Personally, if I were to choose one passage from the novel that is significant to me, I would choose the conference held in the University by Michael Beadley and the Colonel. I found it to be significant because during the conference, Michael Beadley, the Colonel, and Dr. E. H. Vorless tackle the problems which the recently-destroyed society had faced, and what the rem
aining population must do to not repeat its mistakes. Consequently, it is here that the audience of the conference has to make the choice between two paths that go the opposite ways—ration/logic or conscience? I say that the two paths go the opposite ways because to follow one path means going away from the other.For instance, in the novel’s situations, if a man chooses to take food from the market for his or her own survival, his conscience would tell him that he is stealing, which is a wrong thing to do. His rational side, on the other hand, would tell him that he had done the right thing, for the circumstances that he is faced with makes ownership meaningless, and that he must consume food to survive if he were to be of any benefit to the human race. I think that between a conscious view and a rational view, the author wants to choose the latter, as in the text, the group with a more conscious way of doing things ends up dying. I cannot agree nor disagree with him on the matter, for to choose between the two with seriousness, one would actually have to be placed in a situation where his choice would mean life or death to him. In other words, I mean to say that the choice between logic and conscience cannot be made truly until one’s life is on the question.
I desire to conclude by stating that we must study the event of the conference with open minds if we were to escape a dystopian world such as that of the novel, because a vastly large number of the current society’s mistakes and issues are stated in it. We must learn from these mistakes so that we will stop walking down the hill of destruction. If we do not act quickly, the events of Wyndham’s novel will become a reality.
3 comments:
I chose the conference for this question too. The professor's words had a huge impact on my views of this novel. Like you said, the question of survival or conscience was a powerful one. If one thinks logically, survival seems to be the vital goal for life. But humans, unlike other animals tend to keep their conscience (moral standards, beliefs, opinions) at a higher priority. I wondered if conscience was something we humans had from the beginning or if it was something humans made a part of them gradually through time. The more I thought I came closer to the answer that we had conscience from the beginning. This seperates us from animals. We were made by God. In my opinion, if we were to choose survival over conscience, we will gradullay become savages with no conscience. Just some thoughts from james.
Although I did not choose the conference for the entry, I know that this part played a very significant role in this novel. I thought this might be the climax, because it was so intense. I liked how the way you related this to choosing to steal an apple or not. I think both are very similar to each other. I fully agree that if we don't act quickly, the world will fly towards its doom.
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