Reflection: Blog 3

Vibrant Matter by Jane Bennett
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New materialism is an interesting theory that takes a good deal of time to truly understand it. In her book Vibrant Matter, she details her theory, specifically thing-power. Thing-power is the idea that every single object, both organic and inorganic, has the ability to affect and impact others things. As a result, there is no vertical hierarchy where organic things are better than nonorganic things; since everything is made up of atoms, everything is equal and thus everything has thing-power and independence from others (Bennett, 2010). 

In blog post 3, I was asked to evaluate an object in a dystopian environment that had thing-power, that had an effect on other things, and to trace its history in that environment and its effects. I discussed the role and thing-power of nature in The Hunger Games. Now, I am going back to my classmate's blog posts for further reflection. 

Haptic Suits
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In Maggie's blog, she discussed the role of the haptic suit in Ready Player One. She explains that she believes that the first haptic suits looked similar to astronaut suits, because their primary functions were simply to allow the user to "take the person's senses out of the real world" and into the OASIS. As the suit adapted over time, it became more like spandex and became more tight to the body for ease of movement. Therefore, the suit effects the user by allowing them to feel things that are technically not there, but are present only in the OASIS. In addition, Maggie explains that this suit created divisions between environments (the real world vs the OASIS), between class (rich vs poor), and between realities (the real world reality vs escapism). 

Mockingjay Pin
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Caitlin discussed the thing-power of the mockingjay in The Hunger Games. The mockingjay represented freedom and autonomy from the Capital, and as a result, the mockingjay (both the bird and the pin) possessed thing-power and were able to affect the characters in the book. First, the mockingjay incited rebellion amongs the districts because of its symbolism. In addition, the mockingjay stole autonomy and freedom from Katniss herself when she had to become "The Mockingjay" for the rebellion. 

Nature in The Hunger Games
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In my own blog post, I discussed the thing-power of nature in The Hunger Games. My favorite post from my original post was the notion that nature can kill or heal you. The effects of nature remain unmatched by many other objects and many other thing-powers, maybe because of the vastness and uncontrollable aspect to nature everywhere. As I've read more novels for this Dystopian Environments course, I have found that while environments absolutely have thing-power, there is a unique relationship here between humans and nature. Nature could completely destroy us, but we also have some sort of control over our environments, as well. In The Road we see that the man and the boy are able to harness their environment to build fires, or keep warm inside a bunker in the ground. However, in Parable of the Sower, nature provides shelter for the characters but also threatens to kill them any any given moment. 

I think it would be really interesting to investigate this relationship further. How much power does thing-power truly have, and can an object's thing-power be overcome and/or destroyed? Or manipulated?

After reading other people's blog posts from blog 3, I was reminded that it truly is incredible the effect on objects both in novels and in real life. Before this prompt, I had not stopped much to think about the thing-power of objects and things in literature. Now, however, it is almost all I can think about as we cruise through Oryx and Crake. 

Dystopian Project: Arc of a Scythe

Dystopian Environment
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Dystopias are structured environments or societies that are detrimental, undesirable, and often murderous. Dystopian literature, especially in science fiction, is becoming increasingly popular with the release of books and series such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, Arc of a Scythe, The Road, and Ready Player One. Every fictitious dystopia appears differently in literature; however, certain themes and characteristics rear their ugly heads in many dystopian societies and environments. For example, death is extremely common, both of the environment and of various characters. In addition, there is often some semblance of religion, or purposeful lack thereof. 

Dystopians are particularly fascinating because they often begin as attempted utopias, which are the complete opposite of dystopias. For example, the dystopian society described in The Giver was originally dreamt up by the characters as a new utopia, a new age in which life was perfect. However, their utopia was quickly shattered and the control over others was not only realized, but pushed back against. Similarly, in the novel Scythe by Neal Shusterman, the Scythedom is established in order to continue with a newfound human immortality. 

Scythe by Neal Shusterman
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When do utopias stop being utopias and become dystopias? Were they ever really utopias to begin with if they are so easily turned into dystopias? Can people within these societies be happy if they are ignorant of the true flaws and corruptions within the utopian structure? For example, in Scythe, the people outside of the Scythedom are blissfully unaware of the controversies and corruption within the Scythedom, and as a result, they truly do not have all of the information. Does this mean that they're happy anyway? When is ignorance blissful, and when is it detrimental? Can a society be utopian if it was founded on lies, as was the case with the Scythedom?

All of these questions are ones that I want to answer in my final creative/visual project for this course. I want to address the tensions between utopias and dystopias, as well as how knowledge plays a role. This was a huge theme in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy, especially with the development of the Thunderhead, an all-knowing Godlike figurehead with no corporeal form. In addition, I want to use my project to examine how justice/the law system, religion, and technology play a role in dystopian societies, specifically in the Scythe trilogy. In Arc of a Scythe, the Scythedom represents the justice system, the Tonists, and later the Toll figurehead, represent religion, and the Thunderhead itself represents technology. All three of these come head-to-head in this trilogy and are represented each by the title of on of the books, as seen below. Which concept holds more sway in the design of a dystopia? In the Scythe trilogy, it seems as if religion is not nearly as significant as either technology or the justice system- in fact, religion in this trilogy is mocked and seen as twisted from religion's original purposes. And the Thunderhead is described as Godlike- so in dystopias, does technology replace religion? I wonder if this could be part of the reason that dystopias so quickly fail and are corrupt from its inception.

Arc of a Scythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman
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Nature, New Materialism, and Today's World

        In dystopian worlds, the nature depicted is typically pretty grim, dismal, and/or bleak. Nature includes both the natural world (think forests, rivers, greenery) and the non-natural world (think cities, man-made settings). The characters in these dystopian environments are typically heroic by design and are able to survive in nature, either the natural world or the man-made world. Often both. According to new materialism, a theory developed by Jane Bennett and described in Vibrant Matter, these dystopian natures have a thing-power and agency all their own.

Vibrant Matter by Jane Bennett.

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New materialism states that since everything, both organic and non organic, is made of the same substances, there should be no vertical hierarchy claiming that there is "human uniqueness in the eyes of God" (Bennett, 2010, 10). Everything, organic and non organic, has thing-power, and thus everything has independence and value simply by existing. According to Bennett, everything is valuable because everything can have an effect on anything else. For example, she describes the effect that certain parts of trash have on not only the surrounding trash, but on her ability to recognize, perceive, and process it (Bennett, 2010). Therefore, environments everywhere impact people all the time, regardless of man's supposed "reign" over nature, either natural or mechanized.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
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As a result, the nature described in dystopian environments impacts the characters beyond what the characters do in/to the environment(s). Typically, we think that people affect their environments, but rarely do we consider that environments have an equal impacts on the people in them. For example, in the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the environment is bleak, ashy, and gray. The man and the boy rest and find shelter in the woods, and they leave their mark on this environment by building fires and manipulating it for their benefit. However, the environment impacts these characters an equal amount. The father and son are forced to continue their travel due to the snow that does not cease to fall for a while. If the snow wasn't falling, the pair would not be forced to travel so far, so fast, so determinedly. Both nature and man are affecting each other with complete agency. 



If both man and nature impact each other so heavily, then it becomes impossible to discuss dystopian societies and environments without also discussing the setting and the nature involved. Nature becomes the second protagonist, without ever uttering a single line. According to new materialism, nature has just as much agency as the human protagonists of the story. If we consider nature from this lens, then nature goes from a backseat, from something that is merely used by characters, to being important in its own right because nature actually impacts not only the characters, but the plot and book as a whole as a result.

Character vs Nature. https://sbt.blob.core.windows.net/storyboards/kristy-littlehale/character-vs-nature.png

The beauty of literature is that everything written in books is reflective, at least in part, of some aspect of the real world, or of current events in the real world. In the real, we are face-to-face with nature every single day, both natural and unnatural. We have constructed cities in and around the natural life, and are constantly affected. We are impacted by the heat of the sun which causes us to dress differently than we would in the winter. The rain causes us to remain indoors. Natural disasters leave us breathless and helpless, even when we can anticipate them. Our buildings and technology release dangerous chemicals into the air and impact our ability to see the stars. Nature constantly impacts us beyond our control and even beyond our ken. By analyzing the role of nature in literature, specifically dystopian literature, we are able to truly understand the uniqueness of nature and understand, to some extent, the agency that it has. If we understand nature from a new materialist perspective, then perhaps we would be better equipped to thrive in our world. Humans are infinitely important, and so is nature. All of the big natural events, the small greenery, and the man-made societies impact humans on a daily basis and ought to be taken seriously as a major protagonist in life. 

The Role of Nature
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