. She is immediately revealed as cruel, conniving, and relentless when she has her future daughter-in-law’s wolf killed to get justice for her eldest son Joffrey’s injuries. This is merely a glimpse into the passion Cersei possesses when caring for her children. Also important to Cersei’s character is her secret affair with her brother Jamie Lannister and other various family members. It is discovered early on by a select few that Cersei’s children are not Robert Baratheon’s, meaning they are not entitled to the throne. This alone unravels a never-ending fight for Cersei as she strives to keep her lineage in power and the Lannister name in good standing. Gregor Clegane, also known as the Mountain, is Tywin Lannister’s (father to Cersei, Jamie, and Tyrion) personal hitman who leads his “death squad” on assassination and destruction parties. As of season four, the Mountain comes under the power of Cersei as her own personal killer, destroying anyone and anything that she finds a problem. Numerous times in her life she has been known to plot and kill important figures throughout Westeros including, Jon Arryn, her husband’s Hand of the King before Ned Stark via poison, multiple failed attempts against her brother Tyrion, and even her late husband Robert was given wine in excess by Lancel Lannister under her orders, causing him to become drunken and reckless such that he was gored by a bull while hunting. In the end, however, she is truly focused on protecting her children, her brother and lover Jamie, and her family name. These passions of hers are what drive her extreme actions and shape her ruthless attitude.

Tyrion Lannister is initially presented as a drunkard with little respect for anyone, including himself. While the drunkard part remains consistent throughout the seasons, little else does. Tyrion’s character is alluring as he represents the black sheep of the Lannister family. He is hated and mocked by most everyone in King’s Landing and beyond, his sister Cersei blames him for the death of his mother, his father refuses to claim him as his son, and he struggles to gain any type of respect simply because he is an imp. Three key stories have morphed Tyrion thus far. The first is his job as hand of the king. His father requests he take his place in his absence and for once Tyrion feels as though he is being acknowledged, respected, and appreciated. During this time, Tyrion succeeds in decimating half of Stannis Baratheon’s army and essentially saving King’s Landing and the Lannisters from what would have otherwise likely been their demise. Of course, this goes unrecognized and he is repaid by having Cersei order someone to try and kill him during the battle. Tyrion struggles during this time to cope with the hatred and lack of appreciation he receives from his family. The next monumental part of Tyrion is his lover Shae. Because Shae is a whore, he has to hide her in King’s Landing as Sansa’s (Ned Stark’s daughter and future wife to King Joffrey) maid. Shae makes Tyrion soft and we see him grapple with whether or not his love for her is worth keeping her in danger. When Tyrion is forced to marry Sansa following Joffrey’s choosing of a different fiancé, things get uncomfortable. Tyrion doesn’t know how to be with someone quite so young and innocent and he feels remorse and heartbreak because he cannot get Shae to understand why things have to be as they are. This awkward dynamic shows just how heartfelt Tyrion truly is. The next major shift we see is after he is accused of poisoning Joffrey. While he awaits his fate in the dungeons, he grows immensely bitter regarding how unfairly he is treated. During this time, and even after he has escaped King’s Landing, his death, and murdered his ex-lover Shae and his father, Tyrion returns to the original nonchalant, sardonic, selfish attitude that he conveys at the onset of the show.

Jon Snow, much like Tyrion, is the black sheep of the Stark family. Katelyn loathes him because he is a constant reminder to her that her husband Ned slept with another woman. This is partially why Jon volunteers himself for The Night’s Watch. Though not as clever and sassy, Jon suffers being intentionally humiliated, unappreciated, mimicked, and resented at Castle Black (the location of The Night’s Watch) the same that Tyrion does in King’s Landing. Jon, though clearly the best fighter of the new inductees to The Night’s Watch, is given a servant job. The most crucial story to his character is the wildlings ordeal. To make a long story short, Jon gets separated from his group of men while beyond the wall when he loses a wildling girl he couldn’t build the guts to kill. She eventually leads him into a trap, where he and another member of The Night’s Watch are being held captive. The two men conjure up a plan in which Jon is ordered to kill him in front of the wildlings to prove his loyalty to them and ask to be a member. First, Jon’s inability to kill Ygritte (the wildling) demonstrates his compassion for people and moral sense. By agreeing to kill his fellow Night’s Watchmen and trick the wildlings his ability to listen, take orders, yet also be loyal and a liar is conveyed. While a part of the wildlings, Jon falls in love with Ygritte, though this is short-lived and not terribly significant in the big scheme of things. After “betraying” the wildlings and returning to Castle Black, Jon proves to be much more independent and demonstrates attributes of a leader. He is increasingly more outspoken, assertive, and articulate. Because of this, both those in charge and the other men of The Night’s Watch approach him with more respect and take him more seriously. He evolves into a pronounced leader, much like the Stark he is, as the plot progresses. He becomes heavily involved with Stannis Baratheon when the two meet beyond The Wall. Stannis comes to overtake the wildlings (he wants them to rally behind him in his fight for the throne in exchange for their freedom and safety south of The Wall) and realizes Jon has a significant influence over Mance Rayder, the “King” beyond The Wall. Stannis and Jon’s relationship excellently demonstrates the way two major character storylines become mingled and assist in the advancement of the plot.

Arya is a feminist from the start. She bluntly states that she has no desire nor intention of being a wife and mother, rather she wishes to be independent and fight. This attitude is not only what puts her in danger a lot of times, but also what has kept her alive and well up to this point. She thinks she knows all there is to know and is well-versed in every bit of it. Her stubborn inability to heed advice is what truly makes the character. While in King’s Landing with Ned, Arya is taught the art of sword fighting. Her brother Jon, before parting for The Night’s Watch, has her a sword crafted, which she names Needle. When her father is beheaded at the hands of King Joffrey, Arya flees the city. She cuts her hair to pose as a male and works in a laborious job of sorts. Ironically, she and some others are captured by some Lannisters and brought to Castle Le Rock where Tywin Lannister (Cersei and Tyrion’s father) is currently residing at the time. He makes her his personal servant, in which she brings him food and pours him and his guests’ drinks. In turn, she gets to hear all of the latest rumors and news regarding her family members and what is unfolding at King’s Landing. After making a mistake and realizing her cover is at risk, she and her two friends flee this city. Arya is then taken by a group calling themselves The Brotherhood. While with this group, they encounter The Hound (brother to The Mountain and ex-personal bodyguard to King Joffrey who is also now on the run). After The Brotherhood sells her friend to Stannis Baratheon and refuses to kill The Hound for his past murdering of her other friend, the Butcher’s boy, at the command of Joffrey, Arya becomes outraged and flees yet again. This time, she is captured by The Hound, her travelling companion for the bulk of her story. Arya is likely the most static character in the show. No matter what she goes through, she doesn’t seem to learn from the consequences. She is consistently just as hard-headed, hostile, and hasty as she is in the beginning. She doesn’t become anymore skilled a fighter, any cleverer a liar, nor any better at holding her tongue and differentiating when what is appropriate or not. Her only goal is to kill everyone on her crap list, and so she is otherwise aimlessly roaming. More than half of her family is dead so she has nowhere to go. In this regard, it is intriguing that such a large part of Game of Thrones is being told via a meandering girl’s story with no true plot.

Brandon Stark’s story begins at the end of season one, episode one, when Jamie Lannister pushes him from the top of a castle after he catches Jamie and his sister Cersei having sex. Brandon is then paralyzed waist down and spends quite a long time unconscious. He rules as the temporary Warden of the North and Lord of Winterfell for a period of time in the absence of his family until Theon Greyjoy (raised by the Starks but actual son to Balon Greyjoy, King of the Iron Isles) betrays the Starks and takes over Winterfell. Brandon, his brother Rickon, his human wheelchair Hodor, and wildling friend Osha flee Winterfell and eventually meet Jojen and Meera Reed. Jojen possesses “the sight” and helps Brandon both understand and learn his power and role as a warg. Essentially, Brandon is able to transfer out of his body and into other people and creatures. This is generally referred to as warging. They begin a journey together for the Three-Eyed Raven, a man who is apparently supposed to teach Brandon how to save the world with his gift. It is alluded that Brandon will be able to warg into a dragon and hopefully bring about the demise of, or settle some sort of agreement with, the white walkers.

Daenerys Targaryen seems to have a story line of her own as she is hardly connected to anyone for seasons one through four. She is the daughter of The Mad King and thus feels she is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. After being sold by her brother to the Dothraki and made wife to Khal Drogo, she transforms from a quiet obedient girl into a powerful, strong-minded individual. She sets out with her brother and the Dothraki to take back King’s Landing. Khal Drogo gets sorely wounded while she is pregnant and she attempts to use witchcraft to heal him, only to lose both him and the baby. From this sad series of unfortunate events, Daenerys proves herself Mother of Dragons when she walks through some flames and retrieves her hatched dragons. Most of the Dothraki have abandoned her at this point, but a few remain along with her advisor and protector Jorah. Daenerys and her remaining followers proceed to a series of towns. The first is Qarth. Daenerys manages to restore life to her dying followers and also obtain one ship to travel. Of course, this feat is not completed with ease. Several members of the town try to play and trick Daenerys for her dragons. The time she spends in this town highlights her courage and strength against her enemies. The next city her group arrives to is Astapor. While here, Daenerys tricks the King of Astapor into trading all eight thousand unsullied soldiers to her for one dragon. Once in possession of the unsullied, Daenerys orders the dragon to burn the King of Astapor and she then frees all the slaves of the city. Next, she travels to Yunkai with her army where she proves further just how ruthless and clever she really is when she defeats the Yunkai masters and army, freeing even more slaves. The last city she takes, and the one in which she chooses to reside and make her own for a time, is Meereen. Here, Daenerys rules as Queen but quickly faces some backlash. Many of the freed people are unsure of what to do with their new liberty and long for the structured guidance and schedule that came with slave life. Daenerys is adamant about maintaining freedom under reign but does not like the idea that some of the ex-slaves wish to return to their masters and old way of life. She feels like her efforts have been futile and wants to ensure she remains both fair and respected while in power. Additionally, Daenerys struggles to tame her dragons as they grow older and larger. They quickly become less obedient and more aggressive with both the public and Daenerys herself. Daenerys eventually learns that Jorah has been reporting information regarding her travels to Lord Varys in King’s Landing in hopes of being pardoned. This brings about Lord Varys and Tyrion Lannister’s involvement with and support of Daenerys’ goal to take the throne. This is just one of the many examples demonstrating how all the character’s stories are intertwined.

Jon Snow and Brandon Stark are the only two characters whose story lines actually relate to the white walkers. Jon is fighting as a man of The Night’s Watch to defend all that is south of The Wall, while Brandon is intended to utilize his power as a warg to destroy the white walkers as an army. Both are trying to protect civilization. No other character’s story is affected by nor has any influence on the white walkers. While the fight for the throne is a crucial part of the show, it is not presented as though it is the major conflict. The white walkers are presented as the largest threat and what one would assume to be the driving force behind the rising actions and events in the story. The fact that this isn’t the case and the character development is defining the plot more so than the conflict is unique. The intertwining of the characters stories augments the web in a way that will likely eventually make the white walkers everyone’s problem through Brandon and Jon.

Depending on character development establishes an excellent platform for major themes to arise as well. Some of the most significant themes seen through the character development in Game of Thrones includes power, love, family, war, and death. The characters are evidently impacted by each of these concepts and morphed into new personalities with each experience. It is also worth noting the fact that these characters create these themes through their own decisions. Allowing the characters’ stories to drive the plot as opposed to the major conflict leaves more room for variance, creativity, and detail. This is really one of the key concepts that makes Game of Thrones so enticing. It has depth and complexity that few other stories or shows can compete.

Game of Thrones is a complicated story told via the vantage of several major characters. Because the main conflict is rarely addressed, the plot is driven less by attempts to resolve the conflict and more so by the daily lives and confrontations faced by the detached characters. How they transform as individuals and the ways in which their stories intertwine with everyone else establishes an intense web that evokes interest, confusion, and considerable thought when viewing the show. George R. R. Martin has designed an intricate storyline with a remarkably distinct approach to the plot. The lack of conventional approach to the dramatic structure of storytelling successfully sets the show apart from all the rest.

It is seen often in science fiction and dystopian/utopian stories: Time Travel and Alternate Reality. It could easily be argued that alternate realities govern the very concept of utopian/dystopian stories. They arise from the fears, wishes, and dreams of men. Science Fiction itself is often defined as a narrative twist of scientific theories and hypothesis. Whether it be “Left Hand of Darkness,” “Kindred,” or even “Game of Thrones,” these stories arise from the dreams, and fears, of an author or a generation. This becomes even more interesting when time travel is involved.

Time travel, if used, has multiple shapes and forms throughout different stories. You have stories, such as “Kindred” or “Outlander,” which use it as an element of story-telling in order to place future characters in distinct situations in order to deal with unfamiliar concepts and cultures. These stories are not very specific in the way time travel works, and only use the concept in order to progress the story. The other type of time travel often seen in stories is used as an element of the story, and one which has tangible consequences and effects on the characters or the world in which the story takes place. Some stories which have used this type of time travel include “Dragon Ball Z,” during the Android Saga, DC Comics’ “Flashpoint Paradox,” in which The Flash gravely alters the universe of his residence when he changes an event in the past, various Star Wars stories, in which Force-users are able to predict the future or observe the past in order to influence events in the present, and the newer Star Trek films, in which Spock from the original series turns up in the universe of the nascent enterprise and advises Kirk on multiple occasions. While neither of the stories analyzed in this essay deal directly with time travel, “alternate universes” is an often-mentioned consequence of time travel and the events which occur in different timelines, thus making this theme relevant to both stories. Both stories are absolutely dependent on “Multiverse” hypothesis, which relies strongly on timelines.

“Life After Life” and “Black Mirror” are both heavily immersed in the Alternate Reality/Multiverse theme. While most stories are alternate realities, both of these works and stories are dealing with it directly, in a way analogous to “Inception” and dreams. While one is driven by a single character and the world around her, the other deals in multiple, logically-disconnected realities and subjects. Even so, these stories are more alike than what may appear at first glance. For instance, both works deal with choices, and the characters that make them. Both stories also deal with the consequences such choices invoke, more often than not resulting in regret. Lastly, but certainly not least, these stories are also about the alternate realities that are created within. These alternate realities are not simply used to push the plot forward or to spice up another theme or character relations, but are rather presented and explored thoroughly.

“Life after Life” is riddled with important choices throughout Ursula’s cyclic journey. Most of the events that would bring change to her fate in a particular reality depend on the choices she made, as well as the choices of some of the other characters in the story. Ursula’s life past her years as a child depended heavily on the choices she made, as well as those made by others she was surrounded with. To name a few instances, Ursula would not have survived her beach field trip had it not been due to the heroics of a man standing close-by. Ursula’s dependency on her own actions would come to light at three key points: Whether or not to climb out of the roof to fetch her doll, dealing with Bridget’s decision to attend the celebration’s of the end of The Great War, and how to deal with Howie. These choices of her as a child determined many of the outcomes she would have as an adult, if she was to have an adult life to begin with. Other important choices also arise during this time: Whether or not to save Nancy, and whether or not she would attend University or Secretarial School programs. These choices would determine her environment as an adult. Ursula would meet her end at Oliphant’s hands if she fell victim to Howie’s sexual advances. Ursula would not even reach the decision to deal with Howie if she did not push Bridget down the stairs with enough force to cripple her, or trick her into believing her fiance was disloyal. Even more astonishing is the fact that Ursula’s decision to save or not to save Nancy would determine her brother’s happiness. While Ursula’s decisions would prove to be more malleable the more she died, being able to create similar effects with different actions (In one of her last life cycles in the book, Ursula allowed Nancy’s death, attended University, traveled Europe, then returned to England and became a secretary in the government once more), some were more crucial than others. For instance, Ursula always died if she did not live with Millie during WWII, as the Miller’s house would always be struck by a bomb, and in a few instances she even perished there simply by virtue of visiting the place due to knowing the people in the residence. Ursula would also travel around Europe if she attended College, but would remain in Britain if she decided to attend Secretarial School instead. The decisions made by Ursula during the novel would result in vastly different realities for her, and in one instance, the world. Due to her ability to remember her lives, Ursula was able to hatch a plan to kill Adolf Hitler before he even became Chancellor of Germany. Regardless of whether or not this would have changed history, she was able to impact the world through the power of personal choice, slowly modelling herself in that alternate reality to execute a suicide mission to prevent WWII. It is easy to argue that “Life after Life” is a novel about the power of choice.

While not as easy a task as “Life after Life,” “Black Mirror” also delved deeply in the theme of personal choice. While the audience does not have the luxury to “view” the different outcomes characters could produce if they had changed their choices during the episodes, unlike Ursula, every story in the show’s run delved into the power, or insignificance, of choices. For instance, the pilot episode, “National Anthem,” can be boiled down to a simple statement: Will or will not the Prime Minister yield to pressure from the criminal that has kidnapped the princess? The episode (most memorably) decided that he would, due to extreme pressure from the public and the queen. More interestingly, however, is the fact that the artist demonstrated how certain he was this would occur by releasing the princess and committing suicide before the video was even released. While this scenario is unlikely (a real-life government would probably allow the princess’ death and use the occasion to push restrictive legislation), it conveys the idea of inevitable choices. This idea can be seen in other episodes as well: The episode “Fifteen Million Merits” saw the protagonist yield to the show’s pressure and became a speaker to pacify the masses, while the episode “White Bear” saw the convicted criminal repeat the same actions daily in such a predictable fashion that a routine was already in motion every time she rose with her memory wiped. Inevitable choice, however, is not the only idea expressed by the show. The show also provided the audience with moments of important decision-making: In “The Entire History of You,” the main character made the decision to divorce his wife after she cheated on him and lied about the child’s paternity, as well as deciding not to wear the memory-recording device most people possessed and used on a daily basis. This was a life changing decision, and was not a forced or inevitable one. Another episode, titled “Be Right Back,” depicted a grieving widow’s decision to use a program in order to replicate her late husband, as well as her decision not to destroy the android once she was infuriated at it’s lack of ability to replicate her former beau’s personality. Both of these episodes showed life-changing decisions being made without an aura of inevitability. The show does, however, delve into one more key theme regarding choice: Futility. During the episode “Waldo’s Moment,” the creator of said political cartoon decided to attempt to sabotage his cartoon’s influence over the masses, but this act only led him to be despondent, and his creation would continue to achieve the political potential that those interested in his cartoon dreamed to achieve.  The man’s decision, while not one his boss wished, did nothing to stop the events that were already in motion, as it was too late. The very last, and longest, episode, “White Christmas,” also delved in the futility of decisions. The AI derived from their human hosts would eventually give in to the wishes of the programmer or be too broken down to function, being sold to the game industry at this point. This is much more crucial once the viewer learns that “John Hamm” was extracting information from an AI of the suspect, which made whatever decision the man made irrelevant, as sooner or later one AI law enforcement makes will reveal the information. The privacy of anyone under custody is no longer a factor. Even John Hamm’s character was given a futile choice: To be imprisoned or to be free, but with everyone in the world blocking him in their memory/cognition computers. The show delves into not only 2, but three instances of choice, making this a major theme in the series’ lifetime.

Given that choice is a prominent theme in both works, the consequences of these choices are also important to address fully. While not all consequences of decision-making are harmful (decisions are directly responsible for the achievement of “happiness,” after all), most “multiverse” stories are driven by regret. For instance, The Flash travels back in time in “Flashpoint Paradox” in order to save his mother from being killed, an event he always felt guilty and regretful about. In Dragon Ball Z, Trunks travels back in time in order to keep Goku from dying before the Androids attack the earth’s human population and create a living hell in his timeline. Regret is often thought of as an emotion, but it is not. Regret can stem from any instance in which one has a desire to retract a choice or an event, and it is not always emotionally guided. Regret can range from a sinking, inescapable feeling of guilt and depression to merely a glancing desire to change a circumstance which one expects or has already seen. Many great stories with multiverse elements in them deal with regret and rue, and both of “Life after Life” and “Black Mirror” do so as well.

Of the two works, “Life after Life” is perhaps fueled by regret the most. As the story progresses, and Ursula lives out different outcomes, the regret element comes out to the fore, more strongly each passing lifetime, at least from the narrative order of the book. Ursula constantly tried to save herself, or her family, due to a sinking feeling she felt when placed in a key event. Notably, but less sentimentally, was her numerous attempts to keep Bridget from attending the celebrations. While not overly sentimentally, Ursula regretted the outcome of Bridget infecting her or her family, and did her best to prevent this. While there are numerous examples, regret comes out at it’s most noticeable form in two instances: Ursula’s life as a mother in Germany, and her lifetime in which she recalled all her decisions, which drove her over the edge. Ursula constantly displayed emotional distress and emotional regret while in Germany, often missing her home and wishing to save her child from the miserable life they led. Ursula would not return to Europe in her next lifetime, instance remaining in England and surviving, for the first time, the explosion of the Miller’s home. The latter instance, in which she was driven over the edge by her decisions in past lives, she allows herself to be killed in order to reemerge in the following lifetime and prepare to assassinate Hitler. Regret may even have influenced Ursula’s last lifeline in the book, in which the war occurs but Teddy survives his plane crash. Ursula could have arranged for the communications officer to push Teddy out of the burning debris, as she was able to recall past lifetimes by this point, and nothing in the book indicates otherwise. ‘Life after Life” deals heavily with different choices, and many of these choices were fueled by regret.

“Black Mirror” also has many displays of regret and rue. It is regret that drove the protagonist of “Fifteen Million Merits” to participate in the show and rant about his pain and suffering, as he deeply regretted his part in his love interest’s turn to pornography. The Prime Minister was visibly regretful of his copulation with the pig, as he vomited immediately afterwards and his marriage was ruined by the event. The creator of Waldo was regretful, spiteful, and miserable by the end of the episode, as his decisions had stripped him of the woman he wanted and the character he created, as well as being in visible lack of material funds and civil liberty. The husband, the criminals, and even John Hamm’s character all would end up in unhappy situations due to their choices, and all felt a powerful regret come upon them. Even the widow was almost driven to destroy the android she ordered by a feeling of regret over her decision to activate him. While many of these character’s could not change the events which haunted them, the regrets of all had an impact upon them. Given that this is a series based on decisions, regret naturally appeared in all episodes.

While both “Life after Life” and “Black Mirror” dealt with choice and regret in strong and contrasting ways, both works dealt with alternate realities in equal measure, even if not directly. Both stories would place their characters under different realities, and at different points in time. While in the case of ‘Life after Life” a multiverse scenario is strongly inferred, with Ursula being a “link” between these different lifetimes, “Black Mirror” is not implicitly connected as a series, but a case can be made for the episodes being connected in one reality, with each story displaying a different “aspect” of alternate reality, and the scenarios which the concept can bring up. This is, however, not necessarily the case. Ursula could easily be reliving her own life in a circle, with every world she leaves upon death “blowing out” of existence, and the presence of Waldo, the show from “Fifteen Million Merits,” and the computerized memory devices simply being cameos in “White Christmas.” Regardless, both of these works use alternate reality as an element of story telling rather than simply being a story which takes place in an alternate reality.

“Life after Life” places Ursula in different lives, which she can remember, to varying degrees, the more she dies throughout the story. Ursula’s decision’s changed a great number of times, and thus she lived in many different realities. While in one reality she could be nothing more than the victim of an abusive and possessive husband, on another she could kill Adolf Hitler and rewrite the history of mankind as it is currently known. While Doctor Keller suspected Ursula to be subjected to “Nirvana,” and thus be reborn any number of times in order to reach an ideal state and cease to be reborn, this is not confirmed, nor would this eliminate the possibility of multiverse. Were this theory to be generally correct, Ursula’s partial conscience would conceivably travel across universes in order to have her relive her life in said universe. Another possibility would be that Ursula (or Sylvie, depending on which train of thought one is part of) has the ability to create alternate universes with each passing dead, all different to distinct degrees. Given that Ursula never seems to be able to stop recreating her life, yet she can more clearly recreate events so that they fit her desire best, it is a possibility that Ursula is, in effect, a source of continuous, and infinite, alternate universes. If one considers the scenario that this is not a multiverse, then Ursula would be in a time loop, which ends with her death and resets with her new birth. In this scenario, the world in which she was previously a part of would cease to exist completely. While this a more difficult idea to display via reasoning, it can be done if one assumes the presence of divinity, magic, or incomprehensible and unmentioned technology. Regardless of one’s personal position on the matter, “Life after Life” clearly uses alternate realities as an element of the story, and depends heavily on their use.

“Black Mirror” is likewise using alternate reality as an element of the story. This case has to be made in two different ways, however, as it depends on whether or not one considers the storylines of the series to be connected or simply dystopian stories from different worlds. The case of the latter is much simpler to connect to alternate reality as an element of the story. In this case, since each story would take place in different worlds, there would be a direct and undeniable use of alternate reality. In this case, the only unifying theme in the series would be the many different worlds advanced technology and outrageous scenarios can create. The case in which all the episodes reside in one reality, however, is far more complex to relate to alternate reality being an element of the story rather than the story simply being an alternate reality itself. Firstly, this argument was solidified in the episode “White Christmas,” in which the Waldo cartoon, the memory-storing device and the show from episode 2 make an appearance. While this could easily be dismissed as “fan-service,” it cannot be entirely overlooked. While all the episodes were vastly different from each other, at no point were they stated to be taking place at a particular point in time in the story. In this scenario, the various storylines could be arranged in different order, with “White Christmas” being the story which takes place in the latest point in the timeline. In this instance, episodes with no outrageous technology, such as “The National Anthem” and “White Bear,”would take place first, displaying a tendency of governmental institutions yielding to the emotions of the masses rather than upholding a standard. “Be Right Back” would likely be next, alongside “The Waldo Moment,” due to next-gen technologies being displayed in these episodes, with the Waldo cartoon providing the politicians with an effective means to pacify the masses’ discontent with unfair and harmful political situations. “The Entire History of You” and “Fifteen Million Merits” would follow, as both stories possess advanced technology and mass subjugation through different means, which would indicate that the men and women working in the bicycles are isolated from the general populations and kept by more direct oppression. Last, but not least, would come “White Christmas,” which displays a harsh and technologically advanced culture deeply seeded in technological interactions. In this version of “Black Mirror,” it would seem that alternate reality is no longer an element of the story. This, however, is not the case. This story would still be told via fragmented episodes of one alternate reality, instead focusing on the different “personal realities” each character of the episodes experiences. While both ways of observing “Black Mirror” yield different stories, and greatly different interpretation of the series, both ways use alternate reality as an element of the story, just like “Life after Life.”

“Life after Life” and “Black Mirror” represent two very different approaches to similar and related themes. While “Life after Life” deals with the choices, and the changes in said choices, made by one person and the effect these choices can have on the life of that person, or even the world, “Black Mirror” deals with how choices are made by the people placed in situation in which they must be made, and delves into the relevance, or lack thereof, of said choices. Both stories also deal with the theme of regret, but differently. While “Life after Life” focuses more on how regret can motivate a person to act, and change history if possible, “Black Mirror” focuses more on the effects regret has on an individual, and how they may be affected by it. While one story deals with manipulation of regret, the other deals with the coping, or suffering, of regret. Both stories also use alternate reality as a part of the story, whether it be “Life after Life”‘s different lives experienced by Ursula to “Black Mirror”‘s use of situational realities influencing the people in them to act a certain way, possibly all within the same timeline or not. While both stories are different, “Life after Life” focusing on the lives of Ursula and how the world affects her while “Black Mirror” deals with the effects of outrageous circumstances borne of advanced technology or difficult situations, both stories deal with the use of choices, how those choices affect the world and the characters positively or negatively, and use alternate reality to convey the story and as part of the story, rather than simply being alternate realities themselves. While stories like “Kindred” and “Outlander” use time travel, the consequences that can be borne out of it are much more appropriately addressed by these two works, regardless of the lack of time travel in them.

 

Television series Black Mirror discusses many ways that technology could cause modern Western society to become a dystopia. Using current trends in society taken to their extremes, Black Mirror examines the different ways our obsessions with social media, consumption, or reality television could impose restrictions on our lives. No episode of the series goes to such an extreme as “15 Million Merits,” in which modern British society has been supplanted by a system through which people earn fame and freedom in an American Idol-esque reality show. Parallel, though distinctly different from this, is the Republic of Gilead in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. As opposed to a technology-flooded society of excess, Gilead has been taken over by Christian extremists who strip America down to a country built on Biblical strictures. Despite the differences between these two dystopias, there are fundamental similarities among the social structures, concepts of conformity, and ideas on freedom and modern society.

The protagonist in “15 Million Merits,” Bing, lives in a sort of planned community. He has a single bed in a small cell surrounded by screens, on which he can watch TV and interact with his peers through a digital avatar known as a “Dopple.” Everything Bing does is paid for through “Merits”, a digital currency earned by riding a stationary bike day in and day out. Everyone in Bing’s community is young and athletic, wears grey, and it is implied that they are providing power by cycling. Because of this, overweight people are forced to be custodians and wear yellow, and are regularly degraded and dehumanized. Also as a result of this apparent dependence on people-power, the only visible way to get out is by getting famous on the reality show “Hot Shots,” a chance at which costs a person the titular 15 million Merits.

In this there can be found some clear parallels with The Handmaid’s Tale. In GIlead, the protagonist Offred is made to bear children for men of stature, following a serious decline in birth rates due to ecological damage. Although we do not see how young people determine their roles in society in Gilead (Offred is in the first generation of Handmaids), we know that Handmaids do earn a type of freedom after bearing a healthy child. A similar disaster, such as a global energy crisis, could necessitate a system where citizens earn their adult lives by spending adolescence generating power. In this case, getting famous on “Hot Shots” may just be a fast-track to relative freedom.

The parallels of these societies seems counterintuitive to the fundamental ideas they are each built off of. In Gilead, a theocratic government has supplanted the United States. Every woman’s role is named after, and based on, a significant woman in the Bible. Laws are enforced based on Scripture, which determines who is an enemy of the state. In Bing’s community, the only God seems to be the almighty dollar (or rather, the Merit). We have no evidence that they are governed by laws and as a matter of fact, there’s nothing to suggest the three reality show judges are not the highest authority in the land. All of these motives are superficial, they are the almost-unnecessary “why” when compared to the “how” of each dystopia. While the overall structure of Gileadean society and Bing’s society are congruent, there are also deeper similarities in how each society keeps its citizens obedient to the regime. Both dystopias use color-coded clothing to keep people serving their designated social roles. They also use tactics to make each person compliant and complicit in the immoral decisions of society. When everyone is wrong, there can be no reproach.

Gilead has divided its women into classes based on their use. Most important are the Handmaids, in red, who are used to bear children in place of the infertile Wives. Wives, in blue, are husbands of political leaders known as Commanders, and place a semblance of Biblical purity on the Commander-Handmaid-Wife arrangement. Finally are the Marthas, who wear green and are in charge of housekeeping, cooking, and similar duties. Britain in “15 Million Merits” has also found a way to color code its citizens. Young people like Bing are forced to wear grey every day, which not only denotes them as the “exercising class” but also removes any sort of unique identity they may have. In addition to greys, there are also the overweight, who are made to wear yellow and are subjected to degrading treatment such as being the zombie-like enemies in a video game. Those who become too obese to clean up are seen to be participants on a “game show” where they are made to eat while being sprayed with water, which the grey-wearing population can pay to watch while cycling. In Gilead, women who do not conform to the roles of society are similarly disposed of. Known as “Unwomen,” they are sent to the colonies to do manual labor which ranges anywhere from agriculture to toxic waste cleanup. Both societies, though very different in ideals, require utility from their citizens, which reinforces the theory that Bing’s world is going through some sort of crisis. They also dispose of their useless citizens in very appropriate ways to their ideology: Unwomen are removed from sight and made to do jobs useful women wouldn’t be expended to, and the obese are used for entertainment to motivate cyclists to pedal more and spend more Merits.

Obviously, color-coding society does not just serve to denote each person’s social standing. In both Bing’s society and the Republic of Gilead, the demarcation of different classes based on color is a way to induce conformity among the general populace. To reiterate the yellow vs. grey scenario of “15 Million Merits,” the overweight do not just hold a lower social standing than the athletic or healthy. In a world where everyone wears grey, and all the surrounding structures are dark or black, wearing yellow makes you stand out among the backdrop. Not only can everyone see that you are too overweight to contribute to society, they can also see that status distinctly. In addition, the people in grey refer to those in yellow as “Lemons” due to their bright colors (and possibly, their shape). The message here is clear – stay on your bike and earn your Merits, or else everyone will know of your failure. One important aspect of this is the name of the currency. The use of this word, “Merit”, shows some of the psychology at work on the cyclists in Bing’s community. Rather than giving the currency a generic name, the society has directly tied monetary value to personal worth. This all comes together to emphasize the pressure put on people to conform. They don’t ask questions or try to escape, they just sit back and ride their bikes all day.

From the attitude we see in Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale, we can assume that Bing and his peers are not the first generation of people put into these cycling communities. In fact, we know Abi, the secondary character in the episode, has just aged into it at 21. She and Bing have likely spent their entire lives knowing they would one day have to ride their bikes. Meanwhile, Offred was once a free woman living in the United States of America as we would know it. Unlike Bing and Abi she knew what it was like to be free and determine her own place in society. As such, her decision to conform to Gilead’s laws is much more based out of fear and survival than any sense that it is her duty to be a Handmaid. In Gilead, pressure to conform takes on an even more sinister role than in Bing’s world. Most likely, this is because Gilead is in its first generation, and has to force those who were once free to comply with their new laws. We see scenes from Offred’s indoctrination into her role as Handmaid, where she is taught her new place in Gilead. We also see how Gilead punishes those who refuse to conform. Offred often goes to see the recently-executed in town, where they are displayed alongside a sign describing their offence. Homosexuals, Catholics and non-Christians, abortion doctors, and traitors are all hanged and displayed. Handmaids who are found guilty of some offence face a worse fate- they are hanged in public, and every other Handmaid gets to pull the rope that kills her.

Just as Gilead makes the Handmaids complicit in the execution of traitors, Bing’s Britain makes all of its citizens complicit in the over-consumptive society that enslaves all of them. In daily life, the cyclists can purchase little things using Merits that make their tedium more bearable. While they do have to pay for basic needs, they most often redeem Merits in the form of entertainment. Whether in their cell or on the bike, Bing and his peers have access to video games, reality television, and even pornography, all of which they purchase with their Merits. In addition to this, they can also pay to customize their Dopple, a digital version of themselves, with clothing and items. Because of the previously-discussed grey outfits, this is the only way they can express themselves. The Dopples are also the way they can interact with each other from their cells, and participate in “Hot Shots” as an audience member. In reality, they are being tricked into spending Merits on useless things as opposed to what may be a shot at freedom. By continuing to purchase things that often aren’t even tangible, the cyclists secure their future of never having the requisite 15 million Merits to purchase a slot on “Hot Shots” and have a chance of escaping their tedious lives. However, this may be the greatest lie the cyclists are sold. After Bing convinces Abi to participate in the reality show, she is coerced by the judges not to become a singer, but to be a pornographic actress. When Bing decides to rebel against the system as a result of this, the judges do not listen to what he has to say. Instead, they offer him a position giving speeches on a livestream. These two experiences outline the most tragic aspect of life in Bing’s society, which is that becoming an entertainer only makes you even more of a part of the over-consumptive lifestyle. After Bing takes this offer, we see him in a much nicer, larger cell with a screen emulating a vast forest posing as a window. While his life is much better, he is still contributing to the Merit system. Even when famous he is not free from the system—just from his cycling—and will continue to contribute to the Merit community until his usefulness has run out.

In both stories the protagonist tries to be free from their oppressive communities in their own way. Two of the most important aspects of freedom in these examples are freedom of expression and freedom of possession. Although Gilead and Bing’s world each have restrictions on these freedoms, both Offred and Bing identify ways to rebel against each of them, to varying effect. Their ability to possess things and express themselves are key to their identities in their dystopian lives.

One of the most draconian laws in Gilead is that women are not allowed to read. Not only are they not allowed to read books for example, they are not permitted to even read signs on stores. Signs such as these are replaced with images demonstrating what may be purchased inside. Naturally, there is no writing either. This law makes a piece of writing which Offred finds in her bedroom even more significant – a line of pseudo-Latin which translates to “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” The writing, left by a former Handmaid, is a token of solidarity which Offred carries with her. This also means that when she plays games of Scrabble with her Commander, and he lets her read magazines, they are not just doing something illegal but also something completely taboo. Offred uses these little rebellions to keep going. Without the ability to read or write, or change her manner of dress, Offred ends up relying on her oppressor to provide her with the ability to even express herself. So does Bing. After his friend Abi is turned into a porn star, Bing spends several months earning back the 15 million Merits he needs to go back to “Hot Shots.” On stage in front of everyone, he rages against the whole system and the judges in particular, while holding a shard of glass to his throat. The only way to get anyone to listen to him is to throw himself entirely into the system that is oppressing him.

The rules on consumption and possession in Gilead and in Bing’s community seem to be opposite. In the cycling communities, people are actively encouraged to spend their Merits on anything and everything they like – it’s almost hedonistic (as long as that hedonism does not lead to gluttony). In Offred’s society, purchases are only made for sustenance, and owning anything beyond a habit is not allowed for a Handmaid. However, the acquisitiveness of the cyclists, as previously mentioned, is all spent on digital things which do not improve the quality of life. The only things Bing ever owns are hidden under his mattress in his spartan cell. It’s merely a veneer of possession, and ultimately the cyclists own as much as the Handmaids do. Once famous, we see Abi speaking in a commercial about her glamorous new life. She talks about all the beautiful things she owns now, which is clearly an incentive to all the grey-clad people watching. Bing has the same experience. Once he becomes a personality, he lives in a beautiful cell the size of an apartment. He has his own decorations, fresh food in the form of orange juice, and presumably his own clothes (although we never see them). Again though, it is still a cell. His possessions are put in place to make him complacent with his new status, as opposed to truly giving him freedom.

For Offred, possession and expression are more often one and the same. When she is in the Commander’s office, we see he has much contraband, like the aforementioned magazines and Scrabble. Not only are these illegal, but owning much of anything at all could be viewed as excessive and sinful. Being able to express herself in the form of clothing is no longer possible, and even owning the clothes she would need to be able to do so is not permitted. But Handmaids have another way to fight the system that is not discussed in “15 Million Merits.” They have the power to die.

One of the first perspectives we receive from Offred is that of the spot in her ceiling where a chandelier was removed- the former Handmaid hanged herself from it. Her window does not open fully, so she cannot jump out. All around Gilead, Offred shows to what lengths Handmaids have gone to kill themselves, and the countermeasures intending to prevent that. As was previously referenced, Offred is a first-generation Handmaid, and Handmaids during this time are coming from a life of freedom — many would rather die than live in slavery. Bing and his peers have been born, or at least grown up with the system. So, it is not so surprising that Bing’s community is not full of suicidal people trying to escape. It is only Bing, who has become completely disillusioned, who ever threatens suicide. In fact, only by breaking his screens does he even have an opportunity to do so. It also raises the question of how Bing’s brother, who left him a large sum of Merits, died. He lived in the same sterile society where fitness and health were emphasized. Did Bing’s brother have the same fit of rage, and kill himself in a similar way Bing threatened to? Bing’s society may have an underlying secret that is only hinted at in the course of the episode.

Margaret Atwood suggests that her novel is not science fiction but speculative fiction, a story about something which could happen given current social trends. It is a commentary on society today. Despite the science-fiction aspects of “15 Million Merits,” it is also a work of speculative fiction, and has a similarly critical message about modern society with regards to fame, success, and consumerism.

In “15 Million Merits” the majority of people toil day in and day out on stationary bikes, contributing little to society other than a vague sense of providing power, and presumably fueling the economy with Merits. The only way these young people can see to get out is by becoming famous, either on reality television, pornography, or internet livestreams. This closely reflects the way young people view avenues to fame or success today. Many people think that if they work constantly for long enough they can find a way out and be discovered for their mediocre talents. However, upon finding this fame they may realize that they are feeding back into the system they thought they escaped from. They will only be famous so long as people like them, then outlast their usefulness and be deposited into the real world. At the end of the episode, Bing is already being ignored by his peers. How long until his fifteen minutes of fame run out? In fact, the most intriguing characters on the show don’t even have names. They are the security guards and the producer on the set of “Hot Shots.” Viewers do not know where they came from or how they got those jobs — they obviously did not win them on the show. These otherwise-inconsequential characters provide credence to the theory that Bing and his peers are only in the Merit system for a few years of their life. These staffers would not be able to buy their jobs with Merits, and clearly are not cycling on their days off. People who put in the time and effort and avoid the fast track to fame have a shot at finding their own kind of success. A fulfilling job may be more important in the long run than anything Merits can buy.

One of the great strengths of The Handmaid’s Tale is that at the end, the readers see that eventually, Gilead is dissolved, and a new and free society takes its place. It creates a believable tale which is rooted in history. Upon initial viewing of “15 Million Merits” the audience is left with a bleak feeling that Bing and his cohort will never escape the confines of their compound. However, a critical eye may come to the conclusion that the two stories are actually very similar from start to finish. Even though we leave Bing in as bleak a place as we leave Offred, it is possible that freedom is yet attainable for both, once their trials come to an end.

The television show Outlander is based on the popular book by Diana Gabalon. The plot centers on Claire Fraser, a World War II nurse who goes onto a second honeymoon with her husband Frank Randall in Scotland. While there, she touches the stones at Craigh na Dun and time travels back to Scotland circa 1743. While there, she goes through many trials and tribulations that test her resilience and relationships. Outlander is categorized as a fantasy, romance show due to the use of time-travel as a means of transporting Claire back in time, although she is not the only one who can. There, her outspoken attitude about her treatment contrasts with the social norms of 18^th century Scotland. This concept, in addition to her possession of her sexuality, is what some media outlets call “the feminist answer to Game of Thrones,” although some can argue that there are complications with such a strong statement. The antagonist, Captain Johnathan “Black Jack” Randall, a British captain stationed in Scotland, is a man with incredibly obsessive tendencies that the audience sees throughout the season. These tendencies climax in the final episode where he tortures and rapes Scottish Highlander, and Claires love interest Jamie Fraser, in a reversal of gender roles that has not been commonly broadcasted on television.

The concept of time travel in the Outlander universe is not a new one. It is embedded in the Scottish folklore of the land. In the second episode titled “Castle Leoch,” a bard comes to sing to the MacKenzie clan and their guests. While Claire sits to listen, he sings of a woman who traveled from a fairly hill to a distant land, but eventually returned to the life she left behind through the stones at Craigh na Dun. Obviously this is a legend that the Scottish people have encountered before. Along the way, Claire meets Geillis Duncan, a mysterious woman whom many townspeople come to with various physical ailments. In the eleventh episode called “The Devil’s Mark,” both Claire and Geillis are convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to burn at the stake. After learning that Geillis has raise funds for the Jacobite rebellion, Claire responds with a popular quote, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” which will not be known for another thirty-three years. Geillis pauses at this comment, recognizing the words from somewhere, and replies, “Nicely put.” This pause is an indication that Geillis has secrets of her own that could coincide with Claire’s current situation. Later on, the trial goes terribly and their lawyer says that one person will have to take the blame. To exonerate Claire, Geillis rips her dress and revealing a scar that she claims to be a devils teat. Claire immediately recognizes it as a smallpox vaccine and learns that she is from the year 1968, thus supporting the bard’s tale of women traveling through the rocks. This is not an accident; it is a supernatural element to the site of Craigh na Dun. From the flashbacks to Frank Randall in the eighth episode “Both Sides Now,” we see that life is continuing on at the same pace as Claire’s in 1743 Scotland. It seems that Claire has been able to jump to a certain point in time and that there is no layover. A goal of Claire and Jamie’s in season two is to stop the deadly Battle at Culloden. Although, it is known, from the book series, that this proves incapable, as it continues regardless of their efforts. Through this, the readers are able to see that regardless of her efforts they cannot change history as it has already happened; it is embedded in time. The theme of time travel constantly reemerges through the season as Claire attempts to return to present day Scotland to be reunited with her husband.

Claire Fraser’s modern actions are an interesting addition to the preconceived notions of womanhood and femininity in 18^th century Scotland. She is coming from England right out of World War II, where women began to have more of a prominent role in society due to the labor needs in Europe while men were fighting. Her behavior is in stark contrast to what the male Scottish Highlanders expect from her. She is used to giving orders and expressing her opinions from working as a nurse during the war and from living in the relatively equal 1940s society. A prime example of her behavior can be seen in the first episode, “Sassenach,” when Jamie has a dislocated shoulder. The men are about to jam it back into place until Claire inserts herself into the situation and demands she fixes it instead. When she arrives to the castle, Colum MacKenzie, the clan leader, immediately begins to question her identity and why she was in the woods. Throughout the show, the audience watches as Claire becomes incredibly annoyed and frustrated with the male characters, sometimes lashing out at them for their sexist comments and gestures. With Claire’s headstrong actions, many people claim that this could be a show for feminists. She does not care about the social implications of her actions. Not only does Claire exhibit authoritative attitudes, but she is also in control of her sexuality. In one of the first scenes of the pilot episode, Frank and Claire are exploring the old MacKenzie clan castle. At one point Claire motions for Frank to come to her and kneel, what ensues is quite different from the passive position that women usually take during intercourse. The executive producer Ron Moore says the scene is included “to show Claire as empowered sexually as a person and having her own appetites and desires.” This is very empowering as watching Frank preform cunnilingus onto his wife is an act that can surprise audiences because something as intimate as this has not been very common on television.

What also highlights the empowerment of Claire’s sexuality is the romance aspect of this historical, fantasy television show. Most of the sex scenes tailor toward the female gaze. Violence and rape are talked about in the show, but they are not used as shock value or as a way to push the story along, they are used as a part of the story. When Colum asks Claire why “a man bearing the Kind’s Commission decided to rape a stray lady traveler … in the woods for no good reason,” she retorts with the comment, “Is there ever a good reason for rape?” To add upon this concept of not using violence, the sex when shown is consensual and realistic. There are not additions to make the scenes seem incredibly romantic or unattainable, they are real, which allows for the audience to appreciate and enjoy the scenes more than other television shows. Jamie Fraser also adds an element of female praise, not only is he attractive, charismatic, and has a tragic backstory, he is a loyal companion to Claire. While Claire is characterized by being in charge, both her and Jamie are equally portrayed in a sexual, physical manner during the intimate scenes. He takes the time to listen to her and form a bond with her on their wedding night and believes her when she tells him the full story of how she arrived at the rocks of Craigh na Dun. These aspects make him stand out from the common romantic heroes in television and in cinema. Another realistic aspect of the show is the fact that on the wedding night it is not Claire who is losing her virginity, but Jamie. This switching of roles allows for a more realistic view of females and their sexuality. Usually in television, the female is cast as an innocent girl who knows nothing, while the male is experienced and awakens a “fire” in her. The relationship of Claire and Jamie is a most-welcomed contrast to the previous notion of male-female sexuality. Usually, television shows displays a male-female couple as one person in charge, the male, and another as their subordinate or constant supporter, the female. Having a male-female relationship be shown as an equal and supportive one, in and out of the bedroom, is important to the feminist undertones of the show.

Claire Fraser also represents the time old trope of the Final Girl, or the Chosen One. The Final Girl is categorized as the person to look death in the face and has the strength to persevere through the hardships to fight it. She is an intelligent, competent, and watchful character who develops greatly throughout the plot. The Chosen One trope is seen in common book series such as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. They are the one chosen for the quest, the one who can save them all from the unforeseen darkness. While Claire is not necessarily chosen to fulfill a task, she possesses a power that few people have. Geillis also possesses this supernatural power of time-travel. With the passing of Geillis we see the succession of the Final Girl and the Chosen One, now Claire must take over the story to explore Scotland and find her journey.

There are many debates over whether or not Outlander is considered a feminist show. There is a headstrong character in control of her sexuality and actions, and the sex scenes are not purely physical, but the determined actions that Claire takes through the series are problematic to the actual views of feminism. While it is nice to see a female character being the main protagonist, her actions are what are sometimes plaguing the feminist movement. The center of the feminist movement is equality, not overcoming men and being controlling of them. Feminism is the work towards the equality of the sexes, regardless of gender or race. At times in the show, Claire sometimes represents the problems of headstrong feminists who sometimes do not consider the experiences and opinions of others. She can be stubborn to a point at times, like her willingness to continue to run off to Craigh na Dun without realizing the implications it held for the MacKenzie clan when she was captured by the Red Coats. When asked if Outlander is a feminist text, author Gabaldon explain that it depends on a person’s own definition of feminism. She says, “Outlander is about a woman, who is quite confident in who she is as a woman, and that is one definition of a feminist – you take yourself at your own worth, and you demand that others take you are your own estimation.” While Claire has the personality that many people categorize as a feminist her actions are in contrast to this. Some do believe that asserting their opinion is how one exemplifies the feminist viewpoint. Problems like this are seen in the movement of white feminism. Women fail to realize the other situations that other women experience. They generalize the female experience and throw their opinion into the faces of others. Outlander at times does play into this. As stated Claire fails to realize that she is not the only person who should be in charge, there needs to be a distribution of power to effectively live in 18^th century Scotland.

Captain Johnathan “Black Jack” Randall is the main antagonist who’s role becomes more important as the season progresses. He is incredibly controlling and mentally unstable. The first thing he does when he spots Claire, without it seems with any consideration, is to rape her. In the sixth episode, “The Garrison Commander,” we catch a glimpse at his controlling tendencies. In the scene, Claire talks of how she came in contact with the MacKenzie clan and how she would like to return to Inverness. Black Jack insists that she gives a testimony against the MacKenzies, who he knows have been raising funds for the Jacobite army. When she refuses, Black Jack threatens her with physical force. Claire responds with the knowledge of Jamie’s brutal whipping, which Black Jack then describes in gruesome detail. Claire claims that there is hope for him if he chooses the right choice. Black Jack allows Claire some hope by saying he would let her be escorted to Inverness, but then kills the hope by punching her in the stomach and demanding a young corporal to kick her repeatedly. This is one example of how Black Jack will control those around him for his desires. Before Jamie was whipped in Lallybroch for a second time, Black Jack gave Jamie an ultimatum, either get whipped again or submit to him in bed. Fearing the social implications that would hold and his father’s opinion, Jamie took the second whipping. Black Jack then begins to relentlessly beat Jamie until he passes out. He later describes his actions and the marks on Jamie’s back as “a work of art.” This is the first glimpse the audience receives about Black Jack’s peculiar obsession with Jamie. While Black Jack does control Claire in ways that are common of male-female domination, the audience can see that when it comes to Black Jack’s opinions and feelings about Jamie they are different, more complicated.

Black Jack’s sexual fascination and controlling personality can be described as the horror film trope for the villain from Men, Women, and Chainsaws, the psychosexual killer. The psychosexual fury of the killer propels his beliefs, which is commonly harbored through gender distress. While Black Jack is not in “gender distress” his homosexual tendencies do go against the norm of the time. Another sort of villain that exemplifies Black Jack is the one whose only role is that of a killer, in Outlander’s case a torturer, and one whose identity is clear from the beginning. Black Jack is basically indestructible with the safety of the Duke of Sandringham. This allows for him to fully embrace his rule over those who are less powerful than him and have no means of fighting back. Black Jack possesses an obsession and infatuation with Jamie that goes beyond what he has when he attempts to rape the female characters in the show. His obsession with Jamie is special, that is what makes him and his story compelling.

The final episode, “To Ransom a Man’s Soul,” is the culminating factor of Black Jack’s infatuation with Jamie. In the episode Black Jack tortures, psychologically manipulates, and finally rapes Jamie. After physical torturing Jamie and bringing him to the brink of exhaustion, he cradles him in his lap. While Jamie is lying in his lap, Black Jack whispers to himself, “Dear God you are a magnificent creature.” Black Jack then begins to force Jamie to bare himself and then begins to rape him. After what seems to be a few hours, Black Jack is close to the brink of breaking Jamie mentally. He makes him confused on what is reality and myth through using Claire’s name, continued pain, and the use of lavender oil. This emphasizes the control that Black Jack wants to force onto Jamie. He knows Jamie’s love for Claire is deep and wants to ruin that by forcing the image of his face into his consciousness. As a physical sign of Black Jack’s possession of Jamie, he brands him with his initials “JR.” Throughout the episode, the torture scenes are told in flashbacks, we see the mental damage that Black Jack has enacted onto Jamie. Watching the psychological damage that Black Jack has done to Jamie displays to the audience the amount of power and will that Black Jack has done to Jamie and how it brought him down physically and psychologically. Black Jack has no compassionate emotions, but what is really eye opening is that Black Jack realizes what he is doing to Jamie. He knows that he is hurting him and bringing him to a point that Jamie might not be able to return from. The scene is one that is painful to watch, one does not wish to stare at it long, which emphasizes the distinction between consensual sex and rape.

This final episode is important in the television world because people do not commonly discuss male rape, and to have it broadcasted on a new, up and coming show like Outlander is incredible. They are acknowledging the fact that anyone can be a victim of rape, regardless of appearance or gender identity. While Outlander is seen as a romantic, historical fantasy show, the show runner Ronald D. Moore and the writers wanted to de-romanticize and complicate the genre’s “nostalgia, escapism, and sentimentality.” In addition, it is different from common television show rape scenes where they seem to come every other episode and are always glorified. The women usually do not have a storyline beyond the rape scene, which dehumanizes the victims and does not allow for them to go beyond the realm of victimization. The rape scene in Outlander allows for the audience to gain a better understanding of how rape affects a person and how it is not the sole identifier of a person’s character.

Outlander has been able to gain an audience by doing things that television has not really touched on before. Claire Fraser, a headstrong woman, is the protagonist of the show, which has not really been seen before in this genre. She is the center of the plot and the audience sees major character development through the series, especially with her growing love for Jamie. While the show might have some views that slightly oppose those of modern views of feminism, it does a good job of breaking out of the trivial character types that other shows have created for women. The show portrays the romance and sex of the series as real and consensual, not graphic and questionable like other television shows have done in the past. Outlander is an interesting series in that it combines many elements that do not coincide with the romance genre that one does not see on the surface.

 

Works Cited

Clover, Carol J. 1992. “Her Body, Himself.” In Men, Women, and Chainsaws, 27, 30, 35, 40. USA: Princeton University Press.

Jensen, Jeff. “Outlander Season 2: EW Review.” Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Weekly Inc., 4 Apr. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. <http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/06/outlander-season-2-review>.

Luther, Jessica. “‘Outlander’ Is the Rare Show Where Women Aren’t an Afterthought.” bitchmedia. Bitch Media, 3 Apr. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. <https://bitchmedia.org/post/outlander-is-the-rare-show-where-women-arent-an-afterthought>.

Petersen, Anne Helen. “‘Outlander’ Is The Feminist Answer To  ’Game Of Thrones’ — And Men Should Be Watching It.” BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed, Inc., 4 Aug. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. <http://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/watch-outlander#.hol62nRa.>.

Trout, Jenny. “Outlander and the Female Gaze: Why Women Are Watching.”Huffpost Entertainment . TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 22 Aug. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenny-trout/outlander-and-the-female-_b_5859154.html>.

Wilkinson, Amy. “Outlander ‘The Devil’s Mark’.” Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Weekly Inc., 18 Apr. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. <http://www.ew.com/recap/outlander-season-1-episode-11>.

 

Thanks for a great semester, its been fun not dreading going to class every Tuesday/Thursday.

Andrew Han

An Investigative Political Analysis of the Game of Thrones Universe

Warning: Essay contains MASSIVE spoilers, read at your own discretion.

Game of Thrones, a television series from HBO that began its reign over global television in 2011, revolutionized the very genre of fantasy fiction. Game of Thrones is an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s best-selling book series. A Song of Ice and Fire. The Game of Thrones series brought the books to life, and gave Martin’s fictional world an opportunity to expand to a much larger audience globally. Martin’s series has a primary focus on human relations between the great many factions and families that embody the political fiction of the world they live in. How is each character and house connected, and what influence does each connection have to influence the plot and story of the Game of Thrones series? In this investigative essay, I will be analyzing the significance of the characters and houses in relation to each other with that question in mind, and their development as political figures throughout the series.

The Game of Thrones series revolves around the Great Houses which rule the Seven Kingdoms in this world. Of those Great Houses, Martin specifically focuses on House Stark, House Lannister, House Targaryen, House Baratheon, House Tyrell, and House Bolton. The relationships of these houses and the people that represent them are highly complex, and have astounding depth to them. Season One begins with the Stark family. At the beginning of the series, Eddard Stark, current Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, is married to Catelyn Tully. They have five legitimate children: Robb Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, and Rickon Stark. Eddard also has a bastard son, Jon Snow. Eddard Stark is made Hand of the King to the ruler of the Iron Throne at that time, Robert Baratheon.

Robert Baratheon was married to Cersei Lannister, and had three children: Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen. Under the rule of Robert Baratheon, the Starks and the current royal house had cordial relations politically. Following the death of Robert Baratheon in a boar hunt, Joffrey Baratheon was made Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. House Baratheon was also split into three factions: Those led by Joffrey, those led by Stannis Baratheon (Robert’s younger brother), and those led by Renly Baratheon (Robert’s youngest brother).

House Lannister, at the beginning of Season One, had Tywin Lannister as the head of the House. He had three children with his cousin, Joanna Lannister: Jaime, Cersei, and Tyrion Lannister. Although the Lannisters take a backseat role in Season One, they have a profound impact on the story in later seasons. Joffrey taking the throne essentially passed the throne’s power onto House Lannister. Although Joffrey was incredibly selfish and self-centered, his mother had a particularly powerful effect on how the kingdom was run after the transfer of power to Joffrey. Without the knowledge of Joffrey, the Lannisters were solidifying their power at King’s Landing.

Following the death of Robert, Joffrey’s reign as king becomes a ruthless one. Joffrey became betrothed to Sansa Stark in order to solidify relations to the two houses. However, following the death of Robert, Joffrey ordered the execution of Eddard Stark under the false accusation of treason. Following this, the relationship nurtured by Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon was diminished instantly. With both original heads of both houses dead, their titles passed on to their heirs. Joffrey Baratheon taking hold of the Iron Throne, and Robb Stark took the title of King of the North. Due to this development, the Stark family was scattered. Arya barely escaped King’s Landing with her life, while Sansa was essentially held captive at King’s Landing by Joffrey. Jon Snow, at the beginning of the season, was sent to the Wall in the north to serve in the Night’s Watch. Robb Stark, enraged by his father’s ruthless execution, departed for King’s Landing from Winterfell, leaving Brann and Rickon in the hands of Theon Greyjoy, who served as a ward for the Starks. Following Robb Stark’s departure, Theon plotted to take over Winterfell in the name of his house, Greyjoy. Threatened by this, Brann and Rickon are forced to flee.

This development in the series essentially begins the War of the Five Kings. Joffrey seeks to defend the Iron Throne from Robb Stark, Stannis Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, and Balon Greyjoy (Ruler of the Iron Islands and father of Theon Greyjoy). With Joffrey at the throne, the Lannisters arguably hold the most power at this point in the series. The Starks have been scattered, the other Baratheons are not powerful yet, and Balon Greyjoy is only now beginning to plot his attempt to secure the Iron Throne.

While all of this is happening, elsewhere, the Targaryens are plotting to reclaim the Iron Throne. Before the reign of Robert Baratheon, Aerys II, also known as the Mad King, ruled from the Iron Throne. Aerys II had three children: Rhaegar, Viserys, and Daenerys Targaryen. Robert’s Rebellion ended with the death of both Aerys II and Rhaegar, leaving Viserys and Daenerys to be exiled. At the start of the show, Viserys forces his sister to marry Khal Drogo of the dothraki people in order to receive their help in taking back the Iron Throne. In the end, Daenerys grows distant from Viserys as his ambition and greed become clear to her. Khal Drogo eventually kills Viserys. Soon after, Drogo falls ill. His death marks a transition period for Daenerys. During Drogo’s funeral pyre, Daenerys steps into the fire where the dragon eggs that she received as a wedding gift reside. When the fire is extinguished, Daenerys emerges from the fire unharmed, but not alone. The three dragon eggs had hatched, making her the Mother of Dragons.

One interesting point about the Targaryens is that, after Robert’s Rebellion, they have had little to no contact with the characters from the other houses. Only recently, in Season Five, was her first time speaking to Tyrion Lannister. Despite this fact, Daenerys Targaryen holds heavy influence in the Game of Thrones series, and is very likely to fight for the Iron Throne once again in upcoming episodes. Her relationship to the rest of the houses is distant, yet close. She is far from them, yet she holds just as much, if not more power than most of the competing houses in the show.

A key faction in Game of Thrones that is often overlooked is the Frey House. It is headed by Walder Frey. Their house controls the the Twins and the Green Fork, a strategically important crossroad in the Seven Kingdoms. In order to reach King’s Landing, Robb Stark asked for the help of Walder Frey as well as permission to cross the Green Fork. In return, Stark vowed to marry one of the many children of Walder Frey. However, in falling in love with his own woman, Robb Stark was unable to keep his vow. As a result, the Boltons, who originally had sworn allegiance to the Starks, plotted with the Freys to murder Robb Stark and his family. At the infamous Red Wedding, Robb Stark, his wife, and mother are all murdered at the scene.

Once again, the death of the Warden of the North and Stark causes a ripple to appear in the relationship between the kingdoms. The Boltons take hold of the North. Roose Bolton becomes Warden of the North. Lannisters and Joffrey are elated by the news. The Starks officially have almost no influence in the political sphere of the Seven Kingdoms after this moment. Jon Snow is still part of the Night’s Watch, Sansa the wife of Joffrey Baratheon, Arya presumed dead after her escape from King’s Landing following her father’s execution, and Brann and Rickon are also presumed dead, killed by Theon Greyjoy who had seized Winterfell in the name of House Greyjoy while Robb was absent. The political and social status of the Starks have officially diminished, and has fallen out of favor after the death of Robb Stark. Even to the most recent episode, as the series currently stands, the Starks are at the bottom of the Great House hierarchy.

At the news of the death of Robert Baratheon, another Baratheon stood to claim the throne. Renly Baratheon, youngest brother of Robert Baratheon, looked to seize the throne from Joffrey, who he believed to be a madman. He was also in competition with his older brother, Stannis Baratheon, who also claimed the throne to be his, being the eldest of the two remaining brothers. Renly Baratheon married Margaery Tyrell, daughter of Mace Tyrell, the ruler of The Reach. The Tyrell house is also considered to be one of the Great Houses in the Seven Kingdoms. By marrying a Tyrell and producing an heir, Renly Baratheon would possibly have greater claim to the throne than his older brother, Stannis. However, Renly Baratheon is killed by a shadow summoned by the Red Witch Melisandre. According to Brienne of Tarth, a female soldier who swore allegiance to Renly Baratheon, it took the shape of Stannis Baratheon.

This brings up the brother of Renly Baratheon, Stannis, Stannis Baratheon also claims the Iron Throne to be his following the death of his older brother. Stannis claims that Joffrey is a product of incest, therefore does not have the right to the Iron Throne. In an attempt to take back the throne, Stannis employs the assistance of the Red Woman Melisandre, a priestess of the Lord of Light. Melisandre is a deceptive woman who convinces Stannis that he is the chosen one to take the Iron Throne. Driven by his ambition, Stannis uses the powers of the Lord of Light to achieve his goals, such as the assassination of his younger brother. Following the death of Renly, Stannis assumes command of both his own forces as well as Renly’s. Using this as an opportunity, Stannis attacks King’s Landing at the Battle of the Blackwater. Due to Tyrion’s surprise attack, Stannis is defeated at the Battle of the Blackwater. Discouraged by this defeat, Stannis is left in a state of turmoil following this event. This leaves Joffrey, the only Baratheon faction still left standing powerfully, to retain his position as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Due to this turn of events, the Lannisters still hold the most political power in the series at this point.

After the death of Renly Baratheon, Margaery Tyrell moves to King’s Landing, where she is wed to Joffrey to become the official Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. This is a major political power shift in the series. The Tyrells are attempting to gain control of the Iron Throne through Margaery Tyrell’s status as the Queen. Just as the Lannisters influence Joffrey Baratheon’s rule, the Tyrell’s are employing the same principle in manipulating Joffrey. Due to this, Cersei Lannister has a resentment towards Margaery, as they both seek to manipulate the crown in order to seize power.

The Purple Wedding would also signify a political shift in power. The Purple Wedding was the official marriage between Margaery Tyrell and Joffrey Baratheon. At the wedding, Joffrey Lannister is killed by poison in the wine. This initiated a few things. Sansa Stark escapes with Baelish to the Eyrie, where her mother’s sister, Lysa Arryn rules. Lysa Arryn is the sister of Catelyn Stark, and widow of Jon Arryn, the previous Hand of the King. Tyrion Lannister is accused of killing Joffrey, and is imprisoned under the order of his sister, Cersei. Tommen assumes the Iron Throne. Tommen Baratheon is a very weak king, and is only king in name. Most of the politics are promptly handled by his grandfather, Tywin Lannister. Margaery as well as the Tyrells also see this as an even greater opportunity to seize political power. Margaery is promptly married to Tommen. Due to Tommen’s meek and immature nature, Margaery is able to easily convince Tommen to do whatever she asks. As a result, the political struggle at King’s Landing silently rages on between the Tyrells and the Lannisters.

Meanwhile, Stannis Baratheon is recovering from his loss at Blackwater. Melisandre reassures him that he is the Chosen One, and that he will take the Iron Throne. Soon after his recovery from his depression, Stannis is informed of the White Walker threat brewing in the north. Believing the threat of the White Walkers to be greater than the current political war he is fighting, Stannis is convinced to ride north to assist the Night’s Watch in the defense of humankind versus the White Walkers.

Following the death of Robb Stark, the Boltons began to make their move. The Boltons are granted Winterfell and control of the north by Tywin Lannister as a reward for their betrayal of the Starks at the Red Wedding. Ramsay Snow, the bastard son of Roose Bolton is told to take care of the ironborn who occupied the north at the time, along with Theon Greyjoy. Through ruthless tactics, Theon is captured by Ramsay, and is heavily tortured. Through the torture and removal of Theon’s manhood, Theon is trained and conditioned into becoming Reek, a submissive beastlike transformation of Theon Greyjoy that serves Ramsay Snow. This is also an important political development as well, as it makes the last Prince of the Iron Islands into a mere dog of the Boltons. Using Reek, Ramsay is easily able to seize control of the north for the Boltons. Due to his success, Roose Bolton names Ramsay his official heir, and renames him Ramsay Bolton.

This development raises more political issues. This development makes Ramsay the next in line to take the title of Warden of the North. However, Ramsay Bolton is now without a way to produce a fit heir. As a result, if Roose Bolton produces a male child with Walda Frey, his wife, then that child is likely to become the official heir instead of Ramsay. Ramsay is then prompted to find a wife, which will eventually be Sansa Stark.

After Sansa Stark is taken to the Eyrie by Baelish, Baelish ends up killing Sansa’s aunt due to her jealousy and hate for Sansa Stark, who Baelish values highly. Promptly after, Baelish sends Sansa into the hands of Ramsay Bolton, so that the two can be wed. By marrying a Stark, Ramsay can solidify his claim to be the next Warden of the North. As a result, at this point in the show, the political power lies in the hands of the Lannisters, Tyrells, and the Boltons.

As for Daenerys Targaryen, although she has no actual political influence on the Seven Kingdoms as of yet, her latent potential to take over the Iron Throne has grown immensely throughout the seasons. After the birth of her dragons, she travels to a nearby city known as Qarth. There she is manipulated by men from the Council of Thirteen. The warlock attempts to take her dragons away from her, while Xaro attempts to take Daenerys as a wife and rule instead. Both attempts fail, and she acquires the ships she needs from Qarth after her success against those two parties. From Qarth, she traveled onwards to Astapor, where she would acquire her large army of Unsullied. Once her army of Unsullied is acquired, she moves onwards to Yunkai, where she liberates the slaves of the city. She achieves this by employing the help of the Second Sons, a mercenary group allied with Yunkai at the time. After convincing the Second Sons to ally with Daenerys, she easily overtakes Yunkai. With these developments, Daenerys has exponentially increased her raw strength, as well as her political viability in relation to the rest of the Houses. She has gained the assistance of dragons, slaves, the Unsullied army, ships, money, and rule over a large piece of land.

At the beginning of Season 5, Stannis arrives at the Wall, and requests the help of the Night’s Watch and the Wildlings in taking back the north from the Boltons. The Night’s Watch cannot interfere with the affairs of the Seven Kingdoms. However, Jon requests the use of Stannis’s fleet in order to move the Wildlings across the Wall to safety. Stannis plans to use the Wildlings to his advantage to take over Winterfell after this is accomplished, so he allows Jon to take the fleet, as long it the fleet is returned. Stannis decides to go ahead and make his move towards Winterfell as this happens. As they approached Winterfell, the Bolton army met them in an open field battle. Stannis and his army, left with barely any men, was defeated by the Bolton army. After his defeat, Brienne of Tarth executed Stannis in revenge for the death of Renly Baratheon. These events also have profound political implications. The War of the Five Kings was a battle between Stannis Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Robb Stark, and Balon Greyjoy. Four out of the five kings that participated in this war are now officially dead, with no actual development on the side of Balon Greyjoy for multiple seasons. Set to return in Season Six, Balon Greyjoy remains as the only surviving king from the War of the Five Kings.

Finally, while this was all happening, a new faction arises in King’s Landing. The old religious cult known as the Faith of the Seven made its return after Tommen Baratheon was named king. Although not political in nature, this faction would still have an extreme influence politically at King’s Landing. The beginning of their political involvement starts with the arrest of Loras Tyrell, brother of Queen Margaery Tyrell, by the Faith Militant, the military group by which the Faith of the Seven enforces their doctrines and beliefs. Due to Brother Lancel’s previous homosexual involvement with Loras, Loras is arrested for his homosexual behavior. Outraged by this development, Margaery Tyrell begs Tommen to do something about it. Through the manipulation of Cersei Lannister in combination with the High Sparrow, she even gets Margaery Tyrell thrown into prison. Later the High Sparrow learns of Cersei’s illicit relationships with Lancel as well. As a result, Cersei Lannister was also imprisoned. Nearing the end of Season Five, she is publicly shamed by the people of King’s Landing. The Faith of the Seven was highly influential in the instability of King’s Landing at the current point in the show. Tommen is a weak king, but has lost both his grandfather, wife, and mother. These were all shadows that loomed over King Tommen and influenced almost every single one of his decisions. Due to death and imprisonment of the greatest political figures at King’s Landing, the political power of the Tyrells have basically diminished, while Cersei is fighting to retain her political influence.

It is clearly evident that Martin’s world behind the Game of Thrones series is highly complex in its relationships between factions and Houses. The analysis of the sheer depth of the characters and the Houses they are part of in the Game of Thrones series has serious implications for the fantasy genre of literature. The series has brought the genre to the forefront of global television, as well as demonstrating just how deep a fictional fantasy story can be. The complex relationships embedded within the series is what entices audiences to continue to dive deeper and deeper into the fictional world of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy. As a result, I thought it fitting to analyze just how intricate the plot behind the Game of Thrones series truly was.

When Death is Among Us — A comparison of The Leftovers and The Children of Men

            One of the many common themes found in the dystopian and science fiction genres is the threat of civilization ending. From aliens coming to exterminate the human race, to incurable diseases sweeping the planet, this concept of humans becoming extinct is one that has always interested the public. Two books, one turned into a television show, explore this plot in a unique way. The novel The Children of Men by PD James approaches the problem of humans dying out by making humans infertile whereas the book, by Tom Perrotta, turned show, The Leftovers, is about 2% of the world’s population disappearing due to an unknown cause. What is intriguing about these two, though, is how they focus on the human response towards annihilation instead of the actual problem.  The Leftovers will be the main focus of this analyzation, using The Children of Men as a point of reference to compare how people use religion, cults, and show a disinterest in life when faced with their own expiration.

            In order to dissect these two stories, one must first understand that the characters are dealing with different futures so their responses are slightly different. The Children of Men offers a more common motif in the genre of human extinction, thus why it will be the point of reference. It is the theme of people knowing their species is coming to an end and grappling with the fact that they are the last generation. Even though the human race is saved in the end of the novel, the characters are living with a mindset of their known demise. Unlike The Children of Men, the characters in The Leftovers have no knowledge about what happened with the Sudden Departure, if it will happen again, or what it means about their future. This ambiguity the characters face in The Leftovers is what drastically sets it apart from The Children of Men, and in turn, causes them to react differently. It is also how Perrrotta and season two creator, Damon Lindelof, have decided to focus on how the characters continue their lives after the Sudden Departure, instead of giving any answers about what happened, that makes this show an interesting case study.

Starting with The Leftovers and the use of religion, it is important to note we are only afforded the point of view from the small town the main character, Kevin Garvey, lives in, Mapleton, New York, and from Kevin’s son, Tommy, in season one. It is revealed in the pilot episode how a portion of the population has reacted to the Sudden Departure, with there being a cult called the Guilty Remnant and a following of a man called Holy Wayne. Interestingly, it is revealed in season 1, episode 3, “Two Boats and a Helicopter,” that the popularity of Christianity has drastically decreased. This is seen due to Matt Jamison, a reverend, losing so much attendance at his church that the bank forecloses his church. The lack of attendance at his church could be due to his offensive “gospel,” which is him posting posters of the Departed and their sins around town to explain that it could not have been the Christian rapture. Perhaps, though, Christianity does thrive in other parts around the world but Matt has simply lost popularity due to his abrasiveness. Another theory of why Mapleton citizens do not turn to traditional religion could be due to the fact that they believe God is punishing them. What just God would rapture only 2% of the population while leaving many devout believers behind?

In season two of The Leftovers, we are given the story from the point of view of Jarden, Texas, a town untouched by the Sudden Departure. Interestingly enough, Christianity is seen to thrive here with the main family, the Murphies, being active in the church. Perrotta is making a fascinating statement by making popular monotheistic religion not a solace for the people affected by this tragedy but an explanation for people who were “saved.”

James in The Children of Men also alludes to a slight disinterest in Christianity. This is seen when Theo meets the Five Fishes for the first time in a church. It is seen that masses and other gatherings are still held but they allude to a decline in believers. This is illustrated when Miriam says to Theo on page 56, “We meet in churches because they’re available, they’re open, they’re free and they’re usually empty, at least the ones we choose.” Two of the members, including Julia, are Christian but Theo does not share this faith. The end, though, does make an allusion to the birth of Christ when describing the scene of Julian giving birth. The members of Council even come in like the Three Wise Kings in the story. An excerpt from the scene follows as,

“It seemed to him that they came tentatively, reluctantly, first the two women, then Woolvington and Carol…The two women knelt, less, Theo thought, in homage than from a need to be close to the child…Murmuring, weeping, shaken with tears an d laughter, they put out their hands and touched his head, his cheeks his waving arms (241).”

This, along with Julian and Theo being the only ones present for the child’s birth in an empty shed, implicitly suggests the child is like the Messiah. James seems to be making the statement that when it comes to drastic miracles, religion is no longer improbable, which is very similar to Lindelof making Jarden “miracle town.”

It is also seen in both societies a turn to extreme religions and beliefs. In The Leftovers, Kevin’s wife, Laurie, leaves her family for the Guilty Remnant and Tommy drops out of college and starts working for Holy Wayne. The Guilty Remnant is an extremely intriguing cult and its practices are revealed in bits and pieces throughout the two seasons. The Guilty Remnant is most recognizable by the white jump suits the members wear, their vow to not speaking, and their constant chain smoking – all of these attributes contributing to their belief that they are meant to be a living reminder of the Departure and that God left them behind. They do not traditionally resort to violence but this changes in season two and adds to their extremist quality. The Guilty Remnant is a perfect example of how people must go to extremes to cope with the illogical. It is seen in season 1, episode 9, “The Garveys at Their Best,” why Laurie decides to join the cult and leave her family behind. It is discovered that she was a psychiatrist before the Sudden Departure and the current leader of the Guilty Remnant in Mapleton, Patti Levin, was one of her patients who predicted something bad was going to happen the week of the Sudden Departure. That along with her watching her baby suddenly depart from her womb during an ultrasound probably caused Laurie to lose faith in the logical, current way the world worked and caused her to take an extremist view on the world.

Furthermore, Holy Wayne, adds another layer to how people will react to devastating and illogical events. Wayne’s purpose is not that clear but it is known that he can hug the pain out of people and believes he will father the next messiah. His practices are troublesome, from impregnating his young female followers to threatening Tommy for befriending one of the girls. Wayne must also pose some threat as a cult since his base is brutally raided by the American government. Like the Guilty Remnant, Holy Wayne, is able to attract followers even if his ideologies are extreme. It is seen in the pilot episode a congressman visiting Wayne and leaving with the belief that Wayne did hug out his pain and grief. These two cults show that people will put their faith in anything to process and cope with events that they cannot understand.

A Huffington Post article broke down the components of a religious extremist and among these are that they have a sense of righteousness, they belief they know the ultimate meaning, and they will dehumanize people who do not fit their view. Looking at Holy Wayne and then Megan Abbott, in season two, these traits are explicitly clear. Megan Abbott was a Guilty Remnant recruit in season one, who struggled with drugs and the sudden death of her mom around the time of the Sudden Departure. It is evident from these two characters’ actions that they turned into religious extremists.  From Wayne believing his son will save humanity and impregnating multiple young women, to Megan throwing grenades on school buses filled with children and threatening to light Tommy on fire, these two characters symbolize how far humans can swing in their beliefs when what we know to be true is no longer so.

There are religious extremists in our society today, though, so what makes the Guilty Remnant and Holy Wayne different from the Branch Davidians or ISIS? What separates these groups are the circumstances. The world in The Leftovers is one that no longer follows the scientific laws of nature; what we once thought was definite no longer is. This dissociation from what we once knew and now know allows one to call into question everything and makes things that were once illogical the possibility of being logical. Two percent of the world’s population vanished before people’s eyes so why cannot a guy have the power to remove someone’s pain or this be God punishing them. A News Republic article praised The Leftovers for being the first television show for successfully exploring religion and compared the Guilty Remnant to Jesus and his disciples. In talking about the scene in which a member of the Guilty Remnant is tied to a tree and stoned by citizens of Mapleton the article says, “The image reminds us of Biblical punishments and martyrdoms, and it is these religious resonances which make it so powerful. As we know from the history of religion, when everything is at stake, no act of violence seems excessive.” This quote perfectly illustrates the intriguing problem at hand in The Leftovers, in a time of turmoil who says the beliefs the Guilty Remnant and Holy Wayne embody are not right, and Perrotta and Lindelof successfully make the viewer question this.

Before the subject of religion and cults is left, though, it is imperative to analyze Laurie’s new life in season two. In season two, she abandons the Guilty Remnant and begins to write an exposé on the cult. She holds group meetings with ex-members of the cult and has Tommy go undercover into the cult to help members out of it. Laurie is an interesting character because we watch a woman who once believed in the scientific and logical as a psychiatrist turn her view on life into a radical one and then, back to her original, logical self. The Laurie in season two understands that the Guilty Remnant is preying on the weak and brainwashing them. The viewer is able to see a few key words in her exposé, them being “manipulation”, “abandonment”, and “handhold.” Laurie is portrayed just as her former self and is applying what she knew as a psychiatrist to helping people escape. Lindelof is making an imperative statement, though, when he has Laurie tell Tommy to be the next “Holy Wayne” and has Tommy to tell people that that power was passed on to him and he too can remove people’s pain. Her rationale being that their method of exposing the persuasiveness of the Guilty Remnant is not what people want to hear so she is giving them what they want, which is something to believe in. This action, again, showcases the depth and complexity of people’s reactions to religion and catastrophic events.

The Children of Men shows the same tendency towards radical views, which is seen in the gang, the Painted Faces. The Painted Faces are comprised of the Omega generation and they are not religious extremists. They do, however, display extreme violence and rituals. It is seen when the characters’ car gets taken over by the Painted faces the ritualistic nature of the gang. Theo describes them when the Five Fishes are captured as, “holding their torches high in their left hands, their clubs in their right, stood for a second regarding them, and then began again their ritual dance with their captive sin the center. But this time their movements were at first slower, more ceremonial, the chanting deeper, no longer a celebration but a dirge (182).” Theo then describes the scene of Luke’s death on page 184 and says, “And now the killing looked less like a frenzy of blood-lust than a calculated murder. Five or size of the Omegas were holding their torches aloft in a circle within which, silently now, the dark shapes of the half-naked bodies, arms wielding their clubs, rose and fell in a ritual ballet of deaths.” Unlike the Guilty Remnant or Holy Wayne, the Painted Faces are not promoting a belief or do not have an ulterior motive. They simply kill and torture in a cult-like nature because they can, while disregarding any societal and ethical laws. Thus, where Perrotta is making a comment on how people are more likely to gravitate toward radical views after a tragedy, James seems to be saying that people can and will lose their humanity when tragedy is inevitable.

Aside from religion and cults, Perrotta and James also portray societies whose members struggle internally, disregard the expectations society has of them, or lose interest in life. Looking at The Leftovers, there are several characters that will be analyzed because they provide interesting examples of how people will react to a struggling society.

The first character that perfectly demonstrates this is Kevin Garvey and the turmoil he is facing personally and within his family. Throughout the two sessions, Kevin has abducted a woman (Patti) while sleepwalking, been haunted by Patti’s ghost, and struggled to keep his daughter, Jill, from joining the Guilty Remnant. The cover photo of season 1 of the show (Figure 1), explicitly exhibits this turmoil. Kevin’s body and face shows anguish and frustration with the situation of his life and the world he lives in as he hits the wall. The key interest of Kevin, though, is his questionable mental health. It is known that his father suffers from mental illness and as the show progresses Kevin’s own mental state gets called into question. Perrotta is raising interesting questions by doing this. What one has to wonder is if Kevin would have developed this instability regardless of the Sudden Departure. It is also an interesting combination of Kevin being the chief police of the town and suffering from mental illness. With the juxtaposition of Kevin being a masculine man in a position of power who is powerless to his own mind, Perrotta seems to be commenting on mental illness in general and how even powerful people are weakened by unexplained tragedy.

Another character from The Leftovers that allows one to questions the unpredictable nature of humans is Evie. Introduced in season 2, the teenager’s town was not affected by the Sudden Departure and has caused it to become a National Park in Jarden, Texas. Evie, along with two of her friends, disappears one night and the town fears they could have departed even though no one else departed that night. It is discovered later, though, that the three girls joined the Guilty Remnant and plan on helping Meg pull off an unknown plan. What is so intriguing about Evie is her good girl gone bad personality. A once choir singing girl is now a part of the Guilty Remnant and leaves the viewers questioning everything we know about the characters. Lindelof shows, though, that Evie had inner conflicts long before the Sudden Departure and that she did not turn ruthless due to the Departure but it had simply allowed her to unleash her inner demons.

Perrotta and Lindelof have not created a society that is adjusting well to the Sudden Departure but instead, a society that is struggling with turmoil on the inside. They raise the question of how does one adjust to such a tragedy in creating the characters with instability and try to answer this throughout the two seasons by showing the ways the characters interact and react with each other.

Like Perrotta, James also creates characters that are struggling in a society that is facing an impending demise. Theo is a unique character and unlike most protagonists. He can be hard to empathize with and his reactions seem diluted. James is doing this on purpose, though. Theo is not a dull character who has no depth but the opposite. He is an excellent illustration of how humans may react if they know they are the last humans. Unlike Kevin Garvey, Theo shows a slight disinterest in life because Theo knows there is no hope for humans. Kevin can be upset with the world in The Leftovers but since the future of the humans is ambiguous there is no need for Kevin to lose all interest in life. Theo even addresses this apathy seen in him and society when he says on page 112,

“If there had be no Omega, these were aims which a man might be prepared to fight for, even to suffer for. …It was reasonable to struggle, to suffer, perhaps even to die, for a more just, a more compassionate society, but not in a world with no future where, all too soon, the very words “justice,” “compassion,” society,” “struggle,” “evil,” would be unheard echoes on an empty air.”

And as one would expect, Theo’s view towards life does change once he knows there is hope for the human race. The final scene that was discussed previously shows Theo having hope and newfound interest for the future. Before that, though, Theo showed a detached view on life that was to be expected.

Overall, it can be seen by analyzing the characters in The Leftovers in comparison with the characters in The Children of Men, that Perrotta and Lindelof have created a story that successfully reveals the psychology of humans when they face the possible end of human kind. Perrotta and Lindelof focus heavily on religion and cults, exploring how humans interact with them as a form of escape and answers. It is interesting to compare this to James’s method of using religion and cults in The Children of Men and how disinterest in traditional religions and extremist views/actions are present in both. The Leftovers also analyzes human reactions to one’s possible death in depth with various characters whereas The Children of Men only insinuates to how the characters are handling their eradication. Where The Children of Men does explore the consequences of knowing human kind’s future, The Leftovers takes this to a deeper and more complex level in order to study the intriguing ways of human nature when faced with tragedy, the illogical, and the ambiguous.

 

Illustrations

Figure 1

Works Cited

James, P. D. The Children of Men. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1993. Print.

Kirsch, Adam. “Finally, a TV Show That Truly Takes Religion Seriously.” New Republic. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

Lindelof, Damon, and Tom Perrotta. “The Leftovers.” HBO. 4 Oct. 2015. Television.

Rad, Michelle Roya. “What Turns Ordinary People Into Religious Extremists?” The Huffington   Post.   TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.