Sample Essay On Science Fiction And Today’s Problems

It is obvious the world today is not perfect. There are many problems plaguing society, problems we are incessantly attempting to fix. In the context of literature and film, these problems and blemishes are easily remedied. They are erased immediately, with seemingly impossible solutions not only offered, but also rendered to the people’s delight or woe. Science fiction often speaks to society’s problems, participating in the ongoing conversation about them by offering solutions, or perpetuating continued problems in showcasing solutions gone awry. Dystopian science fiction novels, such as, “Brave New World,” notoriously attempt to peddle what seem like solutions for many of our issues, when actually they only draw more attention to our problems. Other, more lighthearted science-fiction novels, such as Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” takes a more lighthearted approach to participating in this conversation. Still other science fiction media, like Mary Shelley’s, “Frankenstein,” shine light on different problems, without offering any solutions at all. Regardless of the medium or the problem, science fiction indelibly makes interjections in the ongoing conversation about humanity and its never-ending problems, as well as its possible solutions.
Aldous Huxley’s, “Brave New World,” is perhaps one of the most easily recognized dystopian novels of its time. Exercising features of science fiction that rock our senses to its core, the novel does away entirely with the idea of families, mothers, and fathers in exchange for babies created only in test tubes, bred for certain positions with limited intelligence depending on their status. Alpha through Epsilon, they are to stay with their herd. Women are given birth control, promiscuity is encouraged, and being alone and intimate is discouraged. Many other changes have been made to daily life, all under the guise of a Utopia, and how can we argue? Crime has stopped, people seem happy, and everybody is employed, housed, and fed. Bernard, however, is not happy. They say it has something to do with one of his revolutions during his creation, but his very existence defiles the idea of this utopia, allowing the book to comment on what society wants, or what it thinks it wants. The book reaches its climax when Bernard, who is fighting a constant internal battle with himself to be an individual, as he feels, and to be as everybody else, is shipped off to a dreaded island of isolation where, he finds, everybody is like him. He finds that nothing could make him happier because he is finally understood. We see, “Brave New World,” confront our idea of a perfect society. Lenina is left in the utopia-esque society to rot with uniformity, what we are told we want, while Bernard is shipped off to the island, his supposed greatest fear, to be at his happiest because he can finally be himself.
Another novel, “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” is far more obvious in its sci-fi prowess, as it includes aliens, space travel, and other stereotypical elements. Adams often uses his characters to comment on society’s problems. Some of the loudest are in the galactic hitchhiker and their use of a towel. In the novel, a hitchhiker should always have a towel on their person, above all else, because it will lead to the assumption they also have any number of others things like bug spray, a washcloth, a tin cup, flask, compass, toothbrush, etc. Anybody who sees the towel will recognize the individual as a seasoned hitchhiker and, whether they have any of the aforementioned in their possession or not, will lend them these and any other items they ask for. In less than a paragraph, Adams spoke loudly about assumptions humans make based on one item, as well as how we can manipulate those assumptions. Adams’ hitchhiker, Ford Prefect, literally uses the assumption of carrying a towel to take him across the galaxy.
An unlikely and often forgotten science fiction novel, “Frankenstein,” by Mary Shelley, makes dramatic commentary on the monster that inhabits all of us, and the monster that yearns to break free. It comments on the monster following us, ruining everything we love. Victor Frankenstein, a gifted philosophy student leaves home to study. He quickly becomes obsessed with animating the lifeless, and does with what later becomes known as Frankenstein’s monster. As soon as the monster comes to life, Victor is petrified; he flees the monster’s side. He does not see it for another two years, which could be a parallel for avoidance of things we fear in society and our lives. The monster eventually murders his little brother, a comment on how eventually our fears catch up with us, no matter how hard we try to ignore them. After his little brother’s murder, Victor bargains with the monster. This could be seen as a metaphor for a stage of grief. He later abandons this bargain, enraging the monster, who eventually murders the remaining members of his family. Victor, left with nobody to love, chases the monster until he dies. We are bombarded with too many things to be afraid of, but also too many things to be distracted by. Frankenstein was written in 1818, therefore, we seldom have the time to allow our fear near enough to us to destroy our entire lives as Frankenstein’s monster did. Still, the novel was a comment on how we can literally create our worst fears and situations, and they may eventually destroy us.
In sum, there are many examples showing science fiction commenting on the problems in society. We desperately search for utopia, though we are clearly not sure what it is, or what we want. “Brave New World,” confronts this topic head on. As a society, we allow ourselves to be ruled by assumptions. In one paragraph, “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” suggested the notion of assumptions was so powerful one could use it to travel the galaxy. Fear and inner turmoil are also an issue, and Mary Shelley used her 1818, “Frankenstein,” to comment on the various ways it could ruin us. Though the ways in which science fiction participates does not always offer solutions to the problems, they do add to the conversation. However, it is not always something we want to hear.