| dc.description.abstract | This thesis is concerned with the portrayal of responsibility, action and justice in four works of SF, and argues that in order to make the transition to a more sustainable future, one must acknowledge the mistakes of the past. The first chapter provides the theoretical framework for the thesis and uses Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and N. K. Jemisin’s complementary “The Ones Who Stay and Fight” as case studies to discuss how responsibility can be effectively thematised in literature. I argue that Le Guin’s more subtle parallels to the reader’s own world are more effective in encouraging the reader to take action than Jemisin’s direct approach. The second chapter focuses on Isaac Asimov’s novel The Gods Themselves and discusses how the antagonists refuse to acknowledge a global threat caused by technology and instead rely on technology to provide a quick fix for said threat. While this tendency is somewhat problematised in the novel, I argue that Asimov ultimately relies on technology as a deus ex machina to solve the novel’s central conflict, proving the antagonists’ lack of action justifiable. The third chapter focuses on Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy and discusses how the move to a more sustainable future must include social, as well as environmental justice. Jemisin’s novel illustrates how the oppressive systems that have created the present environmental and social issues, must be addressed before a more sustainable future is possible. I argue that Jemisin’s approach is ultimately more effective than Asimov’s, precisely because her novels acknowledge the complexity of environmental threats and include social justice as a central goal. | |
