Science fiction is nonexistent devoid of scientific and technological concepts. This essay aims at exploring how cautionary tales in science fiction make use of ideas rooted in science or technology. It focuses on four narratives and how their writers have incorporated scientific notions in creating admonitions. The four stories include Second Variety by Philip K. Dick, Slow Life by Michael Swanwick, Desertion by Clifford D. Simak, and Swarm by Bruce Sterling. These authors have used biological, chemical, physical, astronomical, or mechanical abstractions to warn the reader of impending danger in the narrative.
In his narration, Philip K. Dick uses the description of the mechanical composition and operation of the “nasty, crawling little death-robots” to create a forewarning of the harm that they can cause to humans (Dick par 1). The Russian soldier’s encounter with the little robots is a perfect example. Before the attack, the author describes the structure and the mannerisms of the metallic spheres making the reader sense doom. The image of flying treads and spinning razor-sharp projections makes the audience fear for the Russian even before he is cut into pieces by the robots. The mechanical actions of racing, whirring, and clicking predict danger for the Russian runner.
In Desertion, Jupiter is painted as a dangerous planet for a human being. The high pressure of “fifteen thousand pounds per square inch” coupled with the strong ammonia rain creates fear and apprehension for the men that are sent to the planet (Simak 39). The electronic tension of metals had to be raised to make them sturdy enough to withstand the billowing wind of poisonous gases. Additionally, a quartz covering was necessary to provide protection against the ammonia rain. Here the author utilizes scientific concepts to illustrate the treacherous conditions that threatened human life on Jupiter. The reader is prepared for Allen’s disappearance into the alien planet beforehand.
In Slow Life, Michael Swanwick tells a story of a space explorer, Lizzie O’Brien, and her encounter with a strange city that communicates with her via dreamy episodes. In one of the instances, the drowned city experiences a strange light that Lizzie likens to an atomic bomb. The idea of a nuclear weapon forewarns the reader of the destructive nature that knowledge would bring to the life form in the drowned town. The author succeeds in using a scientific concept to create a state of apprehension for the danger that is about to befall the crowd in the alien settlement.
In the Swarm narrative, Bruce Sterling uses the nest concept to demonstrate the communal manner of existence that the symbiotes employed. They had no sense of ownership or privacy. The warriors devoured anyone who threatened this status quo (Sterling 274). This cautionary tale prepares us for the unfortunate events that befall Dr, Mirny after the symbiotes discovered that the researchers intended to steal genetic materials to create their own swarm of workers. The explorers interrupted the symbiotes way of living by using pheromones to control behavior. At this point, the audience braces itself for the imminent danger that the researchers put themselves in by causing an interruption.
The above authors have succeeded in forewarning the reader of the precarious events that take place in the narrations. The use of science or technology assists the reader in understanding danger prior to its occurrence. These four stories are an indication that scientific or technological notions are effective in developing cautionary tales as seen in folklores.
Works cited
Dick, Philip K. Second Variety. New York: Booklassic, 2015. Print.
Simak, Clifford D. Desertion. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1977. Print
Sterling, Bruce. Swarm. New York: Arbor House, 1983. Print
Swanwick, Michael. Slow life. Norwalk, CT: Analog Science Fiction, 2002. Print.
