Frank Herbert's The Green Brain
I'm going to start reviewing some of the science fiction I'm reading over the summer, the first of which is The Green Brain. I think The Green Brain is one of those works that really shows Frank Herbert as, first and formost, an ecological writer. His choice of political, social, and technological forces to portray in his novels ultimately establishes ecological conflict as the central antagonism. Even the form of conflict itself is changed, it's no longer Man vs. Nature, or Man vs. Man; there is only Nature, its interdependent struggles spreading out from the core ecology into all other social realms, political, social, or otherwise. A government is just as much a part of the ecology as much as a dark wood.
The humans of The Green Brain exhibits the tendency towards broad characterizations, like I remarked in the previous entry. If you read them in any other setting they would be terrible people; they're clumsy, short-sighted, narrowminded, and annoying to read about. But fitted into their setting - a world on a crusade to eliminate all insects - they drive the plot forward through their own self-destruction, parallel to the rest of humanity. The non-human characters are more interesting to read about. Particularily the Brain itelf. Herbert took a stock science fiction theme like an insectoid hive-mind and made thoughtful (and even obvious) variations: If a race of insects have successfully integrated their hive systems into a sentient, thinking, super-hive system with more intellectual potential than humans, no, it's not going to be remotely interested in conquering or ruling your puny human civilization; it has things that are actually important to think about, like reversing ecological apocolypse. To end:
"Tell me," The Brain said, "how you define slave."
"I'm a slave now," Joao whispered. "I'm in bondage to you. I must obey you or you can kill me."
"But you tried to kill yourself," the Brain said.
The thought unfolded and unfolded in Joao's awareness.
"A slave is one who must produce wealth for another," the Brain said. "There is only one true wealth in all the universe. I have given you some of it. I have given your father and your mate some of it. And your friends. This wealth is living time. Time. Are we slaves because we have given you more time to live? We've spared and extended the lives of all those who were with you," the voice drummed. "That makes us your slaves, does it not? But there will be time to discuss this later. You are quite free to move... and capable of it. Just do not come too close to me... feel free to join your mate outside. There is sunshine this morning. Let the sun work on your skin and on the chlorophyll in your blood. And when you come back here, tell me if the sun is your slave."
- The Green Brain
The humans of The Green Brain exhibits the tendency towards broad characterizations, like I remarked in the previous entry. If you read them in any other setting they would be terrible people; they're clumsy, short-sighted, narrowminded, and annoying to read about. But fitted into their setting - a world on a crusade to eliminate all insects - they drive the plot forward through their own self-destruction, parallel to the rest of humanity. The non-human characters are more interesting to read about. Particularily the Brain itelf. Herbert took a stock science fiction theme like an insectoid hive-mind and made thoughtful (and even obvious) variations: If a race of insects have successfully integrated their hive systems into a sentient, thinking, super-hive system with more intellectual potential than humans, no, it's not going to be remotely interested in conquering or ruling your puny human civilization; it has things that are actually important to think about, like reversing ecological apocolypse. To end:
"Tell me," The Brain said, "how you define slave."
"I'm a slave now," Joao whispered. "I'm in bondage to you. I must obey you or you can kill me."
"But you tried to kill yourself," the Brain said.
The thought unfolded and unfolded in Joao's awareness.
"A slave is one who must produce wealth for another," the Brain said. "There is only one true wealth in all the universe. I have given you some of it. I have given your father and your mate some of it. And your friends. This wealth is living time. Time. Are we slaves because we have given you more time to live? We've spared and extended the lives of all those who were with you," the voice drummed. "That makes us your slaves, does it not? But there will be time to discuss this later. You are quite free to move... and capable of it. Just do not come too close to me... feel free to join your mate outside. There is sunshine this morning. Let the sun work on your skin and on the chlorophyll in your blood. And when you come back here, tell me if the sun is your slave."
- The Green Brain