Shockwave Rider Essay Research Paper There are

Shockwave Rider Essay, Research Paper

There are numerous books on the science fiction

market, that deal with the myriad of possibilities

involving the technology of the future. John Brunner.s

book, .Shockwave Rider,. is one of the most popular, as

well as one of the most famous, books dealing with this

issue. Brunner presents many different realities to the

reader, and they are all potentially very realistic in

terms of the current state of technology. For the most

part, Brunner seems to illustrate that technology, as it

relates to the world wide datanet, is a good thing. This

is not to say that he does not illustrate it as a very

negative reality in the world he presents to the reader,

but he does indicate that the world wide datanet and

technology has great potential to make the world a better

place for all concerned.

In Brunner.s book we have a reality that is

incredibly tense, and almost plausible today. The space

that the author deals with is filled with endless bits of

information (information overload to be more precise),

corporate domination, and it appears, just like many

science fiction books that deal with the planet earth in

the future, everything is known about everyone. there are

no secrets from the system. Brunner illustrates this as a

reality that is not necessarily very desirable. He plants

a character, Nickie Haflinger, onto the scene. As with

many books we can look at this character and see the

author within. Haflinger is a prodigy whose talents allow

him to switch identities with a simple phone call. By the

advanced technology and the ingenuity that is completely

Haflinger.s, we see that the author is not one to be

content with the realities that may be a possibility in

the future of technology.

Brunner clearly illustrates, by the previous

description of Haflinger, that technology and the advances

within that field, are incredibly beneficial, or they can

be. but he is clearly unhappy with the way things have

turned out due to the controlling nature of the

governments. This is further illustrated in the fact that

Brunner.s hero is a young man who is bent on changing the

world. He struggles to evade the officials and uses all

skills available to him, whether inherent skills or

technological ones, to the best of his ability, to put an

end to the misuse of power that is so much a part of his

world which involves the entity of the world wide datanet.

Perhaps, one of the most insightful parts of the book

comes in the first half, when Haflinger is experiencing

flashbacks due to interrogations. It is in these sections

that we see the inner mind of Brunner as he deflty

illustrates the world and mind of Haflinger. In this part

we see many different ethical arguments arise between

Haflinger and his interrogators. Not only does it seem as

though Brunner is telling a fascinating story, but that he

is attempting to enlighten people about the possibilities

that may arise due to the growth of technology. He is

clearly illustrating that this reality, although

fictional, may well be close at hand. Who knows, but we

may be able to access the Internet by telephone in just a

few years. There seems to be no stopping this type of

technology that is bent on bringing communication, and

control along with it, to a level where anyone and

everyone can become actively involved.

These interrogations approach many difficult and

intriguing questions. For example, if all the choices of a

race are known, where does the freedom lie. Or if those

choices, and their end result, can be easily assumed. If a

society is so intricately interconnected, almost to the

point where there is no individuality whatsoever, what

happens when one man or woman stands apart from the crowd.

We know full well how such individuals have been treated

in a society where we claim to embrace the unique and free

minded individual. But to envision such an individual in a

place and time when nearly everyone was essentially

identical, brings the reader to a position where the truth

of such a future is quite stifling and evident. Anyone

with any sense would not like to exist in such a world.

Brunner is clearly indicating that such a world wide

datanet would not be desirable at all. these are very real

possibilities and as any good science fiction writer

knows, the future is often illustrated as it might be, in

an attempt to help eliminate the possibility. The good

science fiction writer examines all of the possibilities

and often finds the most frightening reality to

illustrate. They do this in an attempt to help prevent the

reality from occurring. By illustrating what we could be,

Brunner is clearly illustra

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать