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Israel Magallon

Prof. Wilson

English 123

April 30, 2018

Power in Science Fiction

Will the world seize to exist in the near future? Will we ultimately cause the

destruction of the world and everything in it? These are the question science fiction

makes us think about. We live in a world that is run by those with higher power and

technology. Many like living in the present but what can we do if a genre like science

fiction gives us the information we need to prepare us for a continuous world of

oppression. Sci-fi, a genre that evolved throughout time, were at some point it was

describe as fantasies and myths. Shupp a writer of sci-fi says, “Science fiction mirrors

the apprehensions and anticipations of an age; it is increasingly the product of a society

that is concerned about the relationship between its continued existence and its

dependence upon technological development.” The genre is not only a product of

imagination but a wake-up call to act on the principals that we can leave a better world

for those who come after us. In David Mitchells, Cloud Atlas we experience how our

lives are connected and the vision of a dystopian society is not far from reality. Mitchell

uses Science fiction to show that human desire for power leads to the enslavement of

the weak.
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Cloud Atlas filled with many genres. One of the main components that make this

interesting genre stand out is the use of description and detail in describing a new

world. With plot it evolves and external and internal conflict. Commonly artificial

intelligence or automated creations are a subject of importance in sci-fi. Characters in

sci-fi genre are commonly unique they are different than others. They mostly have a

purpose to find the truth, to help others like them. The Setting is very important in sci-fi

novels. The creators have the job to create a world that’s technologically advanced. A

world that’s fiction but can be a reality. According to Milner, he describes sci-fi as “future

stories and some, but not all, is concerned either to advocate what its authors and

readers see as desirable possible futures or to urge against what they see as

undesirable possible future” (161). In other words, sci-fi can be used to create the ideal

utopia or the dystopian society that we see in many books and movies in todays age.

The description must be very detail when it comes to describing the said world. The

world is either coming to an end whether it’s by technological advances ruining nature.

This is the cause of us humans trying to make the world a better place but instead we

end up destroying our world and at the end almost wiping ourselves out. The language

in sci-fi is sometimes unique to contemplate the new world. One final description of the

sci-fi genre is the use of themes. A common theme is the use of improving the world

with technology can cause the end of the world. It’s a question of what ifs. The genre is

used to see the potential future and question our decisions.

The genre of Science fiction is masterly put together in the section called The

Orison of Sonmi-451. Sonmi-451 is filled with many characteristics of the sci-fi genre.

The internal conflict that we see in Sonmi is her question of reality. The story of Sonmi
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also involves that external conflict commonly used in sci-fi. Here she is facing the

corporations and purebloods that use fabricants as slaves. The narration in Sonmi is

done in the 3rd person point of view and she’s being interviewed. Not commonly used in

this genre but it creates tension as Sonmi tells her story. In Sonmi we see how she is

different than the other clones but also wants to help her people that seem oblivious to

what’s going around them. Mitchell does an excellent job describing Sonmis’ world in

Korea. It’s an environment that’s run by big corporations and surrounded by a

‘deadlanded’ world. For example, in Sonmis world some words are abbreviated to make

things easier like words that would usually start with ex has the e taken away and just

start with an x. Its genius the way it was implanted in the book to create the futuristic

aspect of how language changes over time. Another interesting thing that goes in The

Orison of Sonmi is the use of big company names to describe a product or thing. For

example, the word movie is replaced by Disney or a car is described as a ford. Mitchell

did this to incorporate the idea that big companies that act like a monopoly will take over

the world one day. Throughout the book, we see a connection, especially in Sonmis

chapter and the use of Power.

Sonmis world is carefully crafted together and to fit a major theme that connects

the other stories of the book. One theme that stood out was the theme of Power over

the weak. We see it from the Maori keeping the Moriori as slaves, Vivyan’s power over

Robert, the major corporation in Luísa’s world, Timothy being kept against his will in the

Aurora House and then, the Kona enslaving most of Hawaii. All the way to my section

which stands out a lot, The Orison of Sonmi-451. Sonmi is a clone, there are many like

her, but she is different because she feels enslaved and that feeling of being a slave to
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her doesn’t seem right. Sonmi begins to question her true purpose. She is known as a

fabricant and regular humans are known as purebloods. The conflict she is facing is

internal because she is beginning to question her existence. Most notably why she is

being kept a slave in Nea Sea Corps. When being question by Archivist, Sonmi says, “If

happiness means the conquest of adversity…then all Nea So Corps slaves we surely

are the most miserable...corpocracy is built on slavery” (188). Sonmi feels conflicted

internally and she knows her only purpose is to serve the world. The theme of Power

can also be applied to the sub-theme of slavery. The desire for humans to have the

most power leads to the enslavement of the weak. This section explores the theme in

detail. We know that the corporations have taken over the world and in so have created

clones to do our dirty work. Sonmi wants freedom from Papas Song but knows she is

not programed to think beyond her existence. She wants her kind to be treated like the

purebloods are treated. This causes the theme to build up and create conflict

emotionally and physically.

Power can be seen clearly in s short story called The Day of the Builders. This is

a short story by Kristine Ong Muslim. The story is about a rural village on the brink of a

slow ecological apocalypse, colonized by technologically advanced scientists. They go

by Doctors, but they are not like our doctors they are like colonizers that will take over

these peoples’ culture and bring them to the brink of extinction. This story is similar to

Sonmi because it involves the oppression of people that have power over others. They

use their sophisticated technology to turn natural environment into a metropolis; just like

Sonmis story. These “Doctors” like the purebloods take advantage of the weak. All for

the greed of making anything modern or their excuse to make our world a better place.
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They even put the villagers’ history under the fossil section as if they were animals of

millions of years ago. “They even gave new names to my people’s magic charms. The

Builders called them many such names, the likes of archeocyathids, trypanites,

edrioasteroids, and petroxestes — all under the chapter entitled Fossils” (Muslim). The

main character is naïve to what has happened because he lived throughout the almost

complete eradication of his people. He thinks it was for the greater good. Muslim is

telling us that if the greed for power continues humans will be the fossils of tomorrow.

The story is the insight of how history always seems to repeat itself. The desire for

power and dominance has always been who we are, and the author wants to show us

that we need to change that mentality or else our future will no longer exist.

Science fiction can be seen in many ways or forms. The use of literary criticism

of this genre is explored in the book Locating Science Fiction by, Andrew Milner. Milner

analyses the genre in whole. One section that’s fascinating and relates perfectly with

Sonmi is the imperialist and capitalistic have always been a common feature in the sci-fi

genre. He cites Csicsery-Ronayargues “that the entire trajectory of the genre’s history is

best understood as a correlate of imperialism.” (160) Mitchell further reasserts by

saying, “Science Fiction in particular are equally unthinkable without capitalist relations

of production, or without patriarchal gender relations, or without systematic

heterosexism ”(160). We see this fully stand out in Sonmis story. We have Nea Sea

Corps a capitalistic company who desire to use Capitalism as a means of making the

world more efficient and have in accordance created clones for their benefit. They use

clones to cut the cost down and don’t care about their wellbeing because they are not

humans. The world has always revolved around money and power. Mitchell has used
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this feature to tell us this throughout the whole book. Slavery has been the oldest

means of oppression. Humans are never satisfied with what we have. We always want

more. Slavery has existed for thousands of years. Mitchel uses these stories, from

Adam Ewing to Zachary’s story of a world coming to an end. The use of slavery to

exploit resources for our comfort will one day drive this world to the end of times.

Mitchell says, “one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself…in an

individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction”

(508). He brings the whole book together and says that even though times change just

like in the book humans have had the tendency to always control the weak. This

encompasses the major theme of the book, especially in Sonmis section. It is evident

that the genre is meant for us to think and change our ways.

Although, sci-fi not limited to novels, the film industry has been fascinated with

science fiction since the term came to be. One of the first big picture films was science

fiction, created in 1902 called A trip to the Moon. Ever since then the genre has

exploded into what it is today. Ex Machina released in 2015, starts where a programmer

wins a trip for a one-week visit to an isolated home of a tech genius who is working on

artificial intelligence. The genius has created a human Robot that he has been

monitoring underground. He wants the programmer to communicate with the robot and

see what she’s capable of doing. They soon find out that the Machine is not what they

imagine, and it becomes a game of Robot vs Human. The film beautifully describes how

the genre is like one another. Its connection to Sonmis story. It’s almost as the director

got inspired by this book. From the artificial intelligence to the slavery theme. The Ai

Ava is being held captive just like Sonmi. They want to study her thinking because she
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might be the answer to the problems of the world. The tech genius who created her

says something that resonated with the Sonmi story and the short story the day of the

builders. He says, “One day the AIs are going to look back on us the same way we look

at fossil skeletons on the plains of Africa. An upright ape living in dust with crude

language and tools, all set for extinction.” The connection the genre makes across three

different platforms is amusing. We get this tech genius that knows humankind will one

day be wiped out. To the plot of the short story where a highly technological group

almost wiped an entire village. And all the way to Zachary’s world where we may

hypothesis that the uprising of the clones of Sonmis story might have led the world to

collapse.

Sci-fi connects the theme of power vs. weak in Sonmis story by creating a

futuristic corporate world that has power over not just the clones they created but their

civilians. It may be science fiction, but the reality is Cloud Atlas was written with a

purpose. It is to show us that our society is not much more different than it is in future

Korea. We are being consumed by corporations, and Mitchell used the genre of sci-fi to

illuminate the problem that power always leads to the weak being slaves of authority.

We know this because Mitchell connects all of the sections into one theme. We know

that Nea Sea Corps and the other references to the smaller corporations in the book

control the world. Mitchell writes, “Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always

leads to cruelty” (180). He’s telling us that it is nothing new and throughout history, we

as humans have always looked to improve our everyday lives, but at what cost? We

always take advantage of those that are fragile. We created sophisticated technology

from the sweat of those who we enslave. We want to create a utopia but, in the end, we
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end up wiping entire races because of the interest of a few. Like Orwell tells us about

his book 1984, “I do not believe that the kind of society I describe necessarily will arrive,

but ... that ... it could arrive ... totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph” (192)

His book set in dystopian society, and he knows as we all that the world revolves

around those who are on top. Power has always been the determining plot of the sci-fi

genre. Whether it’s a film like Ex Machina or a section like Sonmi-451.

Mitchell and his book Cloud Atlas came together perfectly into what defines

science fiction. He used the genre by providing the essential characteristics of sci-fi and

created flawless literature that tied in with the major theme of Cloud Atlas. The theme of

power and dominance over the weak has proven from time to time to be an effective

way of storytelling. Mitchell created a unique world with sophisticated technology and

unique language form. He wanted to make it clear that the corporations ruled Korean

society. The interview way of storytelling added the extra feeling of suspense. We dint

know what was going to happen after the interview was over or why she was being

interviewed in the first place. This genre is to make you think the possibilities of our

future. The power of corporations, government, and the rich is nothing new especially in

today’s age of technology. The only way we can stop being the slaves of others is to

stop our greed for power. Mitchell is trying to tell us about his book that throughout time

we have used and mistreated people to accomplish what we want. It may be fiction but

every great sci-fi has a meaning and this genre completed the book into the major

theme of power. It is the goal of authors to create and influence the world throughout

this genre with fictitious plots and characters. Moreover, we are connected to one
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another and what we do today for the children of tomorrow is the main focus of science

fiction.
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Milner, Andrew. Locating Science Fiction. Liverpool University Press, 2012. Liverpool

Science Fiction Texts and Studies. EBSCOhost

Muslim, Kristine Ong. “Day of the Builders.” Weird Fiction Review, Unnamed Press, 14

Sept. 2016.

Garland, Alex, director. Ex_Machina. Universal Pictures, 2015.

David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas. New York: Random House, 2004.

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