Nuclear Apocalypse / Societal Collapse
The narrative finds the world thousands of years after a nuclear holocaust destroyed every grain of modern civilization. Thus, it is a post-apocalyptic literary work that explores what-ifs in the scenario the modern world is devastated by nuclear war. The story does not explore the immediate after-effects of nuclear warfare such as radioactive fallout and nuclear winter. But follows what man makes of the world several centuries when the facts of the event are almost folklores. Set in a small location in Inland, presumably present England, it focuses on the societal collapse that persists thousands of years later. As one of the existential threats of modern times, nuclear warfare and its possibility is studied presently to predict its destructiveness. Accordingly, the novel illustrates the possible outcome that causes the destruction of infrastructure and economic and sociopolitical structures. Consequently, the likelihood of humanity recuperating is almost impossible or it will take several millennia.
Myths and Propaganda
At the core of the narrative is an aftermath of a nuclear holocaust in a period the human race is scavenging for resources as much as ideas. The Legend of Saint Eustace has been modified with new mythicized ideas and allegorical allusions to convey the political ideas to run the nuclear wasteland. History and the past are propagated through old tales and myths that aim to suppress the civilization from reverting to the old ways. The mixture of superstitions and the visible ‘ghosts’ of the past through ruins, fallen cities, and dead technologies create believable myths about the former civilization. A puppet show that derives its plot from the St. Eustace legend spreads political propaganda about the cause of the nuclear apocalypse. The political authority paints a sullied and mystified version of events to express the shortcomings of the society before the Armageddon.
Pursuit of Knowledge
The Dystopian wasteland illustrated in the narrative shows a devastated society that has regressed into a New Iron Age. However, rather than a reinvention of tools and machinery, the people depend on the wreckages and remains of past equipment. Furthermore, the state and the church propagate the legends behind the nuclear holocaust attributing it to man’s greed in the pursuit of knowledge. Thus, civilization is stuck in its current state due to both the past technological pursuits and the rejection of further reinventions. The idea of forbidden knowledge is instilled in the minds of the people that any pursuit to reinvent is a taboo. However, as development is an inevitable quest in necessity the societies are gradually moving from hunting and gathering into more systematic farming. The protagonist Riddley highlights the temptation to adopt past knowledge but the aftermath of such pursuit is quite evident and futile. Unfortunately, power-crazy individuals are striving to reinvent the atomic technology falling back to the mistakes of their ancestors.
Cyclical View of History
In post-apocalyptic fictions, the social cycle theory is explored as the nature of man persists even through epochs. The social cycle system affirms that events and human activities recur in cycles through history. A complete societal collapse is usually attributed to a nuclear holocaust in literature works and modern theories. In that humanity will destroy itself with its pursuit of knowledge and reinvent and repeat the cycle again and again. In the narrative, civilization has been reduced to the prehistoric Iron Age and their survival depends on their hunting and gathering capabilities. As the story continues the society finds more structured means of producing crops and creating organized cultivation.
The dogmas and ideologies adopted following the apocalypse are meant to create myths and folklores to allude to man’s failures in the past. In order to avoid the recurring of past mistakes that led to the societal collapse. But as it is the nature of man, people in power are pursuing the forbidden knowledge and the common man also seeks to know the truth and knowledge. This quest sees humanity fall back into the curiosity of discovery and scientific progress several centuries in the future. Thus, their future has a high possibility to play out similarly to their ancestors’.
