The Man in the Box

[mukor]

The People lived in a box.  It was a very large box, and only rarely did the edges come into view. Not once were The People limited by the confines of their box.  It was, however, a box.

Never did The People talk about the box.  Or investigate its edges and perfect corners.  Or talk about the box.  The box was there and not there, and The People

Comments

[gram_negative]

Damn, son, you lurk for this long and then drop this heavy-ass sci-fi Biblical parable shit on our heads?

By which I mean: post some more!

I guess if I had to ask for one point of clarification, it would be: did the Crop Master simply lose his nerve, or is there some physical reason to do with the nature of the box, etc, that kept him from leaving? Or do you, The Almighty Author, not want me to know?

[gram_negative]

Well, originally I was going to have everyone stuck as a 'star', and it was going to be more about what happens if you push someone to go where they're not ready. But I really only wanted the Crop Master to have a shitty ending.

So, in my head, its now about his karmic punishment for his deception. If I were to try and get into the metaphysics of the world that I didn't fully define, I would also go with: The People 'knew' they were going to another world like theirs, where the Crop Master didn't. So, will equals fate.

I almost expanded it to have the story being told by a loremaster for The People, who know live in a world without a box, which at first is very difficult for them. But the Star of the Crop Master, which lead them to this world, now always leads them home.

[mukor]

Yeah, that's me.

[gram_negative]

I very much like the Lore Master idea, maybe just introducing him in a closing paragraph, because this would make the story some equivalent of a constellation myth, ie "that star over there was the Crop Master from long ago, who did thus and such," which I think is kind of cool.

[belgarath42]

Nice.

I'm really kind of interested in the crop master's perspective there. Because he's at the top of the ladder, so to speak, he doesn't have anywhere else to go, and so is the only one looking for a way out. And whereas his job is the most important one to everyone else, to him it is unimportant, maybe precisely BECAUSE it's his.
My question is why can't he abandon the People. Is it because his role is as a leader and so he can't function without followers? Or because discovery can never happen in isolation? Or because discovery is meaningless unless it can be shared/built upon? Or because he's actually less interested in the discovery than the credit for it? Or am I Reading Way Too Much Into Things? I get paid for that, y'know. Sorry.

What's interesting though is that although they weren't ready to go, they did get there.

[mukor]

"Or am I Reading Way Too Much Into Things?"

Perhaps. I am way too single entendre for all this analysis. He's the Crop Master because I needed someone who would have greater proximity to the box and be important enough to pull everyone into his obsession. I like how you assume the Crop Master is the leader though, where I just viewed him as the person responsible for feeding The People. Important, but just the role he filled.

If it was something I was going to review a lot and rework, I would probably change it so that he was too afraid to leave on his own, rather than "knowing" he couldn't.

"Or because discovery can never happen in isolation? Or because discovery is meaningless unless it can be shared/built upon? Or because he's actually less interested in the discovery than the credit for it?"

In my mind, its about his obsession being important than the well-being of his tribe. The unwillingness to make the sacrifice of silence for the greater good, and the willingness to drag everyone else along to uncertainty.