Publication History
Submitted: September 03, 2023
Accepted: September 20, 2023
Published: October 01, 2023
Identification
D-0150
Citation
Md Rizwan & Md Manir Ahmod (2023). Martin Amis’s Einstein’s Monsters and its exhibit the philosophical concept of Dystopia or Antiutopia. Dinkum Journal of Social Innovations, 2(10):566-575.
Copyright
© 2023 DJSI. All rights reserved
566-575
Martin Amis’s Einstein’s Monsters and its exhibit the philosophical concept of Dystopia or AntiutopiaOriginal Article
Md Rizwan 1*, Md Manir Ahmod 2
- International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh; drrizwan1980@gmail.com
- International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh; mdahmod320@yahoo.com
* Correspondence: drrizwan1980@gmail.com
Abstract: This investigation makes use of the book Einstein’s Monsters by Martin Amis as a case study to illustrate the philosophical concept of either dystopia or antiutopia according to the findings of the investigation. In light of the abundant evidence that is presented in the form of short stories and an essay that are compiled together in Einstein’s Monsters, the researcher arrives at the conclusion that utopia cannot be maintained by Europeans for a variety of reasons. These reasons include the proliferation of nuclear nukes, the escalation of science and technology, and a great deal of other reasons. It is as a consequence of this that the researcher has presented the concept that Krishan Kumar and M. Keith Booker have developed. The concept of an antiutopian society is presented as a theoretical concept in the book Utopia and Anti-Utopia in Modern Times, which was written by Krishan Kumar. In the midst of all of this, M. Keith Booker will come up with the concept of a “cacotopia.” “Bujak and the Strong Force,” “Insight at Flame Lake,” “The Time Disease,” and “The Little Puppy That Could” and “The Immortals” are the five short stories that are the primary focus of this research paper. The philosophical concept of dystopia is illustrated in each of these tales through the depiction of a post-nuclear apocalyptic vision.
Keywords: Dystopia, Utopia, Einstein’s Monsters, Antiutopia
- INTRODUCTION
Albert Einstein, the protagonist of the book, is the subject of the investigation that is being conducted. The researcher draws inspiration from Krishan Kumar’s book “Utopia and Antiutopia in Modern Times” in order to investigate how contemporary interpretations of utopia and anti-utopia participate in discussions regarding the path that modern society will take in the future, particularly with regard to the role that science will play in society. “Utopia and Anti-utopia in Modern Times” is the title of the book. Kumar feels more comfortable using the term anti-utopia than the term dystopia when referring to the future. The short stories written by Martin Amis, which depict dystopian futures, can be interpreted in two ways: either as a defence of scientific optimism or as a critique of their use. In addition to this, Amis is expressing his disapproval of anthropocentrism and advocating for a harmony that is founded on being biocentric. Furthermore, Einstein’s Monsters addresses significant contemporary traumas and depicts the world after the nuclear holocaust. This is in addition to the fact that it deals with the past. Martin Amis’s novel Einstein’s Monsters, published in 1987, depicts a dystopian world that was brought about by nuclear warfare during the Second World War (1939-1945) and the cold war. This collection contains a collection of five short stories that are collected together. A nuclear holocaust is the result of nuclear warfare, which, in addition to eradicating all of humanity, is the problem that we are currently dealing with. “Bujak and the Strong Force or God’s Dice,” “Insight at Flame Lake,” “The Time Disease,” and “The Little Puppy That Could,” and “The Immortals,” are the titles of the collection of five short stories that Amis has written. In these stories, he tells a number of anecdotes that are associated with nuclear conflict. Following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first narrative of “Bujak and the Strong Force or God’s Dice” depicts the state of the people living in those two cities after they have been hit by the nuclear bomb. In general, this story is told from the point of view of Bujak, a Polish man whose family was completely destroyed by the nuclear conflict at Katyn. His father and two brothers were among those who perished within the conflict. In the same vein, the second story, which is titled “Insight at Flame Lake,” follows a character named Dan whose father worked in the delivery of nuclear weapons. On one occasion, Dan’s father took his own life. The story is similar to the first story. As an immediate and direct result of this, Dan is afflicted with a condition that is solely referred to as schizophrenia. Uncle Ned is Dan’s host for the evening. Dan is staying with him. Within the third narrative, which is titled “The Time Disease,” the narrator’s wife is afflicted with a time disease that has the ability to reverse the ageing process. In a strange post-apocalyptic world, the only thing that people want to do is grow older, become sicker, and eventually pass away. This is something that should be avoided. In a similar manner, the fourth story, titled “The Little Puppy That Could,” takes its premise from a children’s fable in which a giant mutated dog consumes one human being every week. The dog is responsible for the destruction of society. This fable is known by its title, “The Little Puppy That Could.” The final story, which is titled “The Immortals,” is told from the first-person perspective of the narrator. In this story, the narrator describes the end of the world and how the people who were left on earth travelled to New Zealand in order to die from the effects of radiation exposure. The post-apocalyptic future is depicted in each of these stories as a result of the widespread availability of nuclear technology. In the lengthy introductory essay titled “Thinkability,” which was written by Martin Amis, it is stated that “Nuclear weapons can kill a human being a dozen times over in dozen different ways: and, before death– like certain spiders, like the headlights of cars — they seem to paralyse” (EM 8). Based on this information, it can be deduced that nuclear weapons possess the capability to eradicate the entire human race a dozen times through a dozen different means. Amis continues by stating, “Einstein’s Monsters is a reference to nuclear weapons, but it is also a reference to ourselves.””We are monsters created by Einstein; we are not fully human, at least not right now” (EM number six). The lines in question give the impression that Einstein’s Monsters are not only referring to nuclear weapons but also to human beings. Specifically, this is due to the fact that people develop nuclear weapons with the intention of destroying one another, and nuclear weapons are used to accomplish this goal. In the world that Amis creates, both human beings and monsters are simultaneously armed with nuclear weapons, which causes both of them to transform into nuclear beings. Nuclear weapons are not only detrimental to the environment, but they also instill a sense of dread in the minds of people in every location where they are deployed. The entirety of humanity is ensnared and held captive in a prison that is not visible to the naked eye. The stories in Einstein’s Monsters provide evidence that the society that is depicted in the book is clearly on the verge of apocalyptic disintegration. It is solely for the purpose of serving as an alternative to the utilisation of natural energy that nuclear energy is being developed. This prevents the depletion of natural sources and the energy that they provide, which in turn helps the ecosystem to function normally. It is becoming increasingly common for technological advancements to result in the development of inventions that enhance the quality of life of humans and the overall standard of living. During the Second World War, the United States of America, on the other hand, was responsible for the development of nuclear weapons and the use of their air force to deliver these weapons to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now, the real issue that needs to be addressed is whether or not nuclear energy and weapons are beneficial to humankind or whether or not they are simply contributing to the creation of an environment that is similar to that of a post-apocalyptic world.
- LITERATURE REVIEW
The story “The Little Puppy That Could” centres on a mutated dog and an anti-utopian world. In “Insight at Flame Lake,” Dan, the main character, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, a strange illness. In “The Time Disease” apocalypse, the time disease stops the body’s natural ageing process, affecting the narrator’s wife. According to “The Immortals,” radiation poisoning from the ozone layer’s depletion causes the world’s end. The finale, “Bujak and the Strong Force,” depicts Bujak’s grief over his father and brothers’ Katyn deaths. Due to science’s optimism, the world is becoming dystopian. Five short stories depict a post-apocalyptic world with strange deaths. This is evident. Einstein’s Monsters shows that nuclear weapons have irreparably damaged our planet and harmed humans physically and psychologically. England invented utopia and dystopia, and Martin Amis is a great English experimentalist writer. Amis is prolific in writing about the Second World War’s destruction of Earth. His novels, essays, and short stories are antiutopian. He wrote Dead Babies (1975), London Fields (1989), Time’s Arrow: Or the Nature of the Offence (1991), Two Stories (1994), God’s Dice (1995), and more. Therefore, he calls Sheriff while trying to control a bloody war. In Einstein’s Monsters, catastrophic vision is evident throughout. As an Englishman, he shows England’s massive destruction. His philosophy of dystopia resembles Krishan Kumar’s Utopia and Anti-utopia in Modern Times. Five of Amis’s short stories explore dystopia, where the Second World War’s effects are vividly demonstrated. Reformists Krishan Kumar and Martin Amis share a dystopian worldview that complements each other. Because people in the ‘Kalyuga’ have lost their moral compass, Krishan Kumar believes dystopia is an ongoing process that causes the cold war in various forms. In his book Utopia and anti-utopia in modern times, the author claims: “Utopia and anti-utopia are antithetical but yet interdependent. They are contrast concepts, which derive their meaning and significance from their contrast. The relationship, on the other hand, is neither symmetrical nor equal. “(Kumar 1987, page 100). In The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature, M. Keith Booker states that “Indeed, much of the history of recent utopian thought can be read as a gradual shift from utopian to dystopian emphases, while utopian thought itself has come more and more to be seen as escapist or even regressive.” This supports Krishan Kumar’s theory.” (See 1987, page 32). According to See (1987, page 34), “By doing that, Mr. Amis has created stories that please at least as much as they horrify” Because Amis maintains the myth of Perseus and Andromeda in “The Little Puppy That Could,” she intends to imply that Amis’s stories were written with the intention of both pleasing and horrifying the reader. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that nuclear warfare has negative effects not only on the entire world but also on every living creature. At the same time, Avid Lipsky wrote in National Review that “Amis’s Einstein’s Monsters has metamorphosed instead into a kind of anti-nuclear polemicist” (Lipsky 1987, p.1). It is his intention to argue that the collection of short stories titled Einstein’s Monsters by Martin Amis is anti-nuclear in nature. When nuclear weapons become real to you, he tells us, hardly an hour passes without some throb or flash, some heavy pulse of imagined super-catastrophe. The hydrogen bomb has claimed its first English target, and it is the career of Martin Amis” (Lipsky 1987, p.1). Lipsky further urges, “When nuclear weapons become real to you, hardly an hour passes without some throb or flash, some heavy pulse of imagined super-catastrophe.” When nuclear weapons become real for humanity, we will be paralysed by fear. Bruce Cook writes in The Washington Post, “It’s the Bomb that Makes Everyone So Crazy Today, then in the post-holocaust world of “The Time Disease,” the bombs have made everyone a whole lot crazier” (Cook 1987, p.11). This is from Cook’s novel “The Time Disease.” In the post-holocaust world, everyone is insane from fear of the nuclear bomb. Similar to the short story “Time Disease,” the narrator’s wife reverses ageing, which is undesirable in the postholocaust world. Cook claims: “What the earth was like before man came along, and what man did to mess it up.” “What was the matter?” “Was it a little too pleasant for you, or was there something else? Holy Christ, you were only in this place for a little over ten minutes. And take a look at the results of your actions” (Cook 87, p.13). In a review published by Penn State University Press, John P. Clark exclaimed the following about Einstein’s Monsters: “This isn’t the first time he’s blended fiction and non-fiction on an apocalyptic theme. The 1980s were a decade filled with a widespread cultural fear of nuclear power. Our radios blasted out popular music like Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Two Tribes” and Nena’s “99 Red Balloons,” and nuclear horror movies like the BBC’s ghastly Threads scared the living daylights out of us. During this time, in the world of literature, the feeling of impending doom was best summed up by Amis’s disturbing and brilliant book Einstein’s Monsters. (Clark 1998, page 9) At the same time, a reviewer for Einstein’s Monsters named Matthew Selwyn wrote in The Irish Times that “the unprecedented scale and ferocity of this reality is almost impossible to conceptualize in fiction,” but that “Amis’s strange and halting stories grope for some form of expression which begins to ‘deal’ with the nuclear question” (Selwen 2011, p.2). Amis conceptualizes the nuclear question and theme in both fictional and non-fictional stories in a way that lends itself well to artistic expression. This is what the author intends to convey. In addition, Selwyn asserts that “From monstrous dogs to schizophrenic teens, a philosophical strong man to an omniscient spectator that pays witness to our destruction, this is a violent, unusual response to the overwhelming anxiety of Amis’s time” (Selwen 2011, p.2). This is a violent, unusual response to the overwhelming anxiety of Amis’s time. A monstrous dog, such as in “The Little Puppy Could,” a schizophrenic teen, such as in “Insight at Flame Lake,” a philosophical strong man, such as in “Bujak and the Strong Force or God’s Dice,” and an omniscient spectator, such as in “The Immortals,” which pay witness to our apocalyptic events are all examples of characters that Selwyn intends to clarify throughout all five stories. In a similar vein, Selwyn contends that “In our age of irony, the greatest irony is that of Einsteinian knowledge: both the twentieth century’s biggest leap forward in the understanding of the cosmos and the biggest threat to our continuing existence” (Selwen 2011, page 2). To a similar effect, Matthew Selwyn further asserts, “The stories are stylistically so different, some a form of realism, others faintly fantastical or dystopia, and one is even a retelling of the Greek myth of Perseus and Andromeda that it can be hard to judge them as a whole” (Selwen 2011, p.4). This makes it difficult to evaluate the collection as a whole. It is implied that Matthew researches Amis’s Einstein’s Monsters, in which he asserts that Amis presents the stories in such an artistic and distinctive manner, where there is a blend of fiction and non-fiction. In particular, Selwyn examines the tale of “The Little Puppy That Could,” which makes a reference to the story of Perseus and Andromeda from Greek mythology. At long last, Selwyn investigates “… which nuclear weapons are currently in existence, in which one is always on the verge of a global holocaust” (Selwen 2011, page 4). This intriguing line implies that as long as nuclear weapons continue to exist, the world will remain on the precipice of a nuclear holocaust until such time as they are eliminated. In the same vein, Tom Craig wrote a review of Einstein’s Monsters for the British Council Literature in which he stated, “Einstein’s Monsters collecting five short stories vividly portray nuclear catastrophe and apocalypse” (Craig 1998, page 1). In a similar vein, Victory Crayne asserts that “His short–story collection Einstein’s Monsters (1987) finds stupidity and horror in a world filled with nuclear weapons” (Crayne 2013, p.26). In addition, Ignoring the Apocalypse to Prevent Environmental Catastrophe, which is the title of a book written by David Howard Davis, The author of Goes Astray makes it abundantly clear that nations are developing nuclear weapons in an effort to secure their nations, despite the fact that nuclear weapons cannot ultimately provide national security. According to Davis (2007), “the destruction caused by nuclear is international” (page 3). In his book Utopia/Dystopia Condition of Historical Possibilities, Michael D. Gordin writes that a dystopia is nothing more than a utopia that has been corrupted. In addition, they claim that dystopias depict actual societies in order to warn the people living in those societies. They write that “Dystopia, in its typical invocation, is a utopia that has gone wrong, or a utopia that functions only for a particular segment of society.” In some ways, despite the fact that they were only invented relatively recently in literature and film, dystopias are similar to the actual societies that historians come across in their research in that they are planned, but not planned particularly well or justly. One need not be a cynic to believe that there is something within the concept of dystopia that would be appealing and useful for historians of all stripes. cited in Gordin (2010), page 1 Amis asserts unequivocally that the dinosaur age is over, that humans are the last living species, but that this cannot continue because of nuclear activities. Amis describes the situation further, saying, “Under the furious and birdless sky, we crackle with cancers and we fizz with synergisms.” “With trepidation, we cast our eyes upon the heaven-filing target of the sun” (EM 126). These lines provide evidence to support the contention that exposure to solar radiation has an impact not only on humans but also on the entire ecological system. There are no more birds in the sky. As a consequence of the depletion of the ozone layer brought on by nuclear smog and other factors, the earth is subjected to an excessive amount of radiation from the sun. In addition to this, he boasts about a person “…who never did anything or went anywhere and is now painfully and noisily dying of solar radiation along with everybody else” (EM 126). It indicates that innocent humans and other creatures, like birds, will also be harmed by the sun’s radiation. As a consequence, the sky will be devoid of birds, and humans will suffer from a variety of skin diseases. In this way, Amis is providing a critique of scientific optimism by describing the pitiful condition of a world that is dystopian. In the early eighteenth century, there was a triumphant rise of science, and as a result, writers such as Jonathan Swift were warning of the potential dangers of overdependence on science and technology. Although the impact of science and technology may be fruitful in the present, the consequences in the future will be disastrous, as demonstrated in Einstein’s Monsters’ “The Little Puppy That Could.” In Martin Amis’s depiction of the aftermath of nuclear testing, a small puppy quickly mutates into a monstrous cannibal dog that is capable of devouring a human being in less than a week. The dog measured eight feet in length and four feet in height, as Martin Amis describes it:In days gone by, the dog would eat pretty much anything as long as he could keep it down, including sharks…The village was his source of sustenance. It appeared that he required the presence of one human being every seven days. He wasn’t particularly greedy, and he discovered that a little bit of humanity could go a long way. There was not a single person in the village who could offer any advice regarding the dog. (EM 95) These lines provide evidence to support the claim that nuclear activities cause mutations not only in human beings but also in the entirety of the ecological system. The dog has undergone a mutation that has turned it into a monstrous cannibal that is eight feet long and four feet tall. The enormous dog devoured anything, just like a shark, which meant that the entire village served as his diet. There is no doubt that the dog consumed one human being per week. The residents of the village were completely at a loss as to what they should do with the dog. Therefore, the villagers were in a precarious situation. Amis makes a witty comparison between nuclear weapons and dogs, since the former have the capacity to consume the lives of millions of people in an instant. Therefore, the people are at a loss regarding what to do with nuclear weapons. The effects of nuclear activities cannot be dismissed as insignificant. According to a survey conducted by the United Nations Organization, people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still experiencing the effects of nuclear radiation, which causes a significant number of children to be born with disabilities. Therefore, nuclear weapons have had an effect on both culture and the way people live their lives, as well as the perspective through which they view the world. In reference to utopia and dystopia, Ruth Levis says the following: “The anti-utopia is formed by utopia and feeds parasitically on it.” It is dependent on the continued existence of utopia in order to continue existing. Utopia is the original concept, while anti-utopia is merely a copy, as though it were always shaded in black. Utopia is the source of the positive content, and anti-utopia is the source of the negative response to the positive content. The material for anti-utopia comes from utopia, and anti-utopia attempts to replicate utopia in a way that promotes the affirmation of utopia. It is the reverse image of utopia, but it is a warped reflection because it was seen in a broken mirror. (Levis 1992, page 100) [footnote] The lines that were discussed earlier make it clear that the meaning behind them is that dystopia is nothing more than an imitation of utopia. As a result, utopia and dystopia are not polar opposites, even though they are antithetical and distinct from one another. Because dystopia functions as a parasite, it is dependent on utopia for its continued existence. Anti-utopian ideas are invariably put forward in response to utopian concepts that put forward positive content. In addition, Carl writes in his book Carl 1989, page 1, that “Dystopia, utopia’s twentieth-century doppelganger, also has different escaping its literary fetters” (emphasis added). This passage lends credence to the notion that Martin Amis entered the world on August 25, 1949, just four days after the Soviet Union carried out the first nuclear test with success. Therefore, he only had four carefree days, but those four days were days that even his juniors never had. Martin Amis claims that he spent the better part of his life in a bubble, and as a result, he is not very knowledgeable about nuclear weapons and deterrence. The defamiliarization technique is investigated by Paul Fussel, who hypothesizes that dystopian fiction uses it. Concerning this topic, he makes the following assertion: “The primary technique of dystopian fiction is defamiliarization: by focusing their critiques of society on spatially or temporally distant settings, dystopian fictions provide fresh perspectives on problematic social and political practices that might otherwise be taken for granted or considered natural and inevitable.” (Fussel 1988, page 19) When compared to the discourses found in other kinds of stories or fiction, those found in Amis’s Einstein’s Monsters stand out as being particularly original and distinctive. According to Amis, “Although we don’t know what to do about nuclear weapons, or how to live with nuclear weapons, we are slowly learning how to write about them” (EM 9). Amis states very plainly that we do not know what to do about nuclear weapons, but that despite this, we are still learning how to live with them and how to write about them. Therefore, the discourses are easy to understand, which allows them to get right to the readers’ feelings. Furthermore, in “The Time Disease” Lou utters: “Others say that time was a result of the first nuclear conflicts (limited theatre, Persia v. Pakistan, Zaire v. Nigeria, and so on, no really big deal or anything: they took the heat and the light, and we took the cold and the dark; it helped fuck the sky, that factor) and more particularly of the saturation TV coverage that followed: all day the screen writhed with flesh, flesh dying or living in a queer state of age.” (EM 72).
- MATERIALS AND METHODS
A qualitative approach is going to be the primary focus of this research. The concept that was developed by Krishan Kumar and M. Keith Booker has been brought into the discussion by the researcher in order to carry out an analysis of the text that has been selected. The book “Utopia and Anti-Utopia in Modern Times,” which was written by Krishan Kumar, is the one that is credited with contributing to the introduction of the theoretical concept of “anti-utopia.” At the same time that this is taking place, M. Keith Booker presents the concept of “cacotopia” in his book titled The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature. Cacotopia is not a celebration of the end of the world; rather, it is a warning to humanity about the massively destructive activities that they engage in, which ultimately lead to an artificial apocalypse. Cacotopia is a warning about the world. One of the most compelling illustrations of how these philosophical concepts can be put into practise is found in the work of Martin Amis titled Einstein’s Monsters. In this piece of research, an attempt is made to analyse the work of Martin Amis titled Einstein’s Monsters by looking at it through the lens of the anti-utopian concept. In this research work, the researcher focuses on how the world is challenged by the dystopian impulses by projecting the five stories in which the untimely deaths of Bujak’s father and brothers, Dan’s father, the killing of innocent people by a mutated dog, and people dying from radiation poisoning demonstrate the pitiful condition of people living in a dystopian world. The stories are presented in the form of a narrative. The dystopian impulses were responsible for those untimely deaths that occurred. In order to provide support for this argument, the researcher has taken the concept of dystopia from Krishan Kumar’s Utopia and Anti-utopia in Modern Times as well as Utopias and the Millennium and M. Keith Booker’s The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature. These works were chosen because they contain some of the most influential examples of dystopia. For instance, a totalitarian or degraded society is an example of the kind of society that is referred to by the literary term “Dystopia.” The term “dystopia” refers to a state or location that is conceivably imagined to be one in which everything is negative or problematic. In point of fact, however, it does not appear to be at all improbable in the present day; rather, it became a reality after the Second World War.
- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Amis’s Einstein’s Monsters states that nuclear weapons “liquefy and bubble like boiling water” in Insight at Flame Lake. This is according to the author’s interpretation. Every day, the sun casts its rays into the lake, giving it the appearance of steel that is boiling (EM 61). Samson, the narrator, describes what he calls “a personal holocaust.” During the days that followed, I was a witness to and experienced the violence that Bujak committed (EM 31). While no one was there to assist him, Samson was a witness to and experienced the violence and suffering that Bujak endured. Most people in today’s world are dealing with personal problems and personal tragedies. “The view that utopian thought, which for nearly five hundred years had fired the European imagination with dreams of a better future, was now bankrupt, can be seen to have been widely held even further back in the century,” says Krishan Kumar (EM 64). This view can be seen as having been widely held even further back in time. Samson, who is portrayed by Amis in the story “Bujak and the Strong Force or God’s Dice,” is quoted as saying, “It seems that everyone loses someone in the big deaths” (EM 34). As a result of the staggering increase in its prevalence, Amis asserts that death has become a widespread problem. The utopian dreams have been shattered; it has failed. Pessimism and a sluggishness towards dystopia are both increased by the deaths of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Krishan Kumar asserts that anti-utopians from the former half of the 20th century view utopia as a poisonous inheritance. He says, “The current anti-utopians also see utopia as a poisonous inheritance.” The burial of the body by the revolutions that took place in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, according to Hans Magnus Enzensberger, ought to be celebrated rather than mourned. There is no need to be concerned that the word “farewell to utopia” will eradicate the concept of dreaming and desire in society. Kumar’s 1993 book, page 71 The ravages of the Industrial Revolution, the utter triumph of technology, and the violent urbanisation of the countryside all contributed to the destruction of the environment. The goal of Vita Fortunati is to put an end to tech that is dystopian. In her role as a woman, she also investigates utopian and dystopian worlds. As far as Martin Amis is concerned, technology and the innovations that it brings about are responsible for widespread destruction. According to Amis, “The enemy is not made of flesh and blood but hiding and ice; to them, nuclear holocausts are meat and drink” (EM 19). This statement is made in the introduction to the manuscript. Because they are composed of non-living matter, nuclear bombs are extremely difficult to destroy. As a result, Amis asserts that the primary adversary is technology that was created by humans. “Insight at Flame Lake,” which is part of Einstein’s Monsters, is another piece written by Martin Amis that aims to convey the same message. Putting on the guise of Dan, Martin Amis tells us that if we want to see the effects of nuclear activity, all we have to do is look up at the sky, where the sun is located 90 million miles away. The temperatures are significantly raised as a result of thermonuclear explosions. According to Vita Fortunati (EM 85), this sub-genre of science fiction became more prevalent after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The primary theme of this sub-genre was the fear that people felt when they were living on the verge of destruction. Amis’s Einstein’s Monsters, McCarthy’s The Road, H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine, and The Time Machine are just a few examples of the proliferation of science fiction that occurred after the Hiroshima attack, according to Fortunati. The novel Einstein’s Monsters was written by Martin Amis in 1987, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fortunati adds, “In H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine (1895) and E.M. Forster’s The Machine Stops (1909), the apocalyptic vision does not serve to celebrate the end of the world, but rather functions as a sort of warning cry that is meant to force humanity to sit up and take notice of its self-destructive practices” (EM 86). As far as she is concerned, the majority of dystopian and apocalyptic fictions are more concerned with cautioning against destructive behaviours than they are with celebrating the end of the world. Amis celebrates the end of the world in Einstein’s Monsters, but he also warns about it in each of the five stories. According to Andromeda, who is a character in “The Little Puppy That Could,” “But the little puppy did not turn.” It was with a howl of terror and triumph that he leapt into the flames, and the dog followed him like a blind missile, heat-seeking, spittle-and-blood weapon (EM 112). By presenting the myth of Perseus and Andromeda, Amis is making it abundantly clear that he is warning about nuclear weapons. This is where Amis makes a witty comparison between a dog and a nuclear weapon. For example, Fortunati states that “these modern writers once again employed the myth of the end of the world, but they were able to enrich it with references to the potential for self-destruction that man had perfected in the meantime” (EM 87). She asserts that contemporary authors are responsible for the creation of the myth of the end of the world, whereas nuclear weapons have caused massive destruction. According to Amis, nuclear power is engaged in the process of “digging its own grave” (EM 20). There is an artificial apocalypse that is created when nuclear weapons are used to dig their own grave. According to Fortunati, the end of civilization is portrayed as something that is unavoidable because of the nature of humans. It is now desired that the apocalypse occur (EM 88). Fortunati asserts that humans are responsible for their demise and are now eagerly sought after. To quote Amis, “The mushroom cloud above. Hiroshima was a stunning sight, despite the fact that it was coloured by a kiloton of human blood” (EM 9). Specifically, he is referring to the fact that the cloud of human blood was so beautiful that people enjoy violating it and falling like Icarus. For the purpose of preventing nuclear war, Bernard Brodie is of the opinion that nuclear deterrence is essential. The instillation of fear through nuclear deterrence means that nuclear war can be avoided. “South and Central America, using intellectual distortion and nuclear blackmail to keep allies, satellites, and peoples in line” is what Kumar defines as “South and Central America” (Kumar 1993, page 196). Kumar does agree with this definition. Deterrence theory, according to Kumar, is the United States’ nuclear blackmail. According to Amis, “Nuclear weapons deter a nuclear holocaust by threatening one, and if things go wrong, you get one” (EM 27). This implies that nuclear weapons are interchangeable. According to Amis, the purpose of nuclear deterrence is to prevent war from breaking out, but if it fails, it would result in the destruction of nuclear weapons. In a nutshell, the collection of short stories titled Einstein’s Monsters, which was compiled by Martin Amis, depicts a dystopian world that serves to caution humanity rather than to celebrate its demise. A new layer of complexity is added to anti-utopianism by the dystopian philosophy developed by Krishan Kumar and M. Keith Booker. There is no hope for the future in the dystopian society depicted in M. Keith Booker’s book, The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature. This dystopian society is characterised by human and political evils that cause suffering. The failure of Bernard Brodie’s deterrence theory can be used to give an explanation for the dystopian world that it has created. The five short stories written by Martin Amis each contain anecdotes that provide a fresh viewpoint on the field of dystopian studies. In the first story, “Bujak and the Strong Force or God’s Dice,” the Second World War takes the lives of Bujak’s father and brothers. Later on in the story, his wife and sister are raped, and two men are lying there, but he does not seek retribution for these acts of violence. Among the other tales is “Insight at Flame Lake,” which tells the story of Dan, a young boy who suffers from schizophrenia and whose father took his own life. Dan had a strong desire to work alongside his father, who supplied nuclear weapons. The third story is titled “The Time Disease,” and it is about the narrator’s wife who suffers from the time disease. This disease reverses the process of ageing, which is undesirable in a dystopian world because people want to age, become sick, and eventually pass away. In the fourth story, “The Little Puppy That Could,” an anti-utopian society is depicted through the use of a children’s fable about a giant mutated dog that consumes one human being every week. The final story, “The Immortals,” is told from the first-person perspective by a narrator who describes the end of time as the final humans in New Zealand succumb to radiation poisoning. Because of nuclear activity, every single story depicts large-scale modern traumas and visions of the post-apocalyptic future.
- CONCLUSIONS
Amis is able to connect monsters with nuclear weapons at the same time as a human being, and as a result, human beings undergo a transformation into nuclear beings. Beginning with the boardroom and continuing all the way down to the bedroom, the atomic age and the cold war had a significant influence on every facet of life in the United States. It ensnares the entirety of humanity in a prison of terror that is not visible to the naked eye. A society that is on the verge of a breakdown that could be described as apocalyptic is the one that is portrayed in Einstein’s Monsters. During the twenty-first century, science and technology play an essential role in the development of a utopian world. On the other hand, technology imposes a dictatorial order on the human race. The apocalypse that is caused by humans could occur at any moment, according to this indication. In this manner, Martin Amis is expressing his unhappiness with the optimistic outlook of the scientific community. His ultimate objective is to advocate for biocentric harmony by moving away from self-egotism. Therefore, the projection of dystopian philosophy that was done by Martin Amis and Krishan Kumar is not for the purpose of celebrating the end of the world; rather, they are warning the world about the impending end of the world. At the same time, they are demonstrating the faces of an anti-utopian world view while simultaneously proclaiming their support for a utopian world.
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Publication History
Submitted: September 03, 2023
Accepted: September 20, 2023
Published: October 01, 2023
Identification
D-0150
Citation
Md Rizwan & Md Manir Ahmod (2023). Martin Amis’s Einstein’s Monsters and its exhibit the philosophical concept of Dystopia or Antiutopia. Dinkum Journal of Social Innovations, 2(10):566-575.
Copyright
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