VATE INSIDE STORIES –THINGS WE DIDN’T SEE COMING
THINGS WE DIDN’T SEE COMING
By Steven Amsterdam.
Teaching notes prepared by Andrew Doyle.
Edited by Laura Deriu.
Cover design by Viveka de Costa.
Formatting by Maria Anagnostou.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................2
WAYS INTO THE TEXT ..............................................................................................4
RUNNING SHEET AND STRUCTURE OF THE TEXT...............................................5
A PERSPECTIVE ON THE TEXT ...............................................................................9
CHARACTERS..........................................................................................................11
ISSUES AND THEMES.............................................................................................15
LANGUAGE AND STYLE..........................................................................................19
CLOSE STUDY .........................................................................................................20
FURTHER ACTIVITIES.............................................................................................23
KEY QUOTES ...........................................................................................................25
TEXT RESPONSE TOPICS ......................................................................................27
REFERENCES, RESOURCES AND SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS ...........................28
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VATE INSIDE STORIES –THINGS WE DIDN’T SEE COMING
INTRODUCTION
The future is a particularly human fascination: we go to bed curious or fearful of what
the next day will bring. This inability to truly know the future is seen through our
reliance on timetables and diaries, the ways we order our lives. One of its cultural
manifestations has been the establishment of speculative, or science fiction writing.
Science fiction is not a genre that came into being with the advent of computers and
modern technology. Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and to a lesser
extent Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein were some of the early forms of science fiction
writing. Like many forms of science fiction, they deal with extrapolations on, or
queries about, the present of the text.
This type of science fiction writing, sometimes called speculative fiction, looks at the
present society we live in adding or subtracting specific aspects of peoples’ lives.
These alterations are then used to make specific points about modern society.
These texts reflect contemporary concerns in a futuristic setting. Popular examples
include the films Gattaca and Blade Runner. Both are set in a recognisable, but
unenviable future, where the society reflects the environment of the main characters.
Their main point is not about the amazing technology or alien races, but how we as
people attempt to confront the world. These writers attempt to show the faults of their
society, using the future to write about the present.
Linked to this is the idea of a dystopian future. Dystopian texts present a society that
is organised in a way that oppresses people and denies them free will. H.G. Wells
explored this in The Time Machine and Orwell’s famous Nineteen Eighty-Four distils
this concept to its essence. These dystopias don’t have to appear to be brutal on the
outside, indeed many of them seem like paradise, until their insidious manipulations
are made clear to the reader.
One specific form of speculative fiction is the end-of-the-world narrative, or postapocalyptic fiction. How we cope in the face of the end of our world is a potent
fictional device. Again, this isn’t something with a basis in contemporary culture, the
Bible’s Book Of Revelation deals explicitly with the end of the world. The end of the
world isn’t specifically about the physical destruction of the earth, but often the end of
civilisation.
The most common form of destruction of society from the 1950s onwards was a
nuclear holocaust. Visions of mushroom clouds and radiation sickness haunted
dreams and society for over fifty years; accordingly popular culture reflected these
concerns. Chilling television shows such as Threads and the film The Day After have
examined what-if scenarios with invariably negative outcomes. Since the fall of
Communism in the late 1990s, these fears have dissipated, the more contemporary
form of destruction has been environmental catastrophe.
These post-apocalyptic concerns, or perhaps in terms of Things We Didn’t See
Coming pre-apocalyptic, examine the apparently inevitable breakdown in society that
would follow such a disaster. The setting is usually a society that has suffered an
extended environmental shock. The world the characters live in is extremely hostile
and unforgiving. Nature has rebelled and it no longer provides sustenance to people
or animals.
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