How capitalism manipulates people? Many critics believe that Isaac Asimov is a recognized master of playing with time and space, who is able to keep the reader in suspense with plot twists. However, in addition to purely plot interest, there is a deep message in Asimov’s works.
So today we will talk about the novel “The End of Eternity”, we will analyze its significance, meaning, review, history of appearance. In general, everything is a little bit. So sit back, it will be interesting!
The history of the appearance of the novel
In December 1953, Isaac was flipping through an old news magazine from 1932. In one of the images, he thought he was in a mushroom cloud, as if from a nuclear strike. However, it turned out that this would be a picture of one of the most famous geysers in the world, “Old Faithful”. The writer thought what would have happened if even before the invention of thermonuclear reaction, in 1932, nuclear weapons had appeared, and how then human history would have moved.
Photo: rgnp.ru
With such thoughts, he wrote a short story in 1953, but the editor of the newspaper did not publish it.
Then Asimov turned the story into a full-fledged novel, and sent it on March 17 of the same year to the editor-in-chief of the publishing house, Walter Bradbury. Only on April 7 did the author learn that a preliminary contract was being prepared.
The first version of the novel appeared on 13 December. It was finally accepted and published by the publishing house in August 1955.
So the world saw one of the most powerful works of Isaac Asimov according to many critics.
Features of the fictional world of the book
Let’s briefly talk about the plot. Before us is the organization “Eternity”, which works outside of time and space, and was created by enthusiasts in the XXVII century AD.
The main task of the representatives of the organization is to change the course of history for the benefit of mankind. Thus, billions of people who could disrupt the course of evolution and development of civilization disappeared forever at the behest of “Eternity”. This would have continued further, if not for the protagonist of the novel, Andrew Harlan, with whom strange events began to occur.
Photo: zapovednik-2005.livejournal.com
Asimov managed to think over the concept of his universe to the smallest detail, the nuances of which can surprise even avid fans of science fiction today.
It is noteworthy that the eternals (employees of the organization of the same name) can only jump forward in time, that is, after the XXVII century, when Eternity was founded. Everything that was before is perceived as Primitive history.
Employees jump in time thanks to Time Wells, which consume huge amounts of energy. However, the organization has a virtually unlimited source of it. They draw energy from the Universe, where the Sun has already gone supernova.
There are also practically no women in the organization, their disappearance and recruitment attempts eventually lead to violations of space and time.
The problem of space exploration
The main problem in the novel is space exploration. Even though Asimov wrote his novel before the active exploration of space beyond our planet began, he already understood then that it would be very difficult.
The social significance of the novel
Of course, many will pay attention only to an interesting time travel, an action-packed picture drawn by a talented writer. However, Asimov laid in his work and deeper meaning. to get to the double bottom, it is important to understand the conditions in which the author worked.
These were difficult times for the creative intelligentsia in the West. After the scientific and technological breakthrough of the 20th century, they were really worried about the fate of civilization and the further course of history, because wealth and power actively flowed to one class of society.
Azimov was worried that, relying on an endless stream of money and state monopoly, these superstructures would be able to gradually dictate their rules of the game to society, spiritually and materially enslave the masses. However, it is planned to do this not in a barbaric and rude way, but in a more sophisticated exploitation under the auspices of the “welfare state”.
In order to stay in power, the capitalist monopoly would no longer rely on power structures and the army, but would work people and their children through systems of scientific influence on human consciousness already developed at that time.
The worst thing is that enslaved people would not even understand what a terrible situation they are in.
Therefore, according to Asimov himself, he, and other science fiction writers, use this genre of literature to criticize society and those state institutions that contribute to the emergence of capitalist monopolies.
This concludes our analysis. If you have any questions or suggestions, be sure to write them in the comments. And we have prepared for you a number of other, no less interesting analyzes. Here they are:
The meaning of the book “Hormones of happiness” by Loretta Graziano Breuning: how to manage your hormones to live happily
The meaning of the book “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins: everything is built on genes and there is no place for individuality
The meaning of the book “God as an illusion” by Richard Dawkins: how a religious atheist hit biology and the origin of man
The novel “Children of Captain Grant”: how the book of the famous writer Jules Verne ended
The meaning of the novel “Memoirs of a Geisha”: undercover intrigues and female snake kublo
The meaning of Chekhov’s “Ward number 6” or how mentally ill people are more humane and smarter than educated professors
Well, now that’s all. So see you soon on the pages of new articles and a peaceful sky over your head.
