Science Fiction
Science fiction narratives provide a glimpse of the fantasies that innovations and dynamics in science offer. As such, the use of novum in many science fiction narratives continues to motivate the works of different authors. Novums have a unique way of expressing imaginary ideas into reality, allowing for the inclusion of extreme events that would leave readers in suspense. For instance, “The Time Machine” by H. G. Wells concentrates on a narrative explaining the life of a time traveler who had made himself a time-travelling machine (Wells 51). Considering the period when the book was authored, Wells offers an outstanding novum of the possibilities of time-travel. Similarly, another narrative by Ted Chiang, “The Tower of Babylon”, expressed a story of Hillalum, a coal miner, who experienced an imaginary encounter with the construction of a tower that linked the earth and the heavens (Chiang 10). Through the use of novums, Wells and Chiang create great science fiction narrations in “The Time Machine” and “The Tower of Babylon”, which are both thrilling and filled with technological impossibilities.
The novums in “The Time Machine” and “The Tower of Babylon” explain unimaginable encounters that probably never existed. “The Time Machine” was written in 1895, a time when technology was still taking its baby steps. “The Tower of Babylon” reflected a different biblical narrative although the characters were different. Both stories had a similarity of incorporating extreme events that could never happen in a real world.
The time traveler had had several encounters with indescribable creatures on his trip to different times. At one time he flew back to 802701 AD and saw small humanoid creatures (Wells 53). Despite their kindness, the time traveler nearly regretted his visit since his time travel machine got lost. The experience in the land of misery meant that he was forced to fight with Morlocks; ape-like creatures that were harmful to the Eloi people. The story takes a twist as the narrator tries to show the readers on the possible fiction that could not even exist. Wells explains how the time-traveler tries to explain his encounters to his friends in disbelief.
Contrarily, Chiang takes a twist in capturing the readers’ attention by explaining events in a comical way. The story started in a clear demonstration at the start of the journey to the top of the tower. The experience in the journey was fun and enticing and every reader expected a tantalizing end with a clear indication whether they managed to touch the heaven or they had failed. However, the story fails to have a clear explanation of how Hillalum ended up in the earth’s surface (Chiang 12). The story tries to explain a biblical view of what happened at the construction of the tower of Babel. Chiang included different characters that would help in developing the story in an enticing way. As such, the story appeared real through the experience of Hillalum despite not having an ending interpretation.
Both narratives have a common goal of expressing a fictitious imagery where the readers are allowed to enjoy the reading narrated based on the author’s view. Furthermore, both stories prove the existence of novum scriptures that try to explain a specific incidence with the incorporation of unthinkable experiences. The time traveler visited many places at different times seen things that he could not even explain or things that he thought were dreams (Wells 60). Similarly, Hillalum took four months to climb at the top of the tower as he saw the lives of the people on top of the tower having different lives (Chiang 15). Thus, the characters in both narratives are seen to experience a different life from the normal lives their shared as a result of the novums incorporated in each fiction.
Conclusively, both stories gyrate around the notion of having extreme experiences that could make the readers grasp their jaws in disbelief. The time traveler narrated the experiences he had in the wilderness and other parts of the world without his family and neighbors. The experience had taught him that the world existed beyond everyone’s expectation and beyond the human nature. Similarly, Hillalum had never climbed such a high point in his life, let alone touching the sky. Therefore, both narratives have a similar structure where the characters felt like God was punishing them for their urge to explore the universe beyond their abilites. Hillalum felt that the idea of constructing a tower to reach God was a mistake and the people of Babylon would pay for their mistakes. After learning of the actual truth, Hillalum wished to return to his people and warn them about the ongoing process of the tower expansion. Similarly, the time-traveler encountered several troubles in his trip to different timelines and thought of how God was thinking about him. Therefore, both stories provide detailed novums that try to explain the life beyond the life of a normal human being.
Works Cited
Wells, Henry. G. The Time Machine. Prestwick House Inc,1895. Print.
Chiang, Ted. Tower of Babylon. Vintage; Reissue edition, 1990. Print.
