The purpose of this paper is to provide an explanation and analysis of the causal loop in Robert Heinlein’s “-All You Zombies-“. The loop and supporting storyline will be examined in terms of the framework that D.H. Mellor laid out in his piece “Real Time”; I will first describe the timeline of the main character and how it might be considered valid, then apply this timeline to a proof showing that it in fact isn’t valid and causal loops are impossible. Finally, I will critically evaluate the proof for any irregularities. I hold that the timeline of “-All You Zombies-“ is valid, and thus causal loops is possible; this is what I will approach later in the paper. For the sake of brevity and avoiding confusion: I will refer to the main character (The Unmarried Mother) as “TUM” and with female pronouns, the occurrence of TUM stealing the baby and giving it to the orphanage as “Event X”, and the period of time where TUM grew up in the orphanage as “Event Y”. …show more content…
We will consider Event X and Event Y in the examination of the story, but the concepts apply to all parts of the causal loop in TUM’s timeline. To prove that this timeline is impossible, it must first be assumed that it is possible. That series of assumptions could follow this train of
In “The Cold Equations”, a short story by Tom Godwin, Godwin did some interesting things with time as he described the unfortunate story of a girl who stowed away illegally on a small spacecraft. The girl, Marilyn, did not know the consequence would be her own death. Unquestionably, in “The Cold Equations,” Tom Godwin manipulated time in order to influence the pace of the plot, because the manipulation and presence of time and deadlines creates suspense, inspires increased interest, and purposefully instills a sense of impending doom.
“Zombies however, never stop, so danger persists past the initial past the initial
Baby narrates her story through her naïve, innocent child voice. She serves as a filter for all the events happening in her life, what the narrator does not know or does not comprehend cannot be explained to the readers. However, readers have reason not to trust what she is telling them because of her unreliability. Throughout the beginning of the novel we see Baby’s harsh exposure to drugs and hurt. Jules raised her in an unstable environment because of his constant drug abuse. However, the narrator uses flowery language to downplay the cruel reality of her Montreal street life. “… for a kid, I knew a lot of things about what it felt like to use heroin” (10). We immediately see as we continue reading that Baby thinks the way she has been living her life is completely normal, however, we as readers understand that her life is in fact worse then she narrates. Baby knows about the impermanent nature of her domestic security, however, she repeatedly attempts to create a sense of home each time her and Jules move to another apartm...
Working as a teacher serving at-risk four-year-old children, approximately six of her eighteen students lived in foster care. The environment introduced Kathy to the impact of domestic violence, drugs, and family instability on a developing child. Her family lineage had a history of social service and she found herself concerned with the wellbeing of one little girl. Angelica, a foster child in Kathy’s class soon to be displaced again was born the daughter of a drug addict. She had been labeled a troublemaker, yet the Harrisons took the thirty-hour training for foster and adoptive care and brought her home to adopt. Within six months, the family would also adopted Angie’s sister Neddy. This is when the Harrison family dynamic drastically changes and Kathy begins a journey with over a hundred foster children passing through her home seeking refuge.
Innocent: Confessions of a welfare mother is a memoir that defies the stigma that comes along with welfare and poverty. It outlines the trials and tribulations of a single Caucasian mother and her ability to maintain her family. Forced to make pivotal decisions and keep the best interest of her family in mind, she must take welfare handouts to get through her financial struggles. This memoir is a way to highlight the obstacles it takes to keep a stable household and get by at the worst times in a single mothers life. At a time of racism and despair, this single mother was able to find a place to call home and give her family a comfortable life.
The family lives in a public housing subsidy tenement and received public assistance from the State. Her first child, who she called "Mongo", because she was born with a disease called Down syndrome lived with her grandmother, but on days the social worker would visit the grandmother would bring the child by to visit. Though the grandmother was very much aware of the abuse that was taking place in the home, she turned a blind eye. I personally think she was one of the contributor to the dysfunction, though it never show her hurt or abusing precious the fact that she pretend like everything was okay and would help the mother lie to the social worker, so she could continue to receive benefits from the state for her daughter and granddaughter show how e...
The mother is a selfish and stubborn woman. Raised a certain way and never falters from it. She neglects help, oppresses education and persuades people to be what she wants or she will cut them out of her life completely. Her own morals out-weight every other family member’s wants and choices. Her influence and discipline brought every member of the family’s future to serious-danger to care to her wants. She is everything a good mother isn’t and is blind with her own morals. Her stubbornness towards change and education caused the families state of desperation. The realization shown through the story is the family would be better off without a mother to anchor them down.
In this short story, Dr. Yu Tsen, a Chinese spy for the German army, realizes that he is soon to be murdered by a Captain Madden and that he must pass on information of paramount importance to “the Chief” before his death. Reflecting upon his impending doom, Tsen remarks that “everything happens to a man precisely, precisely now. Centuries of centuries and only in the present do things happen; countless men in the air, on the face of the earth and the sea, and all that really is happening is happening to me…” (The Garden of the Forking Paths, 40). This immediately smacks of Borges theories on time, namely his point that time is like an ever-rotating sphere, which appears in “A New Refutation of Time.” Essentially, all the actions that have occurred and will occur take place in what is perceived as the present, and this is the moment our protagonist chooses to live
In the article, “A Zombie Manifesto: The Nonhuman Condition in the Era of Advanced Capitalism” by Sarah Juliet Lauro and Karen Embry, the authors’ evaluate the idea of the zombie and its connection to capitalism and post-humanism. According to the authors, the zombie represents much more than just a fear, it represents a loss of oneself to many different things, primarily to a capitalist society. The authors have come to the conclusion that humans have a fear of what they cannot control, and that is why the zombie is so big in entertainment. We see zombies everywhere, in movies, books, tv shows, fundraisers, marathons, and so much more. They have been around for decades, but recently they have become very popular. The authors believe this is
Korb, Rena. "Critical Essay on 'Désirée's Baby'." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Jennifer Smith. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Web. 01 Mar. 2014.
Herbert George (H.G.) Wells’ 1895 scientific romance novella, The Time Machine, is considered to be one of the forerunners of the science fiction genre. Whilst the story was not the first to explore the concept of time travel, it is quite significant for its pseudoscientific account of how time travel could perhaps occur, this interpretation has shown to be quite influential to numerous productions in both media and literature. Wells explores a number of themes throughout this novella, however there are three prominent ones, the relativity of time, social Darwinism and evolution, and capitalism. These themes explore concepts which are relevant to society and creates connections with the intended 19th century audience.
The Walking Dead is an American zombie apocalypse horror drama television series developed by film director Frank Darabont. It is based on the comic book series and it is premiered on October 31, 2010, on the cable television channel AMC in the United States of America. It premiered internationally during the first week of Novermber 2010 on Fox International Channels. Based on its success, AMC renewed the series for a 5th season. By this huge popularity, theses series have been well received and has been nominated in many high quality awards, including the ‘Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series’, ‘American Film Institute Awards’, ‘Primetime Emmy Awards’, and the ‘Writers Guild of American Award’.
The most common fate of orphaned children was to be "adopted" by another family. This allowed for the orphans to remain a part of a fami...
This slide describes how H.G. Wells’ novel The Time Machine became the most prominent story about time travel. I think this is important because as the most vital time travel story, it created many of the time travel elements we know today. The questions of what will happen if we meet ourselves in the past and the “butterfly effect” could only be answered through the use of a fiction story. However, these questions may become a reality someday and it is best to think about them before the advent of time travel brings about the end of the world as we know
To begin with this paper, I want to first define time travel, and this will be done using a modification of David Lewis’ definition. In his definition Lewis defines time travel as a discrepancy between the time traveler’s personal time compared