Posted: January 31st, 2023

Satire in Science Fiction Essay Assignment

Assignment
Using three or four stories from any of your anthologies, write a paper on the nature of satire in science fiction. (Remember to define satire and remember that not all science fiction stories are satirical and that not all satires are funny.)
Book
The Phoenix Pick: Anthology of Classic Science Fiction Stories. Rockville, Md.: Phoenix Pick, 2008. Print.
Stories
These are the four stories. The stories are readily available online so the book isn’t necessarily needed to complete the paper, but I will have to find the page numbers of the direct quotations used. If you could give the page location, or at least a suggestion of its location, that would be awesome. : )
1. Ambrose G. Bierce, The Damned Thing
2. H.G. Wells, The Empire of the Ants
3. Jack London, The Red One
4. Jules Verne, In The Year 2889
Layout (from Professor)
Write a 7 page (minimum length) analytical paper
We will follow the MLA Handbook (that’s the Modern Language Association) rules of writing essays (also found in the book The Little Seagull Handbook. If you have the University of Chicago Manual of Style, their rules are acceptable as well. But don’t mix and match. Stick to one source.
1 – All papers will have the student’s name and Eng 369 on the first page only. Nothing else should appear on any of the other pages except text and page number at the upper right. A title page is not necessary for essays less than ten pages.
2 – All papers will be double-spaced and paginated. If the paper is an analytical or reseach paper, it will always have a bibliography page at the end of the paper.
3) – There will be no spacing between paragraphs. This is important. Microsoft Word, which most of you use, was designed for writing letters in business, not esssays in college, where each paragraph is meant to stand out with an extra space separating each paragraph. Not so in the Humanities, where continuity is the rule. There is thus a default command that you must TURN OFF in Word. I don’t know what that command is but if you use Word on either a PC or Mac, you must turn off the spacing-between-paragraphs command.
4) – All assignments absolutely must be saved in a file format that my computer can open and read. I only accept papers whose file format is either .docx, or .doc or as a .wpd (WordPerfect file). And always .rtf (Rich Text formatting) is accepted as well as .pdf papers. If I can’t open it, you don’t get credit for it AND you don’t get to reformat it or turn in the paper in a proper format afterward.
Style
I usually use a lot of direct quotations to make my points. Thanks for the help ; )

Sample Essay Assignment

Satire in Science Fiction
Introduction
As a kind of literary device, satire in science fiction is important in creation of change as well as mock people’s foolish behavior through ridicule, humor, irony, sarcasm or hyperbole to criticize as well as expose vices and people’s foolishness and stupidity. Principally, science fiction deals with the actual or imagined effect of science upon individuals or societies. Like in any other modern genre, the use of satire in science fiction is inevitable (Lewis, Wyndham and Roy, 84). It is important in giving stories technological and scientific plausibility. Moreover, satire is applicable in science fiction takes the form of strange voyages, titanic disasters, political agitation, utopian aspirations, prophetic warnings and imaginary worlds. Satire remains an important literary device, not only in science fictions but also in other kinds of fiction to ridicule the subjects with the intent of either preventing or provoking some desirable changes. Not all science fictions have satire and not all satire is funny. Using satire, science fiction authors find new technical and scientific developments with the intent of prognosticating techno-social changes freely.
This essay will have a specific bias towards satire in science fiction. Towards this end, the paper will delve into The Phoenix Pick Anthology and examine four stories from this anthology. This essay will demonstrate the satire nature in science fictions. With a succinct definition of satire, the essay will delve into the use of satire in The Damned Thing by Ambrose G. Bierce, The Empire of Ants by H.G. Wells, The Red One by Jack London and In the Year 2889 by Jules Verne as science fictions. Through a succinct analysis of these short stories, the essay will attempt to demonstrate role as well as how successfully the authors have used satire in science fiction. Lastly, through a laconic examination of these short stories, the essay will attempt to delve into the use of satire as a literary device. These short stories are abound with latent radicalism due to its affinity towards aggressive satire. Alongside parodies, allegories, sermons and meditations, satires exhibit all conceivable attitudes towards techno-social change processes through cosmic bliss and cynical despair.
The Damned Thing
In The Damned Thing, Ambrose G. Bierce puts emphasis on the manner through which people do not take nature seriously. He focuses on the things found in our natural world but are physically invisible and inaudible. The four subtitles of the science fiction are comical. At the beginning of the story, local people surround the Hugh Morgan’s battered corpse. Their intent in the cabin is to inquire regarding his demise and his erstwhile companion. Towards this end, the coroner admits an oath to William Harker – a witness. This is an attempt by local men to understand the bizarre circumstances leading to Morgan’s death. William and the deceased hunted and fished together. In the course of earning their livelihoods, they encountered innumerable disturbances (Verne, Jules, and Paul, 55). As a result, Morgan called them ‘that damned thing.’ In their last encounter, the deceased fired his handgun. He then fell down with a thud and moaned in utter mortal agony. The Damned Thing has incalculable implications upon Hugh Morgan.
William saw Morgan moving both erratically and violently while simultaneously shouting as well as making disconcerting cries. In fact, William thought Morgan had convulsions since he was under no attack. Unfortunately, Morgan was long dead. Using satire, Ambrose G. Bierce uses satire when a juror calls William’s testimony as indicative of insanity. This irritates William who abandons the inquest in a huff. The jury in the inquiry concluded that a lion killed Morgan. In our natural world, there are invisible and inaudible things that evoke terror emotions to men. Therefore, the human ears and eyes are imperfect instruments. This necessitates the use of scientific instrumentals. Instead of using antiquarians and adventurers, Bierce does not use knowledgeable and brave men. Bierce satires the jury’s blatant disregard of William’s account on the death of Morgan. Their small-town mentality is marked by lackadaisical day-to-day routine. Their collective ignorance and small-mindedness makes them disapprove William’s account. They believe something does not exist if it is invisible.
“The account that you posted to your newspaper,” he said, ‘differs, probably, from
that which you will give here under oath. ‘That,’ replied the other, rather hotly
and with a visible flush, ‘is as you please. I used manifold paper and have a copy
of what I sent. It was not written as news, for it is incredible, but as fiction. It may
go as part of my testimony under oath.” (Verne, Jules and Paul, 58).
Bierce utilizes satirizing the jury’s disregard of William’s account. He criticizes their ignorance, stupidity and small-mindedness. To them, ‘the damned thing’ did not exist in their realms of reality. The jury’s treats with sheer contempt the account provided by William. They end up making a faulty conclusion that a lion killed Morgan while hunting. Bierce culminates through cataclysmic conclusions. The story is punctuated by sarcasm and sharp wit. He says that Hugh Morgan is an expired woodsman. In his third chapter, he utilizes black humor by arguing that a man may be naked albeit in rags. Such pun is used to refer to Morgan’s shredded remains. Bierce realizes that both humor and horror can effectively play off one another superbly. Morgan’s fight with ‘The Damned Thing’ is short-lived. His sardonic artistry leaves the reader bursting into pearls of laughter due to his use of satire and comedy.
Empire of Ants
In the Empire of Ants, H.G. Wells examines the tenuousness of dominance enjoyed by ants on Earth. Captain Gerilleau got instructions from his seniors to take ‘Benjamin Constant’ -his boat – to Badama with the intent of assisting people to fight with ants. He was appareled thinking that this was a joke by the authorities. However, he took it as God’s will. The gunboat crew travelled along Amazon to many other towns infested with ants. The leaf-cutter ants were so deadly. These ants developed snake-like venom and possessed a high intelligence level. Eventually, the crew and the gunboat realize that they cannot do anything about the ants to rescue the people. Their guns cannot help them either in fighting the tiny ants. As a result, these ants continue expanding their domain. The satire is compounded in the hyperbole that the evolution of the ants culminated to their eventual dominance.
In the short story, the author says that Captain Garilleau was a Creole. H.G. Wells applies satire to demonstrate Captain Gerilleau’s ignorance not only about the ants but also but the language of communication. Communication amongst the people in the mission becomes a tall order due to language barriers. Only Holroyd accompanied Captain Gerilleau in his mission to fight ant armies. However, Holroyd was trying to learn Spanish. The Portuguese in him took a toll on him and hindered his communication. The author uses satire to demonstrate the effect that Portuguese had on his language:
“He was a Creole, his conceptions of etiquette and discipline were pure-blooded Portuguese, and it was only to Holroyd, the Lancashire engineer who had come
over with the boat, and as an exercise in the use of English—his “th” sounds were
very uncertain—that he opened his heart..” (Verne, Jules, and Paul, 81).
Gerilleau learned a number of things concerning ants. These ants were extraordinarily big. He was not convinced that indeed they had been sent to collect and help the local people fight the insects. He could not understand how men could be sent o fight ants instead of men, which is not the reason why he joined the service. The ants were seasonal according to him. However, with time, he began developing an interest on ants and their organization. The ants considered the forest as their own. To the ants, men were merely intruders. The mission as instructed by the seniors was to fight the ants. The author uses satire when he claims they even had guns to kill the ants. This is sheer ridicule. H.G. Wells utilizes satire to ridicule Gerilleua. It is foolish and stupid to fight ants using guns. This is even unfathomable.
The Red One
In The Red One, Jack London utilizes the perception of Bassett – scientist. Bassett embarks on an expedition in Guadalcanal forest with the intent of collecting butterflies. In the forest, Bassett heard sounds he could not fathom in the forest. During his time at Ringmamu beach, Bassett had tried to establish what sound that was. This yielded innumerable speculations and this terribly frightened him. He was in such state of wantonness. The title refers to some gigantic red sphere with an extraterrestrial or celestial foundation. The area’s inhabitants worship it like their god. In the forest, a daredevil attitude is important. This is all what Bassett needed. The forest people even offered many human sacrifices to it. Fortunately, Sagawa accompanied Basset to Guadalcanal forest to assist him collect butterflies. After a couple of days in the forest, Basset could not trace Sagawa. Fortunately, Bassett found Sagawa, though he had no short gun and his master’s naturalist gear. He was badly injured (Verne, Jules, and Paul, 167). Jack London applies irony to mock Sagawa. He could have used his master’s naturist gear a short gun to save himself from his adversaries. It was ironic for Sagawa to be t injured with all the weaponry in his hands. This is satirical.
In the forest, Bassett killed a bushman trying to execute Sagawa. They had to run away together with his hunters whose number he could not tell. Basset is so obsessed with forest life and the gods so that eventually, he ended up a sacrifice. Stinging gnats, mosquitoes and insects tormented him. His bleeding wounds did attract loathsome flies. Indeed, is forest adventure completely wrecked his body. At night, he had innumerable nightmares. In the bush village, everyone had fled away apart from one person. Bassett had terrible wanderings in the forest. In his brain, he had the image of a noisome and dank jungle. Later, this jungle terminated. At the end of end was god, which made Bassett so obsessed. In fact, he wept below it involuntarily. Jack London’s description of Bassett’s sweating is satirical. His sweating was not because of reference but due to the breath of relief. He felt so relieved to be out of the forest. The writer also satirizes Bassett’s obsession with the god in the forest. The author uses satire to explain how Bassett did not fear death:
“…Ngurn made pilgrimage personally and gathered the smoke materials for the curing of
Bassett’s head, and to him made proud announcement and exhibition of the artistic
perfectness of his intention when Bassett should be dead. As for himself, Bassett
was not shocked. Too long and too deeply had life ebbed down in him to bite him with fear of its impending extinction…’’(Verne, Jules, and Paul, 176).
Jack London’s description of the adventures that Bassett went through is done satirically. He applies satire to demonstrate that indeed, the obsession with the god is not only foolish but also stupid. It was irrational for Bassett to pay so much attention to the good that the forest people worshipped. The fact that they even presented human sacrifices should have rung a bell. The author convinces the readers that Bassett was indeed resentful of the forest life and his eventual change of heart is characterized by satire. Jack London shows that Bassett change of heart was occasioned by his obsession with the god. He utilizes satire to characterize Bassett’s stupidity and ignorance the imminent danger posed by his obsession with the god poses to his life. In spite of his daredevil attitude, he does not survive. In fact, the village people eventually offer him as a human sacrifice to the god. His demise is therefore because of stupidity and ignorance.
In the Year 2889
Jules Verne is the author of In the Year 2889 science fiction. The author creates an imaginary world of the 29th century. People live in a fairyland. They are surfeited by marvels to the extent that they become indifferent of newfangled marvels, which they consider natural. They do not appreciate the refinements occasioned by civilizations. The people of the 29th century travelled through pneumatic tubes at a speed of 1,000 miles/hour. According to Jules Verne, these transformations did not seem to astound the local inhabitants. The author utilizes hyperbole to describe innovations and innovations in the 29th century. In 2792, Oswald Nier had a great discovery regarding several vibration modes. Oswald was a great human race benefactor. This discovery yielded more discoveries. The author overemphasizes the technological advancements of the 29th century. Jules Verne writes:
“…modern towns, with populations amounting sometimes to 10,000,000 souls;
their streets 300 feet wide, their houses 1000 feet in height; with a temperature
the same in all seasons; with their lines of aerial locomotion crossing the sky in
every direction.” (Verne, Jules, and Paul, 71).
Additionally, Jules Verne writes that Joseph Jackson invented accumulators that could condense and absorb living forces within sunrays, electricity that is stored in the ground as well as energy emanating from various sources such as winds, streams and waterfalls. The transformer and the accumulators represented true progress. Such inventions assisted in mitigating winter rigors. They gave up the excess heat they stored to the atmosphere during winter. Towards this end, agriculture overwhelmingly revolutionized agriculture. Motive power was supplied for purposes of aerial navigation. Such technological advances gave commerce a resounding impetus. Electricity could also be produced without dynamos or batteries and with no incandescence or combustion. Such unfailing mechanical energy supply is good for industry (Verne, Jules, and Paul, 66). This is outrageous. After many centuries, it was discovered that dissimilarities between physical and chemical forces was dependent on vibration of etheric particles.
The story is indeed a hard science fiction. It is some sought of ‘future history.’ Jules Verne says the Earth Chronicle – a futuristic newspaper – would cost $10, 000,000,000. The mere fact that the people did not appreciate the innovations and inventions is satirized. Instead of printing the newspaper each morning, every subscriber will have a phonograph to gather news. Videoconferencing would also receive a shot in the arm with the technological advances. Atmospheric advertising would also come along with these technological advances. Indeed, Jules Verne’s description of the future is punctuated by satire throughout the short story. For instance, the price of the newspaper is simply a hyperbole. The author utilizes hyperbole to describe the price of the futuristic newspaper and the extraordinary innovations and inventions. Jules Verne also warns against the vices that future technological advances pose to people through satire. Lastly, the author mocks people’s ignorance of the technological advances of the 29th century.
Conclusion
The role of satire in science fiction is immense. It assists the authors criticize as well as condemn foolish behavior and stupidity. It also assists in exposing vices. The essay has shown that indeed, Ambrose G. Bierce in The Damned thing, H.G. Wells in the Empire of Ants, Jack London in The Red One and Jules Verne in the short story, In the Year 2889 use for the above reasons. The essay has also demonstrated how satire in science fiction give short stories technological plausibility and scientific plausibility through the use of strange voyages, titanic disasters, political agitation, utopian aspirations, prophetic warnings, imaginary worlds et cetera.

Works Cited
Lewis, Wyndham, and Roy Campbell. Satire & Fiction. London: Arthur Press, 1930. Print.
Verne, Jules, and Paul Cook. The Phoenix Pick: Anthology of Classic Science Fiction Stories. Rockville, Md: Phoenix Pick, 2008. Print.

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