Close Encounters of the Literary Kind: Perception in "Out of All Them Bright Stars," "Arena," and "The Star" Amy L Aris College

Many science fiction stories feature aliens, especially the interaction between humans and the extraterrestrials. These interactions from range from one-on-one encounters to merely experiencing the aliens’ culture from afar. No matter the nature of said encounter, the human nearly always leaves changed in some way. Usually this change occurs in how the human perceives the world and alters their personal paradigms. The short stories “Out of All Them Bright Stars”, “Arena” and “The Star” all feature a narrator who encounters an alien or an alien race and walk away changed forever. This change due to such an otherworldly experience dramatizes how encountering something new and different can drastically alter how someone views the world and their personal morals and beliefs.

Nancy Kress’ “Out of All Them Bright Stars” offers an extremely direct encounter between the narrator, Sally, and a visiting alien named John. When John comes to the diner Sally works at, his presence disturbs the environment and other workers. Yet, Sally immediately goes over to “it” and treats him like any other customer (Kress). While she is doing so, her boss, Charlie, comes over and harasses John, telling Sally, “You get him out of here…The government says...