Castaway Stories
More of a musing than a proper analysis.
I recently reread Ringworld and found myself comparing it to Castaway Planet. The difference in approach, the dynamics of being stranded, and interpersonal relations/conflicts are very interesting.
First, technology:
The Kimei family has very limited tools, quickly reduced to what they happened to have unloaded/carry on them before they lost their ship. They are reduced to very, very limited resources, and have to find materials to work with in walking distance. From the moment they crash down, they're having to scramble to stay alive with alien creatures, and needs of food and shelter.
The Ringworld expedition starts exploring with reliable aircraft, a plethora of tools that make their travels about on par with going cross-country with well-stocked vehicles. There is little immediate pressures on survival; it takes making mistakes and miscalculations, plus a bit of entropy to find themselves in truly dire straits. In fact, things don't really truly go bad until the group trips an ancient speed trap.
Personalities:
The Kimei family is a family; wife, husband, three children, and an adopted alien. Interpersonal conflict is that one might find in any family in a stressful situation, but there is that familial bond which urges everyone to cooperate. There is a deep trust there that is not broken.
Louis Wu, Speaker-To-Animals, Teela Brown, and Nessus are most definitely not closely bonded. These people barely know each other, only two are the same species... though Teela Brown's luck results in her and Louis being unable to relate on some of the most basic elements of human experience. Trust is grudging, alliances are made but always with one hand on the handle of a figurative weapon or an eye for an escape route. Respect is also grudgingly earned, but by doing things the individual thinks is insane, despite what the other considers a Proper Way To Act.
The manner of the crash and means of escape are quite diffrerent:
On Lincoln, the family has no means of their own to leave the gravity well. Their transportation is literally beyond their reach and likely non-functional; their best hope is to survive long enough for someone to happen by and see their means of signalling.
The Lying Bastard is capable of ferrying the explorers back to Known Space... once it gets far enough from the Ringworld's primary. An exercise in problem-solving under a stressful situation, with an unseen actor working at cross-purposes. In some ways, it bears more similarity to The Odyssy.
The nature of the world's nature changes things as well. Lincoln's unique continents and alien landscape/biosphere make for a more difficult time long-term than on a normal planet. The scales are extremely local, giving it the feel of the island the Swiss Family Robinson found themselves upon.
The Ringworld is more of an abandoned park in fairly good climate gone awry and overrun by squatters. An abandoned park, where the protagonists have to deal with distances greater than one can find on Earth.
This was a fun little exercise in thought.
I recently reread Ringworld and found myself comparing it to Castaway Planet. The difference in approach, the dynamics of being stranded, and interpersonal relations/conflicts are very interesting.
First, technology:
The Kimei family has very limited tools, quickly reduced to what they happened to have unloaded/carry on them before they lost their ship. They are reduced to very, very limited resources, and have to find materials to work with in walking distance. From the moment they crash down, they're having to scramble to stay alive with alien creatures, and needs of food and shelter.
The Ringworld expedition starts exploring with reliable aircraft, a plethora of tools that make their travels about on par with going cross-country with well-stocked vehicles. There is little immediate pressures on survival; it takes making mistakes and miscalculations, plus a bit of entropy to find themselves in truly dire straits. In fact, things don't really truly go bad until the group trips an ancient speed trap.
Personalities:
The Kimei family is a family; wife, husband, three children, and an adopted alien. Interpersonal conflict is that one might find in any family in a stressful situation, but there is that familial bond which urges everyone to cooperate. There is a deep trust there that is not broken.
Louis Wu, Speaker-To-Animals, Teela Brown, and Nessus are most definitely not closely bonded. These people barely know each other, only two are the same species... though Teela Brown's luck results in her and Louis being unable to relate on some of the most basic elements of human experience. Trust is grudging, alliances are made but always with one hand on the handle of a figurative weapon or an eye for an escape route. Respect is also grudgingly earned, but by doing things the individual thinks is insane, despite what the other considers a Proper Way To Act.
The manner of the crash and means of escape are quite diffrerent:
On Lincoln, the family has no means of their own to leave the gravity well. Their transportation is literally beyond their reach and likely non-functional; their best hope is to survive long enough for someone to happen by and see their means of signalling.
The Lying Bastard is capable of ferrying the explorers back to Known Space... once it gets far enough from the Ringworld's primary. An exercise in problem-solving under a stressful situation, with an unseen actor working at cross-purposes. In some ways, it bears more similarity to The Odyssy.
The nature of the world's nature changes things as well. Lincoln's unique continents and alien landscape/biosphere make for a more difficult time long-term than on a normal planet. The scales are extremely local, giving it the feel of the island the Swiss Family Robinson found themselves upon.
The Ringworld is more of an abandoned park in fairly good climate gone awry and overrun by squatters. An abandoned park, where the protagonists have to deal with distances greater than one can find on Earth.
This was a fun little exercise in thought.