George R. Stewart
Earth Abides
This is the second of my plague posts, the first being on Feb. 16, 2017. (http://tinyurl.com/kman92p) which included a brief discussion of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" and Jack London's novella, "The Scarlet Plague.
One intriguing overlap is that Jack London's "The Scarlet Plague" and Stewart's Earth Abides were set in the San Francisco area and that the POV characters in both stories had been professors at a local university. It may simply be coincidence since Stewart taught at the University of California at Berkeley and London was born in San Francisco and died in northern California, as did Stewart.
Earth Abides is one of the best post-holocaust novels I've
ever read. It's a quiet novel which focuses on the effects on those
who survived a war in which over 99% of the human race died. The title
comes from Ecclesiastes:
"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities: all is vanity.
What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh;
but the earth abideth for ever. "
Ish comes across in the first chapter as the quiet, reflective type who seems to prefer being an observer than a participant (an observation he makes himself at one point).. I wonder how much of this detachment is him and how much is shock at seeing his world ended.
The story has two narrative structures. The first is the one in regular print, and that's mostly the story of Ish and his doings--his attempt to deal with the drastic change in the status of the human race. During the past century or so, humans had become the dominant species on the planet, and its favored animals and plants were slowly pushing the unfavored ones to the sidelines. Now, Ish has to change his behavior to reflect that of humanity's new status, a vastly reduced position, both in dominance and in numbers. Technology, his greatest asset, is slowly disintegrating and would soon be useless. The safety net that technology and the civilization based on it was gone. He finally realized it to some extent when his fears returned shortly after starting out. Before the catastrophe, if his car had broken down for any reason, he could just wait for a passing motorist, even on remote roads, or perhaps a state highway patrol officer. Now, he was on his own. Nobody would come to rescue him.
The second narrative is the one in italics. It is there for a very good reason. Ish is only human and has only a limited perspective, centered mostly on himself and his concerns. He has little if any idea of what goes on around him, especially if it's out of sight. The title of the novel is not Ish Abides, or Humanity Abides., but Earth Abides. The focus of the novel is, therefore, on the effects on Earth and the plants and animals that share the planet with humans. Humans are once again back on the same level as other creatures: it must take the Earth as it is and learn how to survive with what is provided by Earth. He can no longer reshape the Earth to fit in with his desires and presumed needs.
For example, we take fences for granted. They are one of humanity's means of control of the environment. Fences are humanity's way of saying these animals must stay here and not go somewhere else, while other animals occupy other places specified by humans. Now, the fences are breaking down, and those animals are now free to go as their natures dictate, regardless of human plans.
The novel is an account of the way the group survived several crises, grew, and changed over the years. There are no bloodthirsty mutants or no spectacular scientific advances, nor do they set up an Edenic society, in which all are wise, reasonable, and loving. Stewart has given us humans who lose almost everything they had taken for granted and that includes friends and relatives. Of the survivors, all have lost everybody they knew, the one exception in Ish's group being a young mother and her infant child. They are the only two with a connection that survived the Plague.
What we see in the novel is the gradual acceptance of their situation and an attempt to survive. It is a low key novel with expected challenges: the search for food, water, shelter, and companionship. The most significant change over the years is the passing of the first generation and the gradual assumption of control by the next generation, those that had no experience or knowledge of what life had been before the Plague.
Ish attempted to teach the new generation, but they were not interested in sitting around a classroom and being lectured on things which seemed to have little relevance to life now. Perhaps Ish's greatest contribution to their physical survival was the introduction of the bow and arrow. Ammunition supplies were dwindling and they lacked the knowledge and technology to make more or to repair or manufacture gun or ammunition.
.
Stewart has provided the reader with what I can only call a very human and a very ironic and a very satisfying ending, though it is not the ending of Ish's group. Those who have read the book will recognize the irony of the
following statement: a foreshadowing of the slow development of a
Myth. Early in the book, the question of his relationship to the group arises. He provides them with stability, and he alone, in the early days at first, is able to function. They look up to him, for his detachment to some extent sets him apart from the others. But, at one point he thinks to himself: "'No,' he thought. "Whatever happens, at least I shall never believe that I a god. No, I shall never be a god!'"
I wonder how future generations will view Ish.
At the beginning of this post, I wrote that this was one of the best post-holocaust novels I had ever read. I would like to modify that by saying it is one of the best SF novels I had ever read.
Showing posts with label LONDON Jack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LONDON Jack. Show all posts
Monday, August 7, 2017
Friday, May 5, 2017
A Time to Die?
Generally speaking, killing another human is banned by most societies and religions. There are exceptions of course--self-defense or defense of someone else. War also is another exception. Murder is considered to be one of the most serious crimes or sins one can commit. However, it is also true that various states and religions have reserved the right to kill another human being for themselves. Executing someone for various crimes or heresy has been and still is common today, although it is gradually going out of favor among various countries, permanently I hope.
As I mentioned, execution has been prescribed for a variety of crimes and religious unorthodoxy, but so far I have yet to find any society or religion that has decreed age to be a crime requiring execution, except, that is, in literature. And, I hope it remains so, for I am nearing 80, and therefore a prime candidate.
Following are accounts of several fictional works in which age becomes a crime.
Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, and Philip Massinger
The Old Law: a new way to please you, a comedy
The Old Law is a seventeenth century English play which is set in a mythic Greece. Evander, the Duke of Epire, has issued a decree. Any man reaching the age of eighty and any woman at the age of sixty shall be executed by the state. The main plot, involving Duke Evander, his decree, and the effect on his court, comes from a story found in "a version of The Seven Sages or The Seven Wise Masters of Rome translated from the Greek by the medieval monk Jean de Hauteseille" sometime around 1200 AD..
The Law:
. . . that every man living to
Fourscore years, and women to threescore, shall than
Be cut off as fruitless to the republic,
And law shall finish what nature lingered at.
There were those who argued that this sweeping law mandated the death of many innocent people, while those supporting the law (the young who are awaiting their parents' death and therefore their inheritance) argued in return:
What man lives to fourscore and woman to three
That can die innocent.
The wording of the law:
That all men living in our dominions of Epire in their decayed nature to the age of fourscore, or women to the age of threescore, shall on the same day be instantly put to death, by those means and instruments that a former proclamation had to this purpose, through our said territories dispersed.
The rationale for the law:
That these men, being past their bearing arms to aid and defend their country, past their manhood and livelihood to propagate any further issue to their posterity, and, as well, past their counsels (which overgrown gravity is now run into dotage) to assist their country; to whom, in common reason, nothing should be so wearisome as their own lives; as, it may be supposed, is tedious to their successive heirs, whose times are spent in the good of their country, yet, wanting the means to maintain it, are like to grow old before their inheritance born to them come to their necessary use. For the women, for that they were never defense to their country, never by counsel admitted to the assist of the government of their country, only necessary to the propagation of posterity, and, now, at the age of three score, be past that good and all their goodness; it is thought fit, then, a quarter abated from the more worthy member, [they] be put to death as is before recited; provided that, for the just and impartial execution of this our statute, the example shall first begin in and about our court, which ourself will see carefully performed, and not for a full month following extend any further into our dominions. Dated the sixth of the second month at our Palace Royal in Epire.
THE PLOT:
Cleanthes: a courtier who loves his father, claims that his father died shortly before his 80th birthday. He has set up a phony funeral ritual.
Simonides: a courtier who joyfully handed his father over to the executioner and is now looking forward to enjoying his inheritance. He also searches around for those who violate the decree.
Subplot:
The cook, the baker, the tailor, and the butler have searched the birth records, looking for rich widows who are very close to their 60th birthday. They plan to woo and marry them and then wait for their 60th birthday when they will become rich widowers. Gnotho, the clown, has a different plan for he is married. He has persuaded the clerk to change his wife's birth year so that his wife now has only a a very short time instead of a few years of life. The title page of the book that contained this play lists this as a Comedy, so all's well that ends well.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Several centuries later, also in England, we find the following:
Anthony Trollope:
The Fixed Period, a novel
published in 1882,
Anyone who has read The Old Law and The Fixed Period will recognize a strong similarity between the two, especially in the rationale given for the law. According to the Introduction, Trollope had definitely read The Old Law in 1776, just six years before his novel was published.
Anthony Trollope's novel, The Fixed Period, is set on the island of Britannula, a former colony of England which has been granted its independence. Shortly after gaining freedom, the legislature, under the guidance of Neverbend, its prime minister, passed a law decreeing the death of men and women who reach the age of 67.
The rationale for the legislation:
". . . it consists altogether of the abolition of the miseries, weakness, and faineant imbecility of old age by the prearranged ceasing to live of those who would otherwise become old. Need I explain to the inhabitants of England, for whom I chiefly write, how extreme are those sufferings, and how great the costliness of that old age which is unable in any degree to supply its own wants.
The arguments presented are the same as those provided in The Old Law. Old people should be killed to prevent the sufferings and infirmities of being old. The second reason is the financial burden they pose for society and to their relatives. Prime Minister Neverbend goes on to argue that the young "should be nourished in order that they may do good work as their time shall come. But for whose good are the old and effete to be maintained amid all these troubles and miseries?"
"It is self-evident that at sixty-five a man has done all that he is fit to do. He should be troubled no longer with labour, and therefore should be troubled no longer with life."
At the end, the legislature decreed the construction of comfortable dwellings, called the college.
Those men and women who reach the age of sixty-seven shall go to the college and live there " . . .and that before their sixty-eighth birthday they should have departed."
THE PLOT:
Years have passed, and now the first person to reach the age of sixty-seven is about to move to the college. It just happens to be Gabriel, Neverbend's best friend. Gabriel now has second thoughts about the law and tries to extend the remaining time he has left. Neverbend is very upset because he believes Gabriel should be proud to be the first one in the world to profit from his forward-thinking law. Meanwhile, word has reached England about the legislation and that it is about to be implemented. England responds by sending its most advanced battleship. The novel focuses on Neverbend's dismay at the inability of many of his fellow citizens' to see the marvelous advantages of his law. The battleship has arrived, and those aboard are about to play a role in the drama. There's also a minor romantic subplot.
We generally admire those who show persistence in refusing to surrender their beliefs in the face of opposition. Fortitude is a virtue, and it is honored by most. However, the downside is that the belief that its holder adamantly holds to can be evil as well as virtuous. Neverbend himself wonders if his persistence is based more on the need to make a mark that will resound to his honor and glory long after he is dead, but he dismisses such thoughts as being unworthy of him and his grand idea. Perhaps he should spend more time thinking about his motivation.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Jack London
"The Law of Life"
a short story published in 1901,
My third example is a short story by Jack London. Perhaps I should call it a short-short story, for it is only four pages long. Although much shorter than the previous two works, London makes his point, plainly and simply. The setting seems to be the far North. Old Koskoosh is a member of a group of Inuit or Eskimos. It is not clear since London provides no clues. We are told that Old Koskoosh is blind and can no longer help provide food for his group. He is a drain on their limited resources. His people are breaking camp now and moving on. They will leave some firewood there for him.
His son comes to him..
"The tribesmen hurry. Their bales are heavy and their bellies flat with lack of feasting. The trail is long and they travel fast. I go now. It is well?"
"It is well. I am as a last year's leaf, clinging lightly to the stem. The first breath that blows, and I fall. My voice is become as an old woman's. My eyes no longer show me the way of my feet, and my feet are heavy, and I am tired. It is well."
Although the issue, the productivity of the individual, is the same as in the first two works, there are major differences between London's story and the other works. In the first place, there is no arbitrary set age as in the play and the novel; the decision of the group results solely from Koskoosh's condition. He is blind; he will require someone to care for him on the trip. He is unable to bring in food; he reduces the food available for those who can hunt and for the children who will be productive in the years to come.
Secondly, the drain upon the group in the first two stories would not be sufficiently serious to threaten the group's survival: the increase in taxes for each individual would be minimal, whereas the cost to the group in London's story would be far more threatening to the group's existence. In the harsh conditions in which they live, every one must provide if the group is to survive.
Thirdly, it is not an arbitrary bit of legislation imposed upon the group. It is part of the group's traditions that go back many generations. Koskoosh can remember old men and women who were left behind in the past when they too could no longer work to help the group survive. This is a part of life, whose only law is to perpetuate the group. That's why in the previous stories, there were Runners, those who protested against the law. In this tale, Koskoosh says, "It is well."
=======================================
William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson
Logan's Run, a novel
first published in 1967
Because of overpopulation, the legislature passed a law limiting births. The younger generation revolted, and the result was "the little war" between the generations. The younger generation won and passed their own law to handle the problem of overpopulation: death for all on their 21st birthday. But, as in the first two stories, there were some objected and they became Runners. An agency was created to handle this problem, the Sandmen. Their task was to track down and execute the Runners on the spot.
Logan was a Sandman, and he had no difficulty catching and executing with Runners. However, when he reached 21, the situation became a bit more complicated, and he then became a Runner (perhaps).
THE PLOT:
Logan is on the run and searching for a mythical place called Sanctuary, the goal for all Runners. Even after he has left the city, he finds others living outside, something the city dwellers thought impossible.
This is an action-oriented tale, which the title makes clear. There is no real discussion of the principles involved. It is also far more unbelievable than the previous three works. Machinery will break down, especially if it's unattended. And essentially, the society in this tale does nothing and knows nothing about the mechanisms which support their idyllic way of life. The only ones who do work of any sort are the Sandmen, and they are executioners. I doubt any society could exist for any length of time on that foundation.
Some General Comments
The Old Law and The Fixed Period are satirical: the sometimes arbitrariness of laws and the impatience of the young with the older generation. Or, so it seems to me. Greed and desire for power seem to be the main motivation for the actions of most in these two works. Few come out looking well in them. In The Fixed Period it seems as though those who voted for the law were looking forward to gaining their inheritance and power earlier than expected, but they didn't look any farther into the future to when they approached their own mid 60s.
Logan's Run struck me as a typical tale of the "man-on-the-run" genre. As usual, it features someone who has committed a crime or accused of committing one and who is desperately trying to escape the authorities. This plot is inserted into the futuristic setting, which makes it an SF story. I suspect the real interest of the tale lies in its man-on-the-run element, rather than any SF elements it may have.
Jack London's "The Law of Life" is, by far, my favorite of the four. It has a reality to it that is inescapable. It is a harsh rule that's a necessary part of survival in a harsh landscape. It is not an arbitrary law that is imposed, but a longstanding tradition that goes back generations. Koskoosh is blind, he is a drain on the meager resources of the community. Koskoosh knows this: "It is well."
As I mentioned, execution has been prescribed for a variety of crimes and religious unorthodoxy, but so far I have yet to find any society or religion that has decreed age to be a crime requiring execution, except, that is, in literature. And, I hope it remains so, for I am nearing 80, and therefore a prime candidate.
Following are accounts of several fictional works in which age becomes a crime.
Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, and Philip Massinger
The Old Law: a new way to please you, a comedy
The Old Law is a seventeenth century English play which is set in a mythic Greece. Evander, the Duke of Epire, has issued a decree. Any man reaching the age of eighty and any woman at the age of sixty shall be executed by the state. The main plot, involving Duke Evander, his decree, and the effect on his court, comes from a story found in "a version of The Seven Sages or The Seven Wise Masters of Rome translated from the Greek by the medieval monk Jean de Hauteseille" sometime around 1200 AD..
The Law:
. . . that every man living to
Fourscore years, and women to threescore, shall than
Be cut off as fruitless to the republic,
And law shall finish what nature lingered at.
There were those who argued that this sweeping law mandated the death of many innocent people, while those supporting the law (the young who are awaiting their parents' death and therefore their inheritance) argued in return:
What man lives to fourscore and woman to three
That can die innocent.
The wording of the law:
That all men living in our dominions of Epire in their decayed nature to the age of fourscore, or women to the age of threescore, shall on the same day be instantly put to death, by those means and instruments that a former proclamation had to this purpose, through our said territories dispersed.
The rationale for the law:
That these men, being past their bearing arms to aid and defend their country, past their manhood and livelihood to propagate any further issue to their posterity, and, as well, past their counsels (which overgrown gravity is now run into dotage) to assist their country; to whom, in common reason, nothing should be so wearisome as their own lives; as, it may be supposed, is tedious to their successive heirs, whose times are spent in the good of their country, yet, wanting the means to maintain it, are like to grow old before their inheritance born to them come to their necessary use. For the women, for that they were never defense to their country, never by counsel admitted to the assist of the government of their country, only necessary to the propagation of posterity, and, now, at the age of three score, be past that good and all their goodness; it is thought fit, then, a quarter abated from the more worthy member, [they] be put to death as is before recited; provided that, for the just and impartial execution of this our statute, the example shall first begin in and about our court, which ourself will see carefully performed, and not for a full month following extend any further into our dominions. Dated the sixth of the second month at our Palace Royal in Epire.
THE PLOT:
Cleanthes: a courtier who loves his father, claims that his father died shortly before his 80th birthday. He has set up a phony funeral ritual.
Simonides: a courtier who joyfully handed his father over to the executioner and is now looking forward to enjoying his inheritance. He also searches around for those who violate the decree.
Subplot:
The cook, the baker, the tailor, and the butler have searched the birth records, looking for rich widows who are very close to their 60th birthday. They plan to woo and marry them and then wait for their 60th birthday when they will become rich widowers. Gnotho, the clown, has a different plan for he is married. He has persuaded the clerk to change his wife's birth year so that his wife now has only a a very short time instead of a few years of life. The title page of the book that contained this play lists this as a Comedy, so all's well that ends well.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Several centuries later, also in England, we find the following:
Anthony Trollope:
The Fixed Period, a novel
published in 1882,
Anyone who has read The Old Law and The Fixed Period will recognize a strong similarity between the two, especially in the rationale given for the law. According to the Introduction, Trollope had definitely read The Old Law in 1776, just six years before his novel was published.
Anthony Trollope's novel, The Fixed Period, is set on the island of Britannula, a former colony of England which has been granted its independence. Shortly after gaining freedom, the legislature, under the guidance of Neverbend, its prime minister, passed a law decreeing the death of men and women who reach the age of 67.
The rationale for the legislation:
". . . it consists altogether of the abolition of the miseries, weakness, and faineant imbecility of old age by the prearranged ceasing to live of those who would otherwise become old. Need I explain to the inhabitants of England, for whom I chiefly write, how extreme are those sufferings, and how great the costliness of that old age which is unable in any degree to supply its own wants.
The arguments presented are the same as those provided in The Old Law. Old people should be killed to prevent the sufferings and infirmities of being old. The second reason is the financial burden they pose for society and to their relatives. Prime Minister Neverbend goes on to argue that the young "should be nourished in order that they may do good work as their time shall come. But for whose good are the old and effete to be maintained amid all these troubles and miseries?"
"It is self-evident that at sixty-five a man has done all that he is fit to do. He should be troubled no longer with labour, and therefore should be troubled no longer with life."
At the end, the legislature decreed the construction of comfortable dwellings, called the college.
Those men and women who reach the age of sixty-seven shall go to the college and live there " . . .and that before their sixty-eighth birthday they should have departed."
THE PLOT:
Years have passed, and now the first person to reach the age of sixty-seven is about to move to the college. It just happens to be Gabriel, Neverbend's best friend. Gabriel now has second thoughts about the law and tries to extend the remaining time he has left. Neverbend is very upset because he believes Gabriel should be proud to be the first one in the world to profit from his forward-thinking law. Meanwhile, word has reached England about the legislation and that it is about to be implemented. England responds by sending its most advanced battleship. The novel focuses on Neverbend's dismay at the inability of many of his fellow citizens' to see the marvelous advantages of his law. The battleship has arrived, and those aboard are about to play a role in the drama. There's also a minor romantic subplot.
We generally admire those who show persistence in refusing to surrender their beliefs in the face of opposition. Fortitude is a virtue, and it is honored by most. However, the downside is that the belief that its holder adamantly holds to can be evil as well as virtuous. Neverbend himself wonders if his persistence is based more on the need to make a mark that will resound to his honor and glory long after he is dead, but he dismisses such thoughts as being unworthy of him and his grand idea. Perhaps he should spend more time thinking about his motivation.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Jack London
"The Law of Life"
a short story published in 1901,
My third example is a short story by Jack London. Perhaps I should call it a short-short story, for it is only four pages long. Although much shorter than the previous two works, London makes his point, plainly and simply. The setting seems to be the far North. Old Koskoosh is a member of a group of Inuit or Eskimos. It is not clear since London provides no clues. We are told that Old Koskoosh is blind and can no longer help provide food for his group. He is a drain on their limited resources. His people are breaking camp now and moving on. They will leave some firewood there for him.
His son comes to him..
"The tribesmen hurry. Their bales are heavy and their bellies flat with lack of feasting. The trail is long and they travel fast. I go now. It is well?"
"It is well. I am as a last year's leaf, clinging lightly to the stem. The first breath that blows, and I fall. My voice is become as an old woman's. My eyes no longer show me the way of my feet, and my feet are heavy, and I am tired. It is well."
Although the issue, the productivity of the individual, is the same as in the first two works, there are major differences between London's story and the other works. In the first place, there is no arbitrary set age as in the play and the novel; the decision of the group results solely from Koskoosh's condition. He is blind; he will require someone to care for him on the trip. He is unable to bring in food; he reduces the food available for those who can hunt and for the children who will be productive in the years to come.
Secondly, the drain upon the group in the first two stories would not be sufficiently serious to threaten the group's survival: the increase in taxes for each individual would be minimal, whereas the cost to the group in London's story would be far more threatening to the group's existence. In the harsh conditions in which they live, every one must provide if the group is to survive.
Thirdly, it is not an arbitrary bit of legislation imposed upon the group. It is part of the group's traditions that go back many generations. Koskoosh can remember old men and women who were left behind in the past when they too could no longer work to help the group survive. This is a part of life, whose only law is to perpetuate the group. That's why in the previous stories, there were Runners, those who protested against the law. In this tale, Koskoosh says, "It is well."
=======================================
William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson
Logan's Run, a novel
first published in 1967
Because of overpopulation, the legislature passed a law limiting births. The younger generation revolted, and the result was "the little war" between the generations. The younger generation won and passed their own law to handle the problem of overpopulation: death for all on their 21st birthday. But, as in the first two stories, there were some objected and they became Runners. An agency was created to handle this problem, the Sandmen. Their task was to track down and execute the Runners on the spot.
Logan was a Sandman, and he had no difficulty catching and executing with Runners. However, when he reached 21, the situation became a bit more complicated, and he then became a Runner (perhaps).
THE PLOT:
Logan is on the run and searching for a mythical place called Sanctuary, the goal for all Runners. Even after he has left the city, he finds others living outside, something the city dwellers thought impossible.
This is an action-oriented tale, which the title makes clear. There is no real discussion of the principles involved. It is also far more unbelievable than the previous three works. Machinery will break down, especially if it's unattended. And essentially, the society in this tale does nothing and knows nothing about the mechanisms which support their idyllic way of life. The only ones who do work of any sort are the Sandmen, and they are executioners. I doubt any society could exist for any length of time on that foundation.
Some General Comments
The Old Law and The Fixed Period are satirical: the sometimes arbitrariness of laws and the impatience of the young with the older generation. Or, so it seems to me. Greed and desire for power seem to be the main motivation for the actions of most in these two works. Few come out looking well in them. In The Fixed Period it seems as though those who voted for the law were looking forward to gaining their inheritance and power earlier than expected, but they didn't look any farther into the future to when they approached their own mid 60s.
Logan's Run struck me as a typical tale of the "man-on-the-run" genre. As usual, it features someone who has committed a crime or accused of committing one and who is desperately trying to escape the authorities. This plot is inserted into the futuristic setting, which makes it an SF story. I suspect the real interest of the tale lies in its man-on-the-run element, rather than any SF elements it may have.
Jack London's "The Law of Life" is, by far, my favorite of the four. It has a reality to it that is inescapable. It is a harsh rule that's a necessary part of survival in a harsh landscape. It is not an arbitrary law that is imposed, but a longstanding tradition that goes back generations. Koskoosh is blind, he is a drain on the meager resources of the community. Koskoosh knows this: "It is well."
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Jack London: The Scarlet Plague
Jack London: The Scarlet Plague
Edgar Allan Poe published a short work titled "The Masque of the Red Death" (aka "The Mask of the Red Death) in 1842 about a virulent plague that caused instant bleeding from the pores and immediate death. In 1912, some 70 years later, Jack London published a novella, The Scarlet Death in which he depicted a plague that caused a bright reddening of the skin and almost instantaneous death. Did London borrow the idea from Poe? I don't know as I've never read anything that suggests such a possibility. Aside from the symptoms and the high mortality rate, the two tales are very different in time and place. Poe's tale takes place in Renaissance Italy (or so I guess) while London's is set in the San Francisco Bay area in 2013.
Poe's story focused on a small group of people who fled the city for an isolated "castellated abbey," hoping to escape the plague. It had a high wall and an iron door. They sealed the door in an attempt to keep the plague or plague bearers out. However, as those who have read the tale know, they were unsuccessful What happened after the plague appeared and apparently killed all in the abbey is not told.
London's tale, however, is a flashback, a reminiscence of one of the few survivors, called Granser by the boys, told to the next generation, a small group of young males who are the descendants of those few who were immune to the plague. While the story was written in 1912, London set it in 2013, in the San Francisco Bay area.
The frame tells us what life is like several decades after the plague. Granser's audience consists of teen-aged boys, whose language consists mostly of a very basic vocabulary and they see no reason why there should be more than one word for something. They deride the old man for referring to something as "scarlet" when "red" is a perfectly good word. While we never really get a close look at the way the people live then, London does provide sufficient information to suggest that humanity has reverted back to the hunting and gathering stage, a period of savagery, as Granser complains. But, this is all part of the cycle, for the old man tells the boys:
"You are true savages. Already has begun the custom of wearing human teeth. In another generation you will be perforating your nose and ears and wearing ornaments of bone and shell. I know. The human race is doomed to sink back farther and farther into the primitive night ere again it begins its bloody climb upward to civilization. When we increase and feel the lack of room, we will proceed to kill one another."
Most of the tale, though, consists of the horrors experienced during the outbreak of the plague and the breakdown of society, the rioting, looting, and killing that occurred as the terrified population thought only of their own survival at any cost. What's intriguing is that Granser, a literature professor at the University of California, and numerous colleagues in the university community attempted to barricade themselves in the Chemistry Building, bringing in supplies and weapons and prepared to do whatever they had to do to keep the plague and plague bearers out, just as the Prince and his friends had done in Poe's tale. And, they were just an unsuccessful. At the end, the few survivors fled the building.
London doesn't go into any great detail about what had happened during the sixty years that had passed since the outbreak. He is most concerned with the breakdown of society at the time of the plague and some depiction of life today.
Interwoven though is London's socialist philosophy as the old man tells of society in 2013 as consisting of Masters and Slaves (capitalist owners and workers). He, in speaking of the events of 2013, tells us "(t)hat was the year that Morgan the Fifth was appointed President of the United States by the Board of Magnates."
London also makes the point, over a century ago, that he was aware of what we today are only too aware of--the relationship of a large population and the appearance of new diseases and the role of rapid global transportation in the spread of these diseases. Improved methods of food production led to an increase in population. "The easier it was to get food, the more men there were; the more men there were, the more thickly were they packed together on the earth; and the more thickly were they packed, the more new kinds of germs became diseases."
We are certainly well aware of the problem today, especially when we consider the onset of AIDS, Ebola, and most recently the Zika virus. So far we've been lucky as rapid transmission of information has allowed us to stay ahead of the threat, even though several countries were placed under quarantine during the last Ebola outbreak.
London's tale is a disquieting one, even though it is considered science fiction. It is not an highly improbable invasion by aliens that poses the threat but invaders from Earth itself. We see examples of it perhaps every decade or so.
At one time I had considered calling this post "The Three Plagues." I had planned to write about three plague stories--the two mentioned above and George R. Stewart's great novel, The Earth Abides. However, the length of this commentary on the first two is long enough, so I will post on Stewart's work separately.
I would recommend, if you have the time, to read all three stories: first Poe, then London, and then Stewart's novel, for together they provide an thorough exploration of the theme--the plague and its aftermath. .
Edgar Allan Poe published a short work titled "The Masque of the Red Death" (aka "The Mask of the Red Death) in 1842 about a virulent plague that caused instant bleeding from the pores and immediate death. In 1912, some 70 years later, Jack London published a novella, The Scarlet Death in which he depicted a plague that caused a bright reddening of the skin and almost instantaneous death. Did London borrow the idea from Poe? I don't know as I've never read anything that suggests such a possibility. Aside from the symptoms and the high mortality rate, the two tales are very different in time and place. Poe's tale takes place in Renaissance Italy (or so I guess) while London's is set in the San Francisco Bay area in 2013.
Poe's story focused on a small group of people who fled the city for an isolated "castellated abbey," hoping to escape the plague. It had a high wall and an iron door. They sealed the door in an attempt to keep the plague or plague bearers out. However, as those who have read the tale know, they were unsuccessful What happened after the plague appeared and apparently killed all in the abbey is not told.
London's tale, however, is a flashback, a reminiscence of one of the few survivors, called Granser by the boys, told to the next generation, a small group of young males who are the descendants of those few who were immune to the plague. While the story was written in 1912, London set it in 2013, in the San Francisco Bay area.
The frame tells us what life is like several decades after the plague. Granser's audience consists of teen-aged boys, whose language consists mostly of a very basic vocabulary and they see no reason why there should be more than one word for something. They deride the old man for referring to something as "scarlet" when "red" is a perfectly good word. While we never really get a close look at the way the people live then, London does provide sufficient information to suggest that humanity has reverted back to the hunting and gathering stage, a period of savagery, as Granser complains. But, this is all part of the cycle, for the old man tells the boys:
"You are true savages. Already has begun the custom of wearing human teeth. In another generation you will be perforating your nose and ears and wearing ornaments of bone and shell. I know. The human race is doomed to sink back farther and farther into the primitive night ere again it begins its bloody climb upward to civilization. When we increase and feel the lack of room, we will proceed to kill one another."
Most of the tale, though, consists of the horrors experienced during the outbreak of the plague and the breakdown of society, the rioting, looting, and killing that occurred as the terrified population thought only of their own survival at any cost. What's intriguing is that Granser, a literature professor at the University of California, and numerous colleagues in the university community attempted to barricade themselves in the Chemistry Building, bringing in supplies and weapons and prepared to do whatever they had to do to keep the plague and plague bearers out, just as the Prince and his friends had done in Poe's tale. And, they were just an unsuccessful. At the end, the few survivors fled the building.
London doesn't go into any great detail about what had happened during the sixty years that had passed since the outbreak. He is most concerned with the breakdown of society at the time of the plague and some depiction of life today.
Interwoven though is London's socialist philosophy as the old man tells of society in 2013 as consisting of Masters and Slaves (capitalist owners and workers). He, in speaking of the events of 2013, tells us "(t)hat was the year that Morgan the Fifth was appointed President of the United States by the Board of Magnates."
London also makes the point, over a century ago, that he was aware of what we today are only too aware of--the relationship of a large population and the appearance of new diseases and the role of rapid global transportation in the spread of these diseases. Improved methods of food production led to an increase in population. "The easier it was to get food, the more men there were; the more men there were, the more thickly were they packed together on the earth; and the more thickly were they packed, the more new kinds of germs became diseases."
We are certainly well aware of the problem today, especially when we consider the onset of AIDS, Ebola, and most recently the Zika virus. So far we've been lucky as rapid transmission of information has allowed us to stay ahead of the threat, even though several countries were placed under quarantine during the last Ebola outbreak.
London's tale is a disquieting one, even though it is considered science fiction. It is not an highly improbable invasion by aliens that poses the threat but invaders from Earth itself. We see examples of it perhaps every decade or so.
At one time I had considered calling this post "The Three Plagues." I had planned to write about three plague stories--the two mentioned above and George R. Stewart's great novel, The Earth Abides. However, the length of this commentary on the first two is long enough, so I will post on Stewart's work separately.
I would recommend, if you have the time, to read all three stories: first Poe, then London, and then Stewart's novel, for together they provide an thorough exploration of the theme--the plague and its aftermath. .
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