Science Fiction

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that perhaps the best definition of the distinct genre of science fiction is human morality and technology in a dialogue, projected into the human future. The author points out that Huxley critiques not genetics so much as human fears of unhappiness and the fear of not being able to experience perfect pleasure at all times; and Vonnegut satirizes not so much the technology of modern war, but the institutions that human beings have developed around the new technology, such as the military industrial complex. The paper relates that "Solaris" contains elements of science fiction, such as the projected use of present day technology into a probable future, and a wrestling with its possible moral implications for humanity.

From the Paper:

"This coolness of tone is one reason why readers seldom feel the same emotional investiture in the characters of science fiction as they do in characters of other genres. Bernard Marx of "Brave New World" is as close to a hero as Huxley's novel is willing to have, and Marx is callous, clever, and mainly interested in bedding the main female protagonist, even though he occasionally questions his society's values. In "Slaughterhouse Five", the novel's initial setting depicts the main protagonist in 1968, where he is married and has two children. Although it gradually becomes clear that he is injured, and that his wife is dead, the reader does not care so much as merely appreciate the irony that, despite all that Billy has gone through, he may die by accident, even after having survived Dresden."

More papers on Science Fiction:

• Analytical Essay # 132895 : "Themes in Science Fiction Films"
• Analytical Essay # 4586 : "The Science Fiction Genre"
• Analytical Essay # 53751 : "Science Fiction"
• Analytical Essay # 7852 : "Science Fiction in Film and Literature"

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