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Archetypes in Modern Mythology By Dominic Sagolla In an attempt to define scinence fiction, Michael Butor wrote, Before categorizing the characters and stories of Science Fiction as myths,
the term must be reallocated for its new application. Webster's says,
| Hacker/Slasher Archetype
| Savior/Messiah Archetype | Rebel
Model Archetype | Oppressive Order
Archetype | Because the advent of new and incredible technologies is
essential to futuristic fiction, there must be architects and experts of such
technology. Almost every protagonist in stories has tremendous access to the
technology of the time. The most well known of these may be Susan Calvin of the I,
Robot stories, who also fits in well with the History Archetype. She is a
heroine with a motherly twist: unlike her literary counterparts, she developed
this technology, and was around from the onset. Some of the hackers in these
books are trained from a very young age, as with Orson Scott Card's Ender and
John Brunner's Nickie Haflinger. Some learn as they go, as Shira does in Marge
Piercy's He, She and It. In fact, the exceptions are the ones to watch
for: George Lucas's Luke Skywalker is quite a pilot, but he turns off his
targeting computer at the crucial moment! He blasts the controls to lock a door,
then realizes that he is stuck without a way to extend the bridge on the Death
Star. Luke and his bunch enlist the aid of R2D2, the astromech droid that does
their hacking for them. The Star Wars series does have its hacker heroes,
though, with characters like Ghent, the super-slicer, from Timothy Zahn's
continuation of the Lucas epic. These hacker heroes serve to "unfold a part
of the world view of a people or explain a practice," as Webster's defines.
Because so many of the SciFi readers out there are self-proclaimed 'computer
nerds,' there is a call for such super-knowledgeable slicers. Luke Skywalker falls under this category, as does anyone who
'saves the Universe.' Such cliches are unique to the genre of SciFi, and this
archetype is a direct result of those cliches. The hero is presented with an
insurmountable task, and once it is overcome, the Universe changes drastically,
most times for the better. Another example of this archetype is Herbert's Paul
"Muad'Dib" Atreides. Dune is set up as a religious text, recounting
the tale of the Kwisatz Haderach, the Messiah. Such heroes as Ender Wiggin can
do things that no other human can do, or they can do them at a time when no one
else has the facilities to do it. For instance, Ender is a savior because he is
a boy; because he thinks of the flashing screen before him as just another game,
he can defeat the Hive Queen and her minions. Nickie Haflinger is a savior
because he changes the data net irrevocably, liberating millions of lives from
informational tyranny. With the possible exception of the Star Trek novels and
series, every popular Science Fiction setting relies upon a rebellious faction
or group, seeking a better life. In Dune, House Atreides rebels against the
royal order and engineers a seat on the throne, in He, She and It , the
rebellious freetowns sacrifice security for independence. Neuromancer/Wintermute
seeks to be freed from the paranoid Turing laws. Of course, the classic Star
Wars conflict is the most obvious example, but it is also the most successful.
The Rebel Model and the Savior/Messiah Archetype are fundamentally connected,
but they have to have something to rebel against. Within the history of the Star Wars universe, there
was the Old Republic, a council that was too democratic for its own good, which
was usurped by then-Senator Palpatine and his New Order. This oppressive Empire
of fear and tyranny was replaced by the New Republic after the events of Return
of the Jedi. As the story continues, the scattered forces of the Empire are
struggling against this New Republic. Each new administration has its rebels.
The oppressive council of Dune 's CHOAM had a tight hold on space travel and
galactic economy until a man named after a moonshadow threatened to destroy it
all. On Piercy's Earth of the future, the multinational corporations soak up the
world's resources. The most obvious and well-known Oppressive Order is detailed
in George Orwell's 1984. In most cases, the Order is simply a projection of
tradition and history. Therefore, there must be some kind of bastion of the old
ways. Old
Man/ Father History figure Archetype Since Piercy's He, She and It is set up as an historical
allegory, there is more than one tie to the past that can be called History.
Malkah and Avram fill this role together, figuratively giving birth to the new
generation and holding them back at the same time. For instance, Avram creates
Yod, but only for a specific purpose. The old warrior Gurney Halleck fulfills
the Father History role nicely with his tales of yore and poetry from beyond
yesterday. Star Wars has more than one Old Man figure; Yoda and Obi-Wan combine
the roles of teacher and historian, but even together they cannot stop Luke from
rushing headlong into a trap at Cloud City. Shockwave Rider 's Disasterville,
U.S.A. has Brad Compton, and Neuromancer's Corto/Armitage is an unwitting
assistant in exposing the history of that particular setting. The true Old Man
Figure in Neuromancer is the ROM construct Dixie Flatline, who has been
'there' before. As the character of Dixie Flatline shows, the purpose of the Old
Man is not just to create a tie to the old regime, but to expose the events of
the past, particularly the Battles. Most SciFi plotlines have, incorporated into their historical
settings, a set of battles and political clashes that lend a certain scope to
the events being portrayed. Because SciFi stories are set in the future,
fabulation may take place after (or during) an apocolypse, whether it be
nuclear, as in He, She and It and Bladerunner (and possibly Speaker for the Dead
) , or conventional, as in Dune or R.U.R. . In the new mythology of Science
Fiction, dark, apocolyptic visions are a frontier, not a history. There is room for plenty of battles to fuel the fire of
popular approval. In Jules Verne's From Earth to the Moon , it is the Federal
War that gives rise to the Gun Club and the lack of wartime that prompts them to
attempt their launch. Karel Capek's R.U.R. is the story of such a conflict,
using the history of the modern world, with its wars and political tension, as
its setting. In Neuromancer, Dixie Flatline/McCoy Pauley ties Case to the ICE
penetrations of the past. Shockwave Rider 's Hearing Aid has been attacked
before, and its worms protect it from hackers. Dune 's worms offer a different
sort of protection, and the battle for Arrakis is only the beginning of the
jihad. Ender's Game is a result of the first conflict between humans and aliens,
and the Bugger Wars are played at on Earth as well as in space. The most
pronounced set of battles that help set up a history for the elders to recount
occurs in the Star Wars Universe. Bill Slavicsek's A Guide to the Star Wars
Universe tells of the Clone Wars, the battles of Taanab, Yavin (SW4: A New Hope
), Hoth (SW5: The Empire Strikes Back ), Endor (SW6: Return of the Jedi ), Sluis
Van (Timothy Zahn's Heir To the Empire ), and on and on. Contrasting these
warlike tales of glory are the ideals of the Family Bond. More than a few of the epic SciFi stories that we have looked
at emphasize the value of the Family Bond. Dune is set up so that almost ALL of
the characters are ultimately connected through genetic manipulation of ancient
bloodlines. The tribe-families of Stilgar and the fremen are examples of
communal values and the ideals of responsibility to each other. Much of He, She
and It is devoted to the question, "What is family?" Is Riva a mother
if she is never there? Are the anrdoid Yod and human Shira siblings of each
other? Andrew, Valentine, and Peter Wiggin rely on each other to gain power and
to get out, as much as Peter would hate to admit owing anything to anybody. From
Star Wars , readers learn about Chewbacca's Life Pledge to Han, and how this
extends to include Leia and her family. Historically, Luke and Leia couldn't
have defeated the evil Emperor without the help of their father, Anakin
Skywalker/Darth Vader, who is the supreme example of the Myth of Transformed
Evil. The myth of transformed evil is a very prevalent theme in
Science Fiction. The poison Water of Life must be transmuted by a Reverend
Mother for the masses to enjoy pseudo-telepathic abilities, or by Paul to prove
that he is the Kwisatz Haderach. The Hive Queen, once an evil, uncaring force,
sees the light of Ender's mind in Orson Scott Card's Speaker For the Dead , the
sequel to Ender's Game. In a legacy of evil, first Anakin, then Luke Skywalker
is seduced by the Dark Side, then brought back to the light. Even Luke's pupil,
Kyp, must endure this black transformation in order to more clearly see the
difference between good and evil, in Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy.
Just as in Campbell's description of the hero who must endure the fire of
initiation, the new myths must perform their cleansing ritual in order to
prevail. In this way, Science Fiction, as a genre, helps to define what is right
and wrong, just as the traditional stories of ancient Greeks (what most people
think of when they hear the word 'myth') represented, and sometimes shaped,
their ideals. |