Post Colonial Science Fiction

The article by written Thrall examines Science Fiction or more specifically Post-colonial science fiction as a genre and looks to trace its roots and where there genre might be headed .However the most notable exertion in the article is whether or not some of the novels such as The Calcutta Chromosome are actually worthy of being characterized within the science fiction genre. The biggest argument against such a categorization is the fact that novels such as New Atlantis and the like depict voyages of individuals and also groups of people and their encounters with foreign creatures that may be comparable to the voyages of the colonial and their encounters with the colonized .As is clearly pointed out by the following quote: “‘the thesis that colonialisms a significant historical context for early science fiction’ has a ‘strong foundation in the obvious.” Furthermore a lot of the post colonial stories written are similar in nature to these “imaginative voyage stories in nature as they do the are constructed in the same way that “they are depicted expeditions to exotic worlds and encounters with strange inhabitants.” Much in the same way that stories that are worthy are assuming the mold of the prototype for post-colonial science fiction stories .The simple mold of these stories was the European expeditions on the world map and their continuous conquering of the various parts of the globe. This is a historical fact thus one begs to question whether in fact these are stories ?The argument is that while they do incorporate the various fairytale creatures and magic and so forth the main pillar ,that is the central theme of colonization which is a brutal fact and is grossly and completely non-fictional in nature means that these are arguably not fictional ,rather they are simply true events that have fictional improvisations added to them. Nalo Hopkinson exemplifies this in her so called science fiction short stories book titled Long Been Dreaming, as is pointed out by ‘one of the most familiar memes of science fictions that of going to foreign countries and colonizing the natives, and . . . For many of us, that’s not a thrilling story; it’s non-fiction, and we are on the wrong side of the strange-looking ship that appears out of nowhere.’ The Calcutta Chromosome adopts this mold of depicting a non-fictitious past and incorporating elements of the science fiction. The book draws on the binaries of ‘native/alien, technologist/pastoralist, colonizer/colonized’ ,and in this way Ghosh is able to shift the so-called perspective in this way and expose the vices of the colonial .The plot is an interbred mix of Western rationality and Eastern tradition and the ultimate goal that is to cure malaria or rather to achieve immortality shows this sort of mix as the story develops in the rational as well as esoteric/mystical manner. The ultimate argument though is that these are clearly not fiction rather they are inclusive of fiction.

Midnights chlidren :Women

The role of women
Midnight's Children plot is based in India and the nature accentuate this into the manner in which he depicts the role of the female within society. Whilst we are exposed o a variety of roles within the novel the most prominent one is the role of the motherly figure the, one whose duty it is to stay at home and look after the kids and bear more children. This is exemplified throughout the novel and such an example is shown on page 73."Why had she married him?-For solace ,for children .But at first he insomnia coating her brain got in the way of her first aim ;and children don’t always come at once. We are exposed to thoughts of Amina's fantasies about independence and the so-called unspeakable name that resides on her lips. Further down the passage we see what women are willing to do in order to please their spouse as Amina bears with the pain of not loving the man she is with yet bearing it and learning to love. She continually reiterates what an ungrateful women she is and that she is in her own word: "an ungrateful goof". A husband is deserving of a list of things and yet she has her own desires which she chooses to ignore and learn to love Ahmed Sinai. Women in this passage anyway are depicted as a servant to their husbands much like previous novels their identity and their sense of belonging seems to yearn with their ties to their husbands. Breaking him down into different shows just how extreme a measure a women is willing to take in order to please her husband and their respective family. This I believe may be taken in as either a form of weakness as, a result of the unwillingness to break off from ones husband or strength as a result of the willingness to bear the pain. As was aforementioned there are depictions on both sides of the spectrum and the scene where the Reverend mother starves her husband and refuses to feed him as until he brings bring maulvi sahib back and kisses his feet. Reverend Mother doesn’t fulfill the gender stereotype because earlier in the novel she does not do the so called feminine things it is more towards the latter or in situations where she has something to gain or a distinctive advantage that we see her act in a womanly sense. Even at the dinner table she has a sense of ruling and sends out threats to other as is the case on page 41."This whatitsname is a very heavy pot, and if just once I catch you in here, whatitsname, I'll push your head into it. This is a very masculine and dominant statement and there is a sense of fear for the Reverend Mother that resonates in the book almost as if when she speaks, despite her poor diction and her being in a universe adrift people gave her undivided attention. Thus we may conclude there is no conclusive role for women in the novel it varies from character to character.

The significance of the death of Gandhi

Midnight’s Children is a book the depicts India’s struggle towards independence. Mahatma Gandhi is inseparable from this subject as he was at the forefront of many issues and a true servant to the nation. It is therefore logical that the father of Indian civil rights is mentioned in the novel and so he is .Rushdie includes Gandhi’s death because it is one the most significant events in Indian history. Gandhi was at the forefront of the fight for independence from the British and after a long struggle he succeeded in obtaining this goal. Although it was not the united India that he had in mind rather it was a division into to the of countries of India and Pakistan based on religion. Rushdie seems to almost sensationalize the event of Gandhi’s death, while it is for effect, it is also a showing of the incredible stature that Gandhi had ,after all. Gandhi is India and the author looks to echo this with his thorough and well written dramatization as is exemplified on page 162 . "The Serpent can take most unexpected forms." This already creates a sense of anticipation something that will shock and surprise and indeed following on the announcement of Gandhi’s death is nop less dramatic than it deserves a man that was the voice of the nation that was the embodiment and personification of his native land ,the father or as he is affectionately referred to in the mother tongue of India that is Hindi. Murdered by his own after all his exploits and gaining rights for women and India as a whole here he was shot and killed in the public eye. The dramatization is very much necessary considering the status that Gandhi had earned over the span of his life, essentially the Indian people were told that their nation was being killed “Our Bapu is gone.” The father of the nation murdered and in anticipation the sentiments of many an Indian is echoed by the narrator as he states that there would be hell to pay if a Muslim was found to be responsible.” The audience had begun to scream before he finished ;the poison of his words entered their veins-there were grown men rolling in aisles clutching their bellies ,not laughing but crying ,Hai Ram ..The imagery we are subjected to hear describes utter chaos, and for all the suggestions of dramatization we are subjected to hear, much in the style of a Bollywood film the author is painting an incredibly clear picture of the craziness that must of followed Gandhi’s death. Rushdie depicts history well chaos ensued when Gandhi was murdered, the messenger ,the serpent injecting his poison into the new-born India ,informing him of the death of his father leaving him paralyzed and utterly shocked. Rushdie/Saleem do this through s series of historical references and metaphorical allusions and this somewhat dramatized as it may seem it is a well told account of the nation the is India.

SOURCES

November 13 2009.www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Gandhi/gandhi.html


November 13 2009.www.mkgandhi.org/main.htm