349 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
349 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
"Social Science Fiction":
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Its Importance in the Works of Isaac Asimov.
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---------------------------------------------
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PART I
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"Social science fiction?"
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Science fiction is a term familiar to many people. This is especially true
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due to the tremendous influence of television. But the term "social science
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fiction," although not heard too often, is a term is descriptive of most of
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today's science fiction literature.
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"But what does it mean?"
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Social science fiction is the term given to literature "which is concerned
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with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings."(1) It is to be set
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apart from the adventure or "gadget" science fiction which is characterized by
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simplistic plots and flat characters. Social science fiction is concerned with
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the problems presented to humanity by technology and science.
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This theme can be seen readily throughout many of Isaac Asimov's science
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fiction works. But, Mr. Asimov was not too concerned with the problems of
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atomic power or overpopulation when he was three years old.
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Asimov was born in Russia in the year 1920. He and his parents emigrated to
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the United States when Isaac was three years old. Upon arriving, young Asimov
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wasted little time in beginning his writing career. He had taught himself to
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read and by the age of seven, he had his own library card.(2) But, of the two
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books he was allowed to take out, only one of them could be fiction. Thus,
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Isaac took a liking to many science and history books, and his amazingly
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retentive memory allowed him to recall many of the things he read.
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Because of his excellent reading habits and his superb memory, Asimov was
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considered brilliant when he entered school. A grade of 95 from a person
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capable of 100 was considered a poor grade by Isaac's father. Although he was
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an excellent student, Asimov was frequently bored by school. In order to
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escape boredom, he would create stories in class for himself and others.
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Although he did this verbally at first, he began writing down his stories at
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the age of eleven. Yet these in-class activities did not distract him from his
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schoolwork. He graduated the Boys' High School in Brooklyn when he was
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fifteen. From there, he went on to receive a B.S. from Colombia University in
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1939, a Masters in 1941, and then a Ph.D. in 1948.(3) Asimov says he would
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have continued his studies had it not been for World War II.
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Asimov's first exposure to science fiction occurred one day while he was
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working in his father's candy store. Although Asimov worked in this store all
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the way up into his college studies, he still found time for reading. But his
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father forbade Isaac from reading the dime novels on the shelves in his store.
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One day, though, a magazine appeared on the shelf entitled, "Science Wonder
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Stories." Since the word science was included in the name, young Asimov was
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permitted to read it.(4)
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Although Asimov would become a famous writer in his own time, he did not
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think of writing as a career in those pressured times. He wanted to complete
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his college studies and then begin a career in chemistry. Writing, to him, was
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an amusement.
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But his father did not think that way. His father saw the potential of
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becoming a great writer. Although Asimov had only submitted two of his stories
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at the time, his father felt that deserved some credit. Credit in the form of
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Asimov's first typewriter.
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But it was not until 1938 that Asimov would get his first story in print. In
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that year, the magazine known as "Astounding Stories" changed its name to
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"Astounding Science Fiction" and its editor to John Campbell. Asimov wrote a
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number of letters to the magazine, letters that were published. Encouraged by
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his father, Asimov submitted a manuscript to Campbell in person. The editor
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met with Asimov, looked over the manuscript, and rejected it. But Asimov did
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not take the rejection as a negative experience, but rather a positive one.
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Although he continued to send stories in to Campbell, the editor kept sending
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him rejections. Asimov finally sold his first story. But it was not to
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"Astounding Science Fiction," but rather to another magazine titled, "Amazing
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Stories."
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Asimov continued writing for the next eleven years in order to pay his way
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through college. During this time, he joined a science fiction fan club
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titled, "The Futurians."(5) He was able to pay his way up through his Ph.D. in
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biochemistry. But it was not until his first novel, Pebble in the Sky, was
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published in 1950 that he began to look at his writing skills with seriousness.
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In 1957, Asimov realized that all he really wanted to do was write.(6) But it
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was in 1958 though, that he quit his job as associate professor at Boston
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University School of Medicine, and took up writing as a career. Asimov felt
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that he had made the right decision not only for the increase in his salary,
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but also for "the feeling of absolute delight that washed over me as I did so."
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But, since his move to become a full time writer, Asimov has had little time
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between 1960 and 1981 to write much in the area of science fiction. Despite
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his prodigious output of non-fiction stories, he has only had time to write a
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few short stories and only one commissioned novel. It has only been in the
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past few years that he has begun to take up science fiction writing again.
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PART II
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As has been mentioned, many of Asimov's works deal in the area of social
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science fiction. The effects of technology and science is an important theme
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in many of his short stories and novels and can be seen readily. Asimov also
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presents the problems of present day society to us by paralleling these
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problems in a future society.
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Asimov's first novel ever published, Pebble in the Sky, dealt with issues
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that were prevalent during the late '40's and has begun to reappear in todays
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society, prejudice.
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Pebble in the Sky is set in the far future. Earth has been plagued with
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atomic war and is now a decaying, radioactive husk of a planet. Man has spread
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out and colonized the galaxy. The beginnings of a Galactic Empire are at hand.
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On Earth live the outcasts of the galactic society. The Outer Worlds, as the
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colonies are called, look upon the people of Earth with disgust, seeing them as
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"repulsive carriers of radioactivity." This prejudice towards the people
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remaining on Earth stretches even into the bureaucracy: soldiers are em-
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ployed to keep the Earth people from emigrating to the other worlds of the
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galaxy.
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The "hero" of the novel is named Joseph Schwartz. Schwartz is a retired
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tailor from the Chicago of 1942 accidentally transported to the distant future
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from a nuclear accident. Schwartz, although, is not the typical hero in that
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his actions are to uphold truth, justice, and honor, but instead, he is
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motivated by crankiness and a sense of independence. It is only until the end
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of the novel does he see any connection between his life and the galactic
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crisis at hand that motivates him towards the side of good.
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Another form of prejudice can be seen in another of Asimov's novels, The
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Currents of Space. In this novel, the setting is once again the far distant
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future. The Galactic Empire is on the verge of being initiated. The conflict
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at hand is an agrarian planet named Florina. This planet is under controversy
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because it is the only planet capable of growing a highly prized and sought
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after fiber called kyrt.
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In parallel to the South of pre-Civil War days, Florina is established as
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having human slaves to tend the crops, with the slaves being controlled by men
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called Townsmen. These townsmen are, in turn, responsible to the governor of
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the planet, Sark. The prejudice shown towards the slaves is extremely obvious
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and is seen throughout the entire book.
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Another, more subtler theme, is the theme of the relationship between
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idealism and fanaticism. A Townsman, who has been plotting to overthrow his
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superiors, the Squires of Sark, is motivated by his idealistic goals of
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justice. But, his idealism slowly turns into fanaticism as he maims an
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innocent farmer to keep his plans secret. Asimov uses this twisted form of
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idealism to show us that idealism in extreme is fanaticism.
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Probably the stories for which Asimov is most famous are his robot stories.
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Nearly all of these stories deals with the reaction of humanity towards new
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advances in technology and science. I, Robot, in particular stresses these
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themes.
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I, Robot is a collection of some of Asimov's finest robot stories. The first
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story in the collection, "Robbie" tells of a little girl, her parents, and her
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nursemaid, Robbie the robot. To the little girl, Robbie is a playmate, a
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friend. To her mother, the robot was, at first, an escape from housework, but
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now is a possible threat to her daughter's mental health. To the little girl's
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father, the robot is a tool which he knows can never harm his daughter nor
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anyone else in the family. Being Asimov's first robot story, the plot and
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characters are rather simple. The different viewpoints on technology can be
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clearly seen: the mother who is wary of technology and would rather see her
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daughter with real friends, the little girl's father who sees technology as a
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boon to mankind, and the little girl who is entirely ignorant of the fact that
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Robbie is a robot and would rather think of it as a friend.
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The next story, "Runaround" takes place on the planet Mercury. Being another
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world, Asimov has chosen two new characters, George Powell and Michael Donovan.
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These two are field-testers for the largest robot manufacturer, U.S. Robotics
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and Mechanical Men Inc. They are on Mercury to test out a new series of robot
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specially designed to go out onto the hot surface of Mercury and retrieve a
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valuable element, selenium. Asimov plays on our intellect as he poses some
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interesting problems to Powell and Donovan which are finally resolved by
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Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics:
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I. A robot cannot harm a human nor through
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inaction allow a human being to come to harm.
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II. A robot must obey all orders given to it
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by human beings except where such orders
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would contradict with the first.
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III. A robot must preserve itself except
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where such action would contradict the
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first or second laws.(7)
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To Donovan and Powell, technology is their job. They do not view it with any
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other opinion except that it is their way to earn money.
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The next two stories, "Reason" and "Catch that Rabbit" are Asimov's continued
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experimentation with his Three Laws. Still featuring Donovan and Powell in
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different situations faced with different problems.
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Asimov's next story, entitled "Liar!" deals with a robot that has the ability
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to read minds. Here, we get to see Asimov's representation of a
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non-stereotypical female character, Susan Calvin. Calvin is one of U.S.
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Robotics leading "robot psychologists." She is the one who most readily
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understands the way robots function and how they will react. Asimov portrays
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her in this story as being very cold and hostile as she drives the mind reading
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robot insane.(8)
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The next three stories, "Little Lost Robot", "Escape!". and "Evidence" are
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more of Asimov's experimentation on his Three Laws of Robotics, with each story
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getting successively more complicated and containing an increasingly more
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difficult problem to solve.
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The last story in the book, "The Evitable Conflict" is set in the future.
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The world has been united in peace into one governing unit. The planet has
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been divided into four Planetary Regions. In these days, the planet's economic
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markets are controlled by "Machines," huge computers that monitor Earth's
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economic systems. But now, the Machines are producing imperfect results,
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which cause minor economic upsets. But, after some theorizing, the characters
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come up with the solution that the First Law of Robotics has been altered to
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read, "A robot shall not harm humanity, or through inaction allow humanity to
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harm itself."
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Probably the most important theme presented in this story though is the idea,
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"Is man really in control?"(9) In the story, the Machines have taken over and
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now control Earth's economic resources. Asimov tells us that if we are not
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careful, our own technology may take us over.
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PART III
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"One significant aspect of the series [The Foundation Trilogy] is Asimov's
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invention of psychohistory, With it's implications for determinism and free
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will. Psychohistory was put together out of psychology, sociology, and history
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- not hard sciences, which Campbell had a reputation for preferring, but at
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best soft sciences: a behavioral science, a social science, and a discipline
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that has difficulty deciding whether to define itself as a social science or a
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humanity.... Psychohistory is the art of prediction projected as a science;
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later it might have been called `futurology' or `futuristics.'"(10)
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James Gunn points out in his book, Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science
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Fiction, that Asimov's creativity in devising a new science is crucial to the
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popularity of Asimov's most famous series, The Foundation Trilogy. I tend to
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agree with Gunn. If it were not for Asimov's psychohistory, The Foundation
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Trilogy, would end up being no more than a parallel to Gibbon's Decline and
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Fall of the Roman Empire. It is the idea of predicting future events with
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precise mathematical equations that adds a touch of suspense to the books.
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Although most critics are in agreement with this viewpoint, there are some who
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tend to disagree:
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"Nevertheless, it is difficult to put one's finger on precisely what element
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or elements so fascinate readers. From just about any formal perspective, The
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Foundation Trilogy is seriously flawed. The characters are undifferentiated
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and one-dimensional. Stylistically, the novels are disasters, and Asimov's ear
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for dialogue is simply atrocious. The characters speak with a monotonous
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rhythm and impover- ished vocabulary characteristic of American teenagers'
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popular reading during the Forties and Fifties; the few exceptions are no
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better - e.g. the Mule, who, in disguise of the Clown, speaks a pseudo-archaic
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courtly dialect, or Lord Dorwin who speaks like Elmer Fudd, or the archetypal
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Jewish mother who can say, "So shut your mouth, Pappa. Into you anybody could
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bump." The distinctive vocab-ulary traits are as a rule ludicrous: God! is
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replaced by Galaxy!, and when a character really wants to express his disgust
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or anger, he cries "Son-of-a--Spacer!" or "I don't care an electron!" To
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describe the characters' annoyance, arrogance, or bitterness, Asimov uses again
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and again one favorite adjective or adverb, sardonic(ly):
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Sutt's eyes gleamed sardonically.
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Mallow stared him down sardonically.
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Riose looked sardonic.
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[Devers] stared at the two with sardonic belligerence.
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"What's wrong, trader?" he asked sardonically.
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The smooth lines of Pritcher's dark face twitched
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sardonically.
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But Anthor's eyes opened, quite suddenly, and fixed
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themselves sardonically on Munn's countenance.
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Evidently, all people in all time periods will be sardonic. In the
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twelve-thousandth year after the founding of the First Galactic Empire,
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characters still use terms drawn from the western - e.g. "lynching party" -
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and slogans imported from the political slang of the times, e.g. "lick-spittle
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clique of appeasers out of City Hall."(11)
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As can be seen, Charles Elkins did not think too highly of Asimov's series
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which won him an Hugo award for "the best all-time science fiction series."(12)
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Although I believe that Elkins went a bit too far with criticism, he does have
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some valid points. Asimov did not spend too much time on developing the
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characters and instead spent time on working them into the plot. And the
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language, did, at times, get ludicrous. Especially with angry protagonists
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running about exclaiming, "Great Galaxy!"
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But overall, I felt The Foundation Trilogy was a finely done piece of work by
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Asimov. Considering that it was originally written as serialized short stories
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for science fiction "pulp magazines," Asimov has done a fine job integrating it
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all into one continuous story.
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____________________
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(1) Miller, Marjorie Mithoff. "The Social Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov."
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Olander, Joseph D. and Greenberg, Martin Harry. Isaac Asimov. (New
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York : Taplinger Publishin Co., 1977) pg. 14
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(2) Fiedler, Jean and Mele, Jim. Isaac Asimov. (New York : Frederick Ungar
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Publishing Co., 1982) pg. 3.
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(3) Fiedler, pg. 3.
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(4) Fiedler, pg. 4.
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(5) Knight, Damon. The Futurians. (New York : John Day, 1977) pg. 26.
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(6) Patrouch jr., Joseph F. The Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov. (Garden
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City, N.Y. : Doubleday and Company Inc., 1974) pg. 214.
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(7) Asimov, Isaac. I, Robot. (New York : Ballantine Books, 1950,
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1977) pg. 51.
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(8) Asimov, pg. 84.
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(9) Gunn, James. Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction. (New
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York : Oxford University Press, 1982) pg. 53.
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(10) Gunn, pg. 38.
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(11) Elkins, Charles. "Asimov's Foundation Novels: Historical Materialism
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Distorted into Cyclical Psychohistory." Olander, Joseph D. and
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Greenberg, Martin Harry. Isaac Asimov. (New York : Taplinger
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Publishing Co., 1977) pg. 97-98.
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(12) Carter, Paul A. The Creation of Tomorrow. (New York : Colombia
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University Press, 1977) Pg. 294.
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____________________
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Bibliography
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Asimov, Isaac. I, Robot. (New York : Ballantine Books, 1950, 1977)
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Carter, Paul A. The Creation of Tomorrow. (New York : Colombia
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University Press, 1977)
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Elkins, Charles. "Asimov's Foundation Novels: Historical Materialism
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Distorted into Cyclical Psychohistory." Olander, Joseph D. and
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Greenberg, Martin Harry. Isaac Asimov. (New York : Taplinger Pub-
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lishing Co., 1977)
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|
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Fiedler, Jean, and Mele, Jim. Isaac Asimov. (New York : Frederick
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Ungar Publishing Co., 1982)
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Gunn, James. Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction. (New
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York : Oxford University Press, 1982)
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Knight, Damon. The Futurians. (New York : John Day, 1977)
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Patrouch jr., Joseph F. The Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov. (Garden
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City, N.Y. : Doubleday and Company Inc., 1974)
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