Week 06 - The Hobbit

The Hobbit reflects the classic journey of the hero clearly, and can be used as an excellent example of this. Being used to his calm and quiet life in almost isolation, Bilbo is called to an adventure by Gandalf. He, obviously refuses this call, but crosses the threshold and joins the band of dwarves, setting off to fight the dragon, Smaug, that took their treasure. They go through the road of trials, crossing through the Misty Mountains, tricking Gollum and the goblins, Mirkwood, etc. The ultimate boon in this story is not the fight against Smaug, but the teaming up with dwarves, humans, and elves against the goblins and wargs for the treasure afterwards. Bilbo returns home as a master of two worlds, living as a hobbit, but interacting with those he worked alongside with. At the end of the novel, he has the freedom to live peacefully in his home, awaiting his next adventure.

This novel doesn’t follow the hero’s journey perfectly, however. As far as I know, there was no meeting with a goddess, or a “belly of the whale” moment. But it still provides many examples, and serves as a go-to when researching the topic of the hero's journey.

Week 10 - The Drowned Giant

The Drowned Giant discusses ideas of questioning morals, or more specifically, using death for someone else’s gain. Rather than being taken to be buried or removed from the shore, the giant’s body is taken advantage of by the townspeople and treated as an object or attraction rather than as an intelligent being. Children climb over and play on his head, passerby’s use his body as leverage to get a better view of the shore, and more of his limbs are severed and removed with each visit from the main character. News of the giant’s arrival had eventually been forgotten, and his bones are all that remain of his corpse, still being used as perches for the seagulls. It’s a disturbing story, especially if the giant were to be replaced with a normal-sized human corpse instead. It’s also sad that the giant was not given a proper burial or treated with respect.

I believe this situation can be compared to hunting, how those who hunt for sport use the animal’s head, hide, or other parts as a trophy, or perhaps how hunters kill for resources (elephant tusks for ivory, meat for food, etc.) This story gives a perspective of how disrespectful, selfish, and almost even cruel, some can be when handling with death that doesn’t negatively affect them, and how those will possibly find a way to have it benefit them.

Week 11 - Fragments of a Hologram Rose

Fragments of a Hologram Rose talks heavily about augmented reality using electricity-powered dreams recorded on cassettes. Parker relies on this inducer to get sleep, which could imply that the rest of society possibly depends on this just as much. The dream is so vivid, with so much happening, that it can almost be confused with reality. He’s tempted to look through his ex-girlfriend’s tapes as well, proving it possible for other’s dreams to be recorded and viewed by others as well, (which I believe is a total breach of privacy.) I believe the fragmented rose at the end of this story can imply the blurring between augmented reality and real life, this “glitch in the system” leaving Parker to question the meaning behind it. 

 With how quickly technology is growing, I have no doubts that dreams can, and will, be recorded and/or downloaded in the near future. VR has already become a huge step towards this, and I believe Fragments of a Hologram Rose gives the reader a taste of what augmented reality dreams may look like, how they will impact people’s lives, and how these dreams can be used to someone else's advantage.

Week 12 - Bloodchild

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?

I was confused at first, and had to reread the story a couple times to understand the plot. The reader is thrown into the story without explanations as to who the characters are, where they live, and what’s to be expected. I was fascinated with the brief descriptions of the alien creatures, and wanted to know more about the planet they lived on and the history behind it all.

2. What connections did you make with the story Discuss what elements of the story with which you were able to connect?

After reading and discussing in class, I’ve discovered themes surrounding slavery between races/species and gender roles. Whether or not this is the intention of the author, I feel that there is an imbalance between the alien race and the humans. T’Gatoi was demanding early on, calling Gan’s family over to keep her warm, demanding he and his mother eat her egg, and impregnating Gan despite giving him a choice between using himself or his sister as a host. Actions like these lead me to believe that the Tlic have a higher role or importance over the humans, which could hint at the idea of slavery. The birthing scene switched the gender roles, having a man give birth to the young instead of a woman.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you choose; what changes would you make?

I would love to see this adapted into a visual novel, or an audiobook similar to the original War of The Worlds broadcast by Orson Welles. With how little the environment is described, it’d be interesting to see how it’s portrayed in a comic book, with more visuals to give the reader an idea of how the characters live. And to hear the narrator speak as the voice of Gan would make the story all the more immersive. (I would avoid using film as a medium because I feel the story would be overshadowed by special effects and poor CGI.)

4. Are there elements of this work that you would consider afto-futurist?

After looking up the definitions of afro-futurism and diaspora, I can definitely see some connections. A diaspora is a scattered population whose origin lies in a separate geographic locale. “Historically, the word diaspora was used to refer to the involuntary mass dispersion of a population from its indigenous territories, in particular the dispersion of Jews.” This could be compared to how the humans in this novel could have been transported from their home planet to the Tlic’s. As mentioned before, this story also has hints of slavery and overpowerment over a so-called “weaker” species.

Week 09 - The Martian

I was excited to read “The Martian” after already watching the film adaptation. Being a fan of sci-fi, I found it interesting to read a novel that places a character in a “realistic” situation. 

While other sci-fi novels include more fantastical elements such as aliens, inhabitable planets beyond our solar system, and other things we haven’t discovered yet to be true, Andy Weir’s “The Martian” strands a NASA astronaut on Mars with little to no chance of survival. There is no magical way to get home, no inhuman creatures lecturing him, and no Star Trek transporters. Mark Watney is forced to find a way to survive alone, going through many trials and errors to do so. 

The novel leaves the audience in suspense the longer he lasts. We are left unsure of whether or not he’ll survive, or if he’ll even make it back to Earth. “The Martian” could almost parody a documentary as well, with the main character describing his adventure through log entries, which also adds to the novel’s realistic-sounding tone. I loved reading through this book, and hope to read more of Andy Weir’s writings.