War and Conflict

     "That Only a Mother" by Judith Merril and "We See Things Differently" by Bruce Sterling both paint a picture of an unpleasant future. Merril's Future was inspired by the absolutely chilling consequences that were birthed out of the development and detonation of the first nuclear bomb. Sterling's future seems to have been inspired by the conflict currently taking place in the middle east at the time as well as the coming collapse of the soviet union. This trend continues in science fiction as writers continue to predict the future by paying attention to current events.
     I'll start my analysis with the story "That Only a Mother" by Judith Merril. Merril writes about a world where nuclear radiation has infected the population's gametes leading to mutations in the population's offspring. This type of story is common throughout the late forties. the bomb changed science fiction in ways that made it less hopeful and more cynical. "That Only A Mother" can be compared to possibly the most well known story concerning the atomic bomb, "Children Of The Atom" by Wilmar H. Shiras. In the story a group of mutant children with high level intelligence must hide in order to escape persecution by the rest of the population. However, Merril's story differs from other atomic stories due to her domestic setting. The story deals with how a mother would handle a mutated child. It also explores the threat of nuclear radiation from the perspective of a housewife. This isn't a perspective that is explored much if at all in science fiction of this period. Merril's character Margaret acts uniquely given the situation of her child. She doesn't seem to care or even notice how mutated her child is until her husband comes home and points it out to her. This unique take on the mother's reaction to the effects of the atomic bomb is why this story is a cut above the rest.
     The second story "We See Things Differently" is a later story that takes place in the 21st century. This story instead of being inspired by the atomic bomb was inspired by the conflict in the middle east and the collapse of the soviet union. Sterling interprets these two events as leading to the downfall of the United States and the rise of the middle east into one massive caliphate reminiscent of the Muslim trade empire that existed during the medieval period. Sterling describes the America in his story as a cyberpunk slum where the dollar has plummeted and most of the population is unemployed. He also explores the willingness of humanity to subscribe to the beliefs of charismatic speakers with his rockstar character Tom Boston. The element of this story that I found most interesting however was the conflict between the capricious nature of America's consumerist culture and the obstinate traditionalism of the middle east. throughout the story is the constant reminder that consumerism, greed, and perversion led to the downfall of the United States. I don't necessarily agree with the view that traditionalism is better for a country and consumerism is worse. There are pros and cons for both ways of thinking. Traditionalism is opposed to change and naturally this impedes progress. Consumerism is entirely about change which leads us to forget our values. These perspectives expressed in this story are what make this a very interesting read.

Update: My views on the two stories haven't really changed since I read them. I got new insight into the authors however. Judith Merril sounded familiar to me because I had read her years best science fiction short story collections. I also got more information on Bruce sterling and his ideas about life and technology.