“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination” (John Lennon).
Unanswered questions will always allow the imagination to take control of oneself. With the steady growth in society, everyday reality begins to change, and the possibility of multiple outcomes arises in each individual's mind. The short stories The Pedestrian and The Fun They Had by the authors Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov are based strictly on imagination. The drastic change in reality during the time period these stories were written, offers a bias response from both authors. Furthermore, the bold predictions based precisely on imagination acts as an all-around downfall of the two short stories. While distinguishing the theme of the short stories, the message being persuaded by the authors become very clear. The threat of negative impacts that exponential growth in electronics has on society became the bias backbone of both stories. The authors allowed their feelings of doubt and horror to fill the majority of their work, which is what ruined the overall effectiveness of the main message. The creative input that went into the points of teachers being robots, crime not existing, and avoiding television being a sign of mental illness in the time period change of 100 to 200 years only seemed silly. Yes silly! As the stories offer a rather silly bias input, they are still able to act as strong stilt toward the point that “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination” (John Lennon). The time period in which the short stories were created, shared the same period in which technological growth had surprised the world. With the sudden change, in reality, there was no doubt that confusion, questions, and most importantly, imagination would arise. The authors seemed as if they did not have a grasp on their new society and instead, had to create their own. Ideas that cities could be walked alone, “To enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o'clock [...] through the silences [...] he was alone in this world of A.D. 2053, or as good as alone” (Bradbury). That crime would not exist, “Crime was ebbing; there was no need now for the police, save for this one lone car wandering and wandering the empty streets” (Bradbury). And above all, children could not understand the idea that a teacher could be human, “it wasn’t a regular teacher, it was a man” (Isaac Asimov). It all seemed reckless, as if an image full of hatred toward the change, in reality, consumed the words of each sentence. The text became simply, unconvincing. The short stories The Pedestrian and The Fun They Had, seem to act as only a coping mechanism from the change in reality for the authors. Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov allow their imagination to write a bias backbone of both stories that acts precisely as unconvincing. A change, in reality, can resolve in unanswered questions, and fear, but in particular, a change in “Reality [can leave] a lot to the imagination” (John Lennon).
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"We can't change. We are what we are." Is humanity innately violent, and are we truly incapable of changing that?
What is the natural reaction of any human after being confronted by an unexpected guest? Fear! Fear is the appropriate emotion that leads humans to have the first instinct, like every other animal, to defend his or herself in any vulnerable position. The short story The Large Ant by Howard Fast takes the concept of violent tendencies and discusses the justification of what is right and what is wrong behind the story-line of the main character, Mr. Morgan. Violence has been our first instinct when faced with danger for a couple hundred thousand years and it was Mr. Morgan's first instinct when he swung his iron golf club at the presumed insect that approached his bedside. This instinct of violence is what has kept humanity from going extinct. The thought of violence may not always be accepted or recognized as lawful. The scientist Mr. Lieberman, continued to question Mr. Morgan's reason for murdering a creature that seemed to pose no threat at the time, but Mr. Morgan had no answer. As much as society tries to avoid it, it will not change: “The answer is very simple, Mr. Morgan. You killed it because you are a human being” (Howard Fast). Society has changed over the thousands of years, but the basic instincts of humanity have stayed the same The basic instincts of humanity are why I strongly believe that “We [as the society] can't change. We are what we are" (Howard Fast). Humanity is innately violent and society is incapable of changing that. The term adaptation explains that an adaptation helps organisms survive in their ecological niches. Those adaptive traits may be structural, behavioral or physiological. Every single organism develops a certain unique trait that allows for defense when under the stress of potential danger. Possums play dead, elephants travel in packs, wasps have stingers. Humans are the exact same way; we defend ourselves under the delusion of threats. This is the reason behind Mr. Morgan actions of murdering an unknown species that surprised him during the night. Mr. Morgan was reacting strictly upon his adaptation traits. To close, I believe that humanity is innately violent and that we are truly incapable of changing that. The need for survival is an adaptive trait developed by every human on this earth. The only ways to sustain survival is to fight to the top of the food chain. Humans, like every other animal, follow the same violent tendencies and will not change. The future has always been a wide discussion. It is impossible to know exactly what is to come, and us as society can only make predictions. This thrill of not knowing what the future has in hold for us is why it is such a constant and common subject matter in works of literacy and entertainment such as the 1989 movie Back to the Future Part II. The authors Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov take this concept of the unknown future, and make bold and seemingly unrealistic predictions in the short stories The Pedestrian and The Fun They Had. The authors follow a similar story-line in which technology becomes such a perpetual task, that daily activities such as going to school, and walking down the street in the late afternoon are considered unnatural and are seemingly considered tendencies of mental health.
Change can be a scary thing and I believe that was exactly how the authors felt about the steady increase in electronic growth. The short stories mainly revolve around the obsessive use of television and how it has “overpowered” society. The stories seem unrealistic reading them in this day of age, but it is understandable coming from the point of views of the authors. Electronics, such as television, became widely popular in the late 1940’s to 1950’s as to when these stories were written. This is why I would have to disagree with the points that both authors have made in their individual predictions of the future. The main problem is that the authors write strictly on the negative issues and influences of technology. The stories go to the extreme and lack the positive outcomes of technological advances. The authors presents ideas that teachers are replaced by machines and the thought of a teacher being human that seems outrageous to children: “it wasn’t a regular teacher, it was a man” (Isaac Asimov). This negative image of technology is then displayed once again in The Pedestrian. The main character is taken to, “the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies" (Ray Bradbury) for simply walking the streets of his city at a time when everyone else is watching television. As these accusations do help entertain the audience, I feel as if the authors portray the wrong message by allowing their emotions of fear interpret the text. Technology has not just consistently helped society, but the world. Communication, education, medicine, and much more have all been developed and improved efficiently with the help of the ongoing research into technology. That is why I disagree with the message that is delivered from the short stories The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury and The Fun They Had by Isaac Asimov. The message that technology only provides negative impacts in the end. Although, the future continues to be a popular discussion. Many people have their own opinions of what is next, but helplessly, society can still only make predictions. |
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