Taking place in a distant future after a nuclear apocalypse 2000 years prior the narrative focuses on the rudiments of the human condition and nature. Amid the chaos and total destruction, how does humanity recuperate, create new beliefs, or cultivate language and culture from the ruins that were once whole? Thus, Hoban explores the social cycle system in the narrative as the human civilization regresses to a prehistoric dynamic. The theory is applied in both a literal and figurative manner in that human civilizations revolve in cycles due to the nature of man and his curiosity. Through new breakthroughs and discoveries, man is bound to seek further which eventually and certainly contributes to the root of his own destruction. Furthermore, it asks whether humanity has the ability to learn from the flaws of its nature or fall into the cyclical self-destructive condition.
This dystopian wasteland relies on mythicized ideas and the allegories of a fictionalized legend of Saint Eustace to keep the beliefs of the people in check. The people in power however utilize this to pacify the masses while they pursue the same forbidden knowledge and technology they rebuke. The race to acquire the knowledge and capabilities reflect the human flaw that drives us to seek power over the other. Therefore despite the tangible evidence of man’s own doing, society is bound to contradict itself and repeat the same progression. Through the protagonist’s curiosity and thirst for truth, Hoban illustrates that the pursuit of knowledge is at the core of our being despite contradictory coping mechanisms.
Moreover, the narrative demonstrates and reaffirms the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention” or in this case reinvention. Though society has regressed to a New Iron Age humanity stills strives to make everyday tasks functional and simpler. They incorporate remains of ‘ancient’ technology to make food resources available through farming rather than foraging. Additionally, the language incorporated in the book reflects the whole idea of the narrative. The dialect which is an invented version of English represents how the world Hoban has created operates and how meaning has altered.
