Aliens and Science Fiction

Science fiction has developed and has come up with styles to make the readers satisfied, happy and motivated to read more. The concept of invasion of aliens, colonization, prejudices, discrimination and racial issues has come up in the texts an “Out of All Them Bright Stars” by Nancy Kress and “Reunion” by Arthur C. Clarke. To begin with an ‘alien’ in science fiction is a creature from outer space.  These two texts are based their theme on the existence of alien who come to planet Earth with a motif to be friendly to man and claim their old way of living. Racial scenes are portrayed in the text “Reunion” where the aliens say that alien came to colonize the earth. Discrimination and prejudice are well characterized in Nancy Kress work. Colonialism is seen in the work of Arthur Clarke, aliens claim to have had Earth as a colony, and they were coming to save it from its problems as we will discuss later.

The alien invasion is a story to the human race. A few people in the current world are confident that there is no aliens bust some try to make the people aware that there is an alien invasion into our planet earth. The two stories have a mere idea there are aliens in the world, and they are friendly. However, in the text ‘Reunion” aliens in the book tend to be more segregated stating that they will only treat humankind. “Perhaps it has run its course, people of the earth, you can rejoin the society of the universe without shame, without embarrassment. If any of you are still white, we can cure you”, this is a sign that the aliens were interested in the color of the skin for those people who needed medication. Both stories are based on the invasion of aliens into the human generation. In Nancy’s work, she has characters who are aliens and others referred to as flake. People are yet to believe that existence of the aliens, science fiction tries to portray the aliens as people from another universe or planet that invade the earth for resources or just unite with human as Arthur puts it in the “Reunion.”

Issues of racism have been debated throughout history. The two stories try to bring out the theme of the segregation, discrimination, and racial identity. To begin with the text by Nancy Kess, “Out of All of them Bright Stars”, A bald blue alien called John has experienced some weird reception at Charlie’s Diner, some are terrified and annoyed, and a few are curious. The treat John differently. However, John is portrayed as a kind caring and has no intentions of harming any person around him. He was disappointed when he was not given an opportunity to prove himself before being fetched by the government officials. Only one character, Sally in able to accept and treat John with respect. This scene is symbolic in the real world context, Aliens like John are seemingly addressed in a way that symbolizes modern day racism in America. People are outraged and disrespectful and for prejudices based upon color. Charlie later changes the thoughts Sally had about John causing her to end up segregating and be like Charlie on views of John.

To add on to the text, “Reunion,” the concept of racial discrimination is introduced at the end of the short story. Clarke clearly states that the ‘plague’ was the changing dark skin into white, we can have a clear view regarding earth populace. According to the colonists in the text, the black skin starts to turn white with the changes in climate “As the climate changed, so did the Colonists”, this caused hate and jealousy which later triggered conflict and savagery among the remaining colonists in the area.  Clarke openly specifies the discrimination in color in this text, that the colonist had the conflict that led to savagery and hatred against each other, this is a sign of prejudices and discrimination.

Exploration of the universe has been a trending issue in the world of science and technology. Unlike the Nancy Kress work, Arthur tries to bring the aspects of world and universe exploration in his text. A human being will always want to explore where they inhabit and further understand the surroundings that they come into contact with the environment. Arthur Clarke brings forward this idea in the text. He ties the concept of the existence of supernatural beings who are apparently filling up the Earth. The idea is typically futuristic and forms a firm basis for science fiction. He presents humankind could not have simply appeared on Earth; they must have been a product of a more intelligent being. For years’ human beings still don’t believe in the existence of such creatures as aliens. Science fiction, however, tries to cultivate this thought to the mind of the reader that aliens do exist. Reports from NASA, however, suggest otherwise. Authors in both books go deep to try and make the readers know that foreigners are not up for destructions abut they are here to save humanity and save the Earth from the current problems it faces.

As human beings, we should know the significance of people around us. Nancy Kress’ work solely describes the importance of the kindness of an individual. Towards the end of the story, Sally mentions how she does not believe if the aliens will destroy the earth bust she reflects on herself and concludes that it does not matter. Sally later changes her mind leading to her not realizing the significance that just one person can have. She is the only human that interacts with John. John explains the importance of Sally in his experience; he demonstrates appreciation. It displays that aliens have a significant similarity with the human beings which magnifies the ridiculousness of being judgmental to someone regardless of the character. We should appreciate each other’s contribution in our lives. Arthur’s text clearly portrays no incidences of kindness; it only shows how the difference in colors are raging upon each other creating prejudices and judgmental approaches to each other. Offering services to those who are still white.

Colonization is another aspect that “Reunion’ brings up, In the text, the story starts with earthmen receiving the message from the space that a ship approaches at near speed of light, and it will be on earth in few hours. The aliens claim that they colonized the Earth earlier, and they were just coming back for a reunion. However, they still have the intentions of colonizing the earth. In Nancy Kress Story, she does show any cases of colonization. She only depicts how the blue alien is mistreated and taken in by the government men into isolation. Arthur, in his book, is a typical book predicting the future of diseases that would disfigure humanity. It starts with the alien report, claiming that they were the early inhabitants of the earth, and they go further to illustrate that earth was a tropical region with no winters and harsh diseases. They are sending a message of hope that humanity is being ravished by the diseases and the hatred among them. As carriers of the message of hope, the aliens go ahead claiming that they are the lost cousins from the primal earth days. They admit they did not save the endangered species. Therefore, they are back to save what is left of humanity.

In Kress’ work, she addresses the role of government to the isolated individuals in the society. The government, a body in charge of making every citizen feel free in the country, has tried to show how they can secure the deprived in the society by taking them into consideration. In the text, John the blue alien is taken by the government men not to be tortured but to be protected from the prejudice he receives from the looks of Charlie, the Diner owner. John as an alien reveals a good character about the behavior of individuals who integrate into a new society. John understands humans like Sally.

The two texts, bring out issues that the world as whole faces issue of racism, discrimination, prejudices, and neo-colonialism are still felt in some part of the world. Therefore, humanity should be able to tackle these problems with considerations. Science fiction has also played a significant role in addressing the current challenges in the world. These two science fictional texts are a weapon to address the above issues differently and are comparative to each other. Nancy Kress has addressed that aliens can have human characteristics we should not discriminate their actions. Arthur brings out the idea of exploration that people need to accept that we came from an intelligent being. Also, Arthur tries to outline the clashes that surround racism and conflicts in the world. Both authors are creative in their works of science fiction since they bring out the role of science fiction in advising the humankind, they bring out the ideas of aliens making their works a fancy to read and exploration of space and technology.