Robert Silverberg (ed): Far Horizons
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Ursula K. Le Guin: "Old Music and the Slave Women" (the Hainish and Ekumen series)
Joe Haldeman: "A Separate War" (the Forever Series)
Orson Scott Card: "Investment Counselor" (the Ender series)
David Brin: "Temptation" (The Uplift Universe)
Robert Silverberg: "Getting to Know the Dragon" (Roma Eterna series)
Dan Simmons: " Orphans of the Helix" (the Hyperion Cantos)
Nancy Kress: "Sleeping Dogs" (the Sleepless)
Frederik Pohl: "The Boy Who Would Live Forever" (the Gateway series)
Gregory Benford: "A Hunger for the Infinite" (the Galactic Center series)
Anne McCaffrey: "The Ship That Returned" (the Ship that Sang series)
Greg Bear: "The Way of All Ghosts" (the Way)
I just finished reading a interesting collection of short stories, or perhaps novella would be a better description. The collection is Far Horizons, edited by Robert Silverberg. It contains eleven stories, all written specifically for this collection which came out in 1999. In his introduction, Silverberg writes
"What I have done in Far Horizons is to gather together most of today's foremost practitioners of the evolutionary science-fiction series and ask them to write a short story or novelette that explores some aspect of their famous series that they did not find a way of dealing with in the books themselves."
Unfortunately, some of the writers Silverberg would like to have included had died while others told him "that they had already said all they wanted to say. . ."
Silverberg defines "the evolutionary science-fiction series" as "the kind that carries the reader through an evolutionary progression of concept and (sometimes) insight into character." I guess it's a series in which the characters and the plot evolve over time, and in some cases the ending could never have been predicted from the first novel. Greg Benford's incredible "Galactic Center" series is a perfect example of this. One more point is that this is the type of series that should best be read in sequence.
The "template series," on the other hand, features a number of stories which are set in the same universe and which do not demonstrate any particular or significant change or development. Each work stands alone, even though set in a shared universe. In a template series, it usually makes little difference in the order in which the stories are read. I would guess that Andre Norton's "Witch World series" would be considered a template series in which there are a number of novels set on that planet, each of which is relatively independent of the others and shows little, if any at all, forward progression of plot or character.
Each of the eleven stories in Far Horizons is preceded by a 1-3 page introduction by the author. These very helpful introductions include a brief summary of the series and, usually, the place occupied by the short story within that series , and in some cases, the history behind the particular story.
For example, Joe Haldeman writes that people had always asked him about a sequel to The Forever War (TFW), and he had always insisted that "the book is complete. . .But someday [he] would write a novella about what happened to the characters later in life."
So, he gladly accepted Silverberg's offer to write that novella for the collection. However, shortly after beginning to write the novella, he found he was writing the sequel that he said he would never write. So, he turned that into a proposal for a novel and sent it off. It was eventually published as Forever Free.
William Mandella and Marygay Potter are the two main characters in TFW and are separated in the last part of the novel, presumably forever. However, the two are almost miraculously reunited at the very end. This story, "A Separate War," tells of what happened to Marygay during the period of her separation from William, and as Haldeman writes, "it also serves as a sort of foreshadowing of the new novel."
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Ursula K. Le Guin: "Old Music and the Slave Women" (The Hainish and Ekumen series)
Ursula K. Le Guin's "Old Music and the Slave Women" is set in her Ekumen universe, which includes her earlier "Hainish" novels, Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, and City of Illusions.
After the earth humans (descendants of the Hainish) and Hainish meet, a league is set up, the Ekumen. The novels set in this period are The Left Hand of Darkness (one of my top ten favorite SF novels), The Dispossessed, The Word for World is Forest, and Four Ways to Forgiveness.
In the fourth book, Four Ways to Forgiveness, Le Guin introduces two new worlds, Werel and Yeowe, recently contacted by the Ekumen. Werel is a slave planet, in which a slave revolt is initiated as a result of the contact by the Ekumen. This story tells of one incident during that rebellion in which the intelligence officer for the Ekumen does something very stupid.
====================
Orson Scott Card: "Investment Counselor" (The Ender Series)
To quote Card, "During the three thousand years between Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead . . . he somehow acquired a computer-based companion named Jane, who is second only to Ender in importance in the last three books of the series. The story now before you is an account of how they met." Fortunately for the human race, Jane is benevolent, as is Ender.
====================
David Brin: "Temptation" (The Uplift Universe)
This story tells of events following Brin's second novel in the Uplift universe, Startide Rising. When the earth exploratory vessel Streaker takes off in a desperate attempt to escape the alien fleet, a number of dolphins are left behind on the planet Kithrip. This story doesn't just fill in the gap of what happened to them after being left behind, but it also provides a significant development that could affect the entire structure of the present political situation. Unfortunately, not having read any of the novels beyond the third one, I don't know whether anything ever came of this encounter on Kithrip.
====================
Robert Silverberg: "Getting to Know the Dragon" (Roma Eterna series)
I hadn't known of this series before getting this collection. It's an alternate universe tale in which Silverberg's premise is that Moses never led the Hebrews out of Egypt. The Exodus never happened and therefore the Hebrews never settled in Palestine. Consequently Jesus of Nazareth did not exist and the Roman Empire remained pagan. The history of this world is generally the same until the 4th century (our time frame). The division between the Eastern and Western parts of the Roman Empire therefore were strictly political, without any religious connotations. The quarrels were therefore reconcilable and the Roman Empire flourished.
The present story is set in 2503, by Imperial Time reckoning (1750 A. D.) and "fills in a gap in the series by depicting the Empire late in the Second Decadence, when the Emperor Demetrius II is about to come to the throne."
It looks like an interesting series, one that I think I may do some looking around for.
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Dan Simmons: "Orphans of the Helix" (The Hyperion Cantos series"
This story appears to be set after the conclusion of the four books in the Cantos. An exploratory and colonizing ship, the Helix, encounters a group of humans and aliens who are under attack by a device that visits their home periodically and gathers up large quantities of whatever they need from that particular site, including people.
The Helix discovers that this may not be a deliberate attack by another race, but a means of survival by a race with minimal resources. The material the device brings back may be necessary for their survival. Therefore, destroying the harvesting device may result in the destruction of a race of beings. Continued depredations by the harvesting device, though, will result in the deaths of many beings. This is the dilemma faced by the people of the Helix.
====================
Nancy Kress: "Sleeping Dogs" (The Sleepless)
This story is set in the same universe as Beggars in Spain, wherein genetic manipulation has permitted parents to specify the characteristics of their unborn offspring. The most radical changes are those that create the Sleepless, those who never sleep, thus giving them an extra 8 or more hours of consciousness.
"Sleeping Dogs" doesn't move the plot forward, but simply tells a story about one of the unexpected side effects of genetic manipulation on dogs. In this case, the dogs are modified to be sleepless and therefor make the perfect guard dogs. Unfortunately for Carol Ann's family, there's a problem with the modified dogs. The dogs were purchased for breeding purposes and intended to better the family's precarious financial situation. What they soon learn is that the dogs can not be trusted and they kill Carol Ann's sister. The story is Carol Ann's attempt to avenge her sister's death under the old Biblical adage--an eye for an eye. . .
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Frederik Pohl: "The Boy Who Would Live Forever" (the Gateway Series)
Stan, who has dreamed for years of getting to Gateway and becoming unbelievably wealthy (or so his dreams went) finally gets sufficient funds to make the trip. Shortly after he arrives, and after only one trip, the guidance programs have been translated and the exploration missions are no longer necessary. The Gateway Project has been terminated.
But--not completely. Robinette Broadhead, the main character in the first and several subsequent "Gateway" novels has discovered where the Heechee have fled, to a dark hole. A five person ship is being outfitted to follow the Heechee into their lair. Stan, who hasn't given up on his dreams, volunteers to be one of the five.
This story seems to be a wrapup. The mystery behind Gateway has been the Heechee: who were they and why did they go and where did they go. This story and the last novel in the series seems to answer all the questions.
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Gregory Benford: "A Hunger for the Infinite" (the Galactic Center series)
The "Galactic Center" series focuses on the conflict between the mechs, a machine society/ culture? directed by highly intelligent AIs, and all organic life, especially sentient beings, which the mechs see as their greatest enemy.
This story tells of an attempt by the Mantis (a recurring character in the last four of the six novels in the series) to gain a fuller and deeper understanding of the way organic beings think. One of the mysteries which the Mantis and all the higher intelligences of the mech civilization can not crack is that of art. The Mantis' attempts at creating art are rejected universally by all humans who have viewed them. Not only do the humans reject them, the humans are disgusted and sickened by the Mantis' artistic endeavors for they consist of horrific blends of semi-live humans and mechanical parts.
The Mantis decides to try a radical experiment. He downloads part of his consciousness into a human embryo to become an observer. The theory is that the observer will then learn what it is to be human (an organic sentient life form) which will allow it to grasp the meaning and significance of art. Its plan fails, but not for the obvious reasons. It shows the gap between the mech AI-based intelligence and the organic thinking based on intelligence and emotions.
I've always been curious about the Mantis, and this story provides some interesting information about it.
=====================
Anne McCaffrey: "The Ship That Returned" (the Ship that Sang series)
In The Ship That Sang" we are introduced to Helva, the human intelligence that operates the ship. She is part of the ship, and the ship is an integral part of her. We meet her first partner, Jennan Sahir Silan, the "brawn" of the partnership, and her grief at his death, and her search for a new partner. She finally finds Niall Parollan. Subsequent novels tell of their adventures.
"The Ship That Returned" is the story of Helva who, in several ways, has now made a full circle. Niall Parollan, her long-time partner, has just died, and once again, she is on her way to begin another search for a compatible brawn at Central Administration on Regulus. However, before she gets to Regulus, she discovers a fleet of Kolnari on route to Ravel, obviously planning on raiding the planet and destroying as much as possible. Ironically it was on a mission to aid Ravel that her first partner, Jennan, was killed.
First, she sends off a warning to the nearest Administration base. She then goes to Ravel to warn the inhabitants of the horrors on the way to their planet. The inhabitants, however, seem unconcerned and respond to her warnings with reassurances that all will be well. Then the Kolnari arrive.
====================
Greg Bear: "The Way of All Ghosts" (The Way series)
This story is part of the series that includes Eon, Eternity, and Legacy. Bear, in the inroduction, tells us --
"The Way, an artificial universe fifty kilometers in diameter and infinitely long, was created by the human inhabitants of an asteroid starship called Thistledown. They had become bored with their seemingly endless journey between the stars: the Way, with its potential of openings to other times and other universes, made reaching their destination unnecessary."
However, other beings discovered the Way, the Jart, and the humans barely held them at bay, for a time anyway. "The Way of All Ghosts" is the story of one of those exploratory expeditions to a world accessible by the Way. It also is a story about Olmy Ap Sennen, shortly after his first reincarnation. He is destined to "become a living myth, be forgotten, rediscovered, and made myth again. So many stories have been told of Olmy that history and myth intertwine."
Overall Rating: I would rate Benford's story the most interesting, followed by Le Guin and Brin. There really isn't a bad story among the rest, and considering the lineup of writers, one really wouldn't expect to find one.
Showing posts with label LE GUIN Ursula. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LE GUIN Ursula. Show all posts
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Ursula Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness is a difficult novel to write about, for me anyway. It's one of my top ten favorite SF novels and definitely has my vote for being one of the ten best SF novels ever written. The problem is that I get drawn so deeply into the novel that I find it difficult to stand back and take an analytical look at it.
The title comes from the saying in the book: "The left hand of darkness, the right hand of light." The book does come with a Taoist and Zen background, even to the point that Genly Ai, the POV character, refers to the Yin-Yang symbol when speaking of the people of Gethen. However, knowledge of Taoism and Zen is not necessary for appreciation of the novel.
The story is set on the planet Winter, Gethen as it is called by its inhabitants. Winter is an appropriate name since the planet is in the midst of a glacial period. While this does play an important role in the story, the novel is far more than a simple tale of survival under harsh conditions. The real focus of the novel is the people of Gethen and the question Le Guin asks--what is the effect of gender and constant sexual readiness on the individual and the culture. She asks this by positing a people that do not have a permanent, fixed gender and who are not in a state of readiness for sexual activity.
The people of Gethen are almost completely identical to us and would not be noticed if they were walking down any street or road on earth. There are, though, two significant differences between us and the Gethens. The Gethens are effectively sexually neuter for most of their lives. They show no sexual characteristics and have no interest in sex during this period.
The Gethens have roughly a 26 day cycle: for around 22-3 days they are effectively asexual. Sometime around the 22nd day they begin to undergo changes which will result in becoming a sexual being--either male or female--for about 2-3 days. During this period, kemmer, they develop a strong sex drive, and it becomes very uncomfortable for those who do not engage in sexual activity at this time. Therefore, all Gethenian have a two-three day holiday at this time. No one is expected to be able to function effectively and so all are free at that time.
The significant effect of this is that the average Gethenians therefore have no real sense of being male or female as we do. They are just people and treat each other as such. This has repercussions in behavior, possibly even threatening to non-Gethenians.
As one non-Gethenian observer writes in a report:
The First Mobile [first ambassador] , if one is sent, must be warned that unless he is very self-assured, or senile, his pride will suffer. A man wants his virility regarded, a woman wants her femininity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation. On Winter they will not exist. One is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience.
This limited and strong period of sexual arousal in the Gethenians has resulted in the establishment of kemmer houses in most towns and cities. It is a place where one can go if one is entering kemmer and find others who are also entering kemmer at the same time. Two in kemmer, therefore, meet in a kemmer house and pair off. Usually one is a few hours ahead of the other, so when that person begins to become a male or female, the other person becomes the opposite sex. If the first one starts to become a female, the other will become a male, or a female if the first one becomes a male. If the female becomes pregnant, "she" will remain female until the child is weaned, and she then reverts to being asexual. The "mother," then, during her next kemmer period may just as easily become a male or a female.
The Story:
Genly Ai is the representative of the Ekumen, a loose association of planets, which functions not so much as a galactic government but as sort of a clearing house. His task is to persuade the Gethenians to join the Ekumen. He is sent to live alone on the planet for it is the belief of the Ekumen that total immersion is the best way to develop an understanding of the prevailing culture. Essentially his job is to explain the Ekumen to the Gethenians and eventually the Gethenians to the Ekumen.
Joining the Ekumen opens the planet up to trade with other members, but not trade in the usual sense--but trade in ideas, information, culture, literature, poetry, music. Instantaneous FTL travel is not possible in Le Guin's universe. Einstein still holds true. If Genley Ai returns to the closest Ekumen planet to Gethen he will find that 34 years have passed since he left, in addition to the years has spent on Gethen. Trade is anything, therefore, that can be transmitted by ansible, a "radio" that can transmit messages at FTL speeds.
Gethen has two countries and two quite different cultures. Ai has been set down in Karhide, which has a monarchy that loosely governs the country (one of the Gethenians calls it more of a family quarrel than an effective government), and Orgoreyn, which is becoming a bureaucratic state that is developing a tight control over its population.
Ai's task is to develop an understanding of the Gethenian culture, and this task, difficult as it is, is magnified by the problems he has in dealing with individual Gethenians. Intellectually he knows that these individuals are not male or female, but perhaps neither? both? However, since Estraven, a powerful, influential member of the king's council. appears to be male, Ai treats him as a male and is confused when Estraven acts out of character. This prevents Ai from completely trusting Estraven and this issue is only resolved during the latter part of the novel when the two are thrown together for a long period.
Estraven, on the other hand, fails to completely realize that Ai is an alien and he, therefore, takes for granted that Ai understands his actions. Again, it is only later that Estraven begins to really understand that Ai does not completely grasp the underlying rationale behind his behavior.
Initially, Ai is befriended by and his mission taken up by Estraven. However, power politics are the same, regardless of gender or lack thereof, and Estraven is maneuvered out of power and forced to go into exile in Orgoreyn. Eventually Ai, too, is forced to leave for Orgoreyn, for the king does not see him as an envoy from an extra-planetary organization but as some sort of pervert who is part of a plot to overthrow him.
This is all set against major changes in the cultures of Karhide and Orgoreyn. War is unknown on Gethen. There is individual violence and occasionally raids by small groups, but organized warfare as we know it on earth is unknown, up to this point anyway. Orgoreyn is in the process of developing strong controls over its citizenry. In Karhide, one of the king's council has discovered the concepts of patriotism and nationalism and is busy promulgating them during his weekly radio broadcasts. Both trends can be seen as making it possible to activate large numbers of people, something which eventually could lead to the formation of armies and, therefore, war. And there is and has been a long-running border dispute between the two countries, a situation that is ready-made for a war.
What happens to Ai and Estraven in Orgoreyn then takes up the second part of the novel, which leads to the resolution of Ai's main problem--getting an agreement on a treaty with the Ekumen. And, as always, there is a price to be paid.
Le Guin doesn't give us the story as a typical chronological narrative. Much of it is told from Ai's POV, but interspersed are notes from Estraven's diary giving us his/her (English lacks a pronoun here and "it" just doesn't fit) view of Ai and some information about what is happening and why, at least from Estraven's POV. In addition are various tales, myths, legends, and stories that give the reader bits and pieces of Karhidish society, a far more entertaining method of filling in the background than straight narrative lecturing.
Overall Rating: perhaps the best way is to say that this is the novel I always mention when someone asks me to recommend "a good SF novel for someone who doesn't read SF." Each time I read it, I always end up thinking that this is what SF could be and should be, but too seldom is.
The title comes from the saying in the book: "The left hand of darkness, the right hand of light." The book does come with a Taoist and Zen background, even to the point that Genly Ai, the POV character, refers to the Yin-Yang symbol when speaking of the people of Gethen. However, knowledge of Taoism and Zen is not necessary for appreciation of the novel.
The story is set on the planet Winter, Gethen as it is called by its inhabitants. Winter is an appropriate name since the planet is in the midst of a glacial period. While this does play an important role in the story, the novel is far more than a simple tale of survival under harsh conditions. The real focus of the novel is the people of Gethen and the question Le Guin asks--what is the effect of gender and constant sexual readiness on the individual and the culture. She asks this by positing a people that do not have a permanent, fixed gender and who are not in a state of readiness for sexual activity.
The people of Gethen are almost completely identical to us and would not be noticed if they were walking down any street or road on earth. There are, though, two significant differences between us and the Gethens. The Gethens are effectively sexually neuter for most of their lives. They show no sexual characteristics and have no interest in sex during this period.
The Gethens have roughly a 26 day cycle: for around 22-3 days they are effectively asexual. Sometime around the 22nd day they begin to undergo changes which will result in becoming a sexual being--either male or female--for about 2-3 days. During this period, kemmer, they develop a strong sex drive, and it becomes very uncomfortable for those who do not engage in sexual activity at this time. Therefore, all Gethenian have a two-three day holiday at this time. No one is expected to be able to function effectively and so all are free at that time.
The significant effect of this is that the average Gethenians therefore have no real sense of being male or female as we do. They are just people and treat each other as such. This has repercussions in behavior, possibly even threatening to non-Gethenians.
As one non-Gethenian observer writes in a report:
The First Mobile [first ambassador] , if one is sent, must be warned that unless he is very self-assured, or senile, his pride will suffer. A man wants his virility regarded, a woman wants her femininity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation. On Winter they will not exist. One is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience.
This limited and strong period of sexual arousal in the Gethenians has resulted in the establishment of kemmer houses in most towns and cities. It is a place where one can go if one is entering kemmer and find others who are also entering kemmer at the same time. Two in kemmer, therefore, meet in a kemmer house and pair off. Usually one is a few hours ahead of the other, so when that person begins to become a male or female, the other person becomes the opposite sex. If the first one starts to become a female, the other will become a male, or a female if the first one becomes a male. If the female becomes pregnant, "she" will remain female until the child is weaned, and she then reverts to being asexual. The "mother," then, during her next kemmer period may just as easily become a male or a female.
The Story:
Genly Ai is the representative of the Ekumen, a loose association of planets, which functions not so much as a galactic government but as sort of a clearing house. His task is to persuade the Gethenians to join the Ekumen. He is sent to live alone on the planet for it is the belief of the Ekumen that total immersion is the best way to develop an understanding of the prevailing culture. Essentially his job is to explain the Ekumen to the Gethenians and eventually the Gethenians to the Ekumen.
Joining the Ekumen opens the planet up to trade with other members, but not trade in the usual sense--but trade in ideas, information, culture, literature, poetry, music. Instantaneous FTL travel is not possible in Le Guin's universe. Einstein still holds true. If Genley Ai returns to the closest Ekumen planet to Gethen he will find that 34 years have passed since he left, in addition to the years has spent on Gethen. Trade is anything, therefore, that can be transmitted by ansible, a "radio" that can transmit messages at FTL speeds.
Gethen has two countries and two quite different cultures. Ai has been set down in Karhide, which has a monarchy that loosely governs the country (one of the Gethenians calls it more of a family quarrel than an effective government), and Orgoreyn, which is becoming a bureaucratic state that is developing a tight control over its population.
Ai's task is to develop an understanding of the Gethenian culture, and this task, difficult as it is, is magnified by the problems he has in dealing with individual Gethenians. Intellectually he knows that these individuals are not male or female, but perhaps neither? both? However, since Estraven, a powerful, influential member of the king's council. appears to be male, Ai treats him as a male and is confused when Estraven acts out of character. This prevents Ai from completely trusting Estraven and this issue is only resolved during the latter part of the novel when the two are thrown together for a long period.
Estraven, on the other hand, fails to completely realize that Ai is an alien and he, therefore, takes for granted that Ai understands his actions. Again, it is only later that Estraven begins to really understand that Ai does not completely grasp the underlying rationale behind his behavior.
Initially, Ai is befriended by and his mission taken up by Estraven. However, power politics are the same, regardless of gender or lack thereof, and Estraven is maneuvered out of power and forced to go into exile in Orgoreyn. Eventually Ai, too, is forced to leave for Orgoreyn, for the king does not see him as an envoy from an extra-planetary organization but as some sort of pervert who is part of a plot to overthrow him.
This is all set against major changes in the cultures of Karhide and Orgoreyn. War is unknown on Gethen. There is individual violence and occasionally raids by small groups, but organized warfare as we know it on earth is unknown, up to this point anyway. Orgoreyn is in the process of developing strong controls over its citizenry. In Karhide, one of the king's council has discovered the concepts of patriotism and nationalism and is busy promulgating them during his weekly radio broadcasts. Both trends can be seen as making it possible to activate large numbers of people, something which eventually could lead to the formation of armies and, therefore, war. And there is and has been a long-running border dispute between the two countries, a situation that is ready-made for a war.
What happens to Ai and Estraven in Orgoreyn then takes up the second part of the novel, which leads to the resolution of Ai's main problem--getting an agreement on a treaty with the Ekumen. And, as always, there is a price to be paid.
Le Guin doesn't give us the story as a typical chronological narrative. Much of it is told from Ai's POV, but interspersed are notes from Estraven's diary giving us his/her (English lacks a pronoun here and "it" just doesn't fit) view of Ai and some information about what is happening and why, at least from Estraven's POV. In addition are various tales, myths, legends, and stories that give the reader bits and pieces of Karhidish society, a far more entertaining method of filling in the background than straight narrative lecturing.
Overall Rating: perhaps the best way is to say that this is the novel I always mention when someone asks me to recommend "a good SF novel for someone who doesn't read SF." Each time I read it, I always end up thinking that this is what SF could be and should be, but too seldom is.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Greater Good
Democracies work, more or less, on the utilitarian principle that the good of the majority outweighs that of the minority--the greater good. In other words, some suffering is acceptable if the good outweighs the evil that might result from a particular action or law or process. For example, some people may lose their homes or jobs if it is determined that such losses will result in a greater good for the majority.
The question that bothers me is to what extent this may be carried out. At least three works that I'm aware of have either mentioned this point or based the story completely on this issue.
One of the first works that I can find that has brought up this issue is Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. Ivan, the skeptical brother, in a discussion with Alyosha, his younger brother who is a novice monk, brings up the issue in a discussion about justice--how could a just God have created a world so filled with evil in which good people suffer and evil people flourish?
At one point he poses the following hypothetical situation to Alyosha, "Tell me straight out, I call on you--answer me: imagine that you yourself are building the edifice of human destiny with the object of making people happy in the finale, of giving them peace and rest at least, but for that you must inevitably and unavoidably torture just one tiny creature, that same child who was beating her chest with her little fist, and raise your edifice on the foundation of her unrequited tears--would you agree to be the architect on such conditions? Tell me the truth."
Peace and happiness for the human race--but at the cost of one child's suffering. Is that going too far with the philosophy of the greater good?
A second work one might read is a short story by Ursula Le Guin, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." In this story, Le Guin posits such a perfect society and goes into considerable detail describing it. While some might not like this society, many would consider it an ideal world. However, there is a catch--as the old cliche goes, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." In the story, Le Guin describes the life of one small child that resembles horror stories that emerge in the news media about a dreadful example of child abuse--a child being locked in a dark room for years, with no sanitary facilities, physical and mental abuse alternating with complete isolation.
She continues: "They all come to know it is there, all the people of Omelas. Some of them have come to see it, others are content merely to know it is there. They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvests and the kindly weathers of the skies, depend wholly on this child's abominable misery."
If that child were released, then "in that day and hour all the prosperity and beauty and delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed. Those are the terms. To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement: to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one..."
The title, of course, points out that there are some who cannot accept this situation and leave. But, most stay. Are they monsters?
A third version of this hypothetical situation is found in Theodore Sturgeon's Venus Plus X. This tale differs in that it isn't one child who suffers for the good of the whole, but each member unknowingly, as an infant, undergoes a procedure that produces an idyllic society. In one sense they are now less than they could be, but their lives appear to be happier and more satisfying and creative than any contemporary society today. In fact, it is quite similar to Omelas. In this case, the issue is that the members of this society do not have the chance to make a decision, for it is made for them as infants and most do not know the true situation. The question is therefore whether the authorities in this society are justified in their decision to not allow each member to decide whether to undergo the procedure. Could they fear that most might not agree?
These are all hypothetical or fictional situations, but the principles behind them are not. I wonder what I might say if I were really in an actual situation similar to ones posited in the three stories--to exchange the complete happiness and joy of thousands or more people for the suffering of one person. I wonder which is the greater good.
The question that bothers me is to what extent this may be carried out. At least three works that I'm aware of have either mentioned this point or based the story completely on this issue.
One of the first works that I can find that has brought up this issue is Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. Ivan, the skeptical brother, in a discussion with Alyosha, his younger brother who is a novice monk, brings up the issue in a discussion about justice--how could a just God have created a world so filled with evil in which good people suffer and evil people flourish?
At one point he poses the following hypothetical situation to Alyosha, "Tell me straight out, I call on you--answer me: imagine that you yourself are building the edifice of human destiny with the object of making people happy in the finale, of giving them peace and rest at least, but for that you must inevitably and unavoidably torture just one tiny creature, that same child who was beating her chest with her little fist, and raise your edifice on the foundation of her unrequited tears--would you agree to be the architect on such conditions? Tell me the truth."
Peace and happiness for the human race--but at the cost of one child's suffering. Is that going too far with the philosophy of the greater good?
A second work one might read is a short story by Ursula Le Guin, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." In this story, Le Guin posits such a perfect society and goes into considerable detail describing it. While some might not like this society, many would consider it an ideal world. However, there is a catch--as the old cliche goes, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." In the story, Le Guin describes the life of one small child that resembles horror stories that emerge in the news media about a dreadful example of child abuse--a child being locked in a dark room for years, with no sanitary facilities, physical and mental abuse alternating with complete isolation.
She continues: "They all come to know it is there, all the people of Omelas. Some of them have come to see it, others are content merely to know it is there. They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvests and the kindly weathers of the skies, depend wholly on this child's abominable misery."
If that child were released, then "in that day and hour all the prosperity and beauty and delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed. Those are the terms. To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement: to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one..."
The title, of course, points out that there are some who cannot accept this situation and leave. But, most stay. Are they monsters?
A third version of this hypothetical situation is found in Theodore Sturgeon's Venus Plus X. This tale differs in that it isn't one child who suffers for the good of the whole, but each member unknowingly, as an infant, undergoes a procedure that produces an idyllic society. In one sense they are now less than they could be, but their lives appear to be happier and more satisfying and creative than any contemporary society today. In fact, it is quite similar to Omelas. In this case, the issue is that the members of this society do not have the chance to make a decision, for it is made for them as infants and most do not know the true situation. The question is therefore whether the authorities in this society are justified in their decision to not allow each member to decide whether to undergo the procedure. Could they fear that most might not agree?
These are all hypothetical or fictional situations, but the principles behind them are not. I wonder what I might say if I were really in an actual situation similar to ones posited in the three stories--to exchange the complete happiness and joy of thousands or more people for the suffering of one person. I wonder which is the greater good.
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