Utopia & Apocalypse

Issue two of Big Jelly centers around the cultural expressions of social extremes: order and chaos. It looks at the drive toward perfection and order in utopia and shows what consequences can come as a result of this pursuit. In many ways, these articles concern themselves with technology’s influence on humanity — it is really a force for improvement and freedom, or it is making a world of mindless zombies?

Like Issue 1, these selections were taken from a special topics humanities course, taught by Dr. Lucas in the fall of 2011. Winners were chosen in each course category: Utopia, Apocalypse, and the “Afterlife.”

Articles

Utopia

Relinquishing Control in “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” and “The Grand Inquisitor”

In this first essay, Brandi Oates considers time and religion as structuring ideas. They have always served as means by which humanity satisfies its preoccupation with order and purpose. However, in Ellison’s “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” and Dostoyevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor,” humanity’s obsession with structure has forced it to become subservient to the elements that were intended for its own advancement. Read the article.

Apocalypse

The Architecture of Destruction in “The Terminal Beach” and “The Machine Stops”

Shanna Dixon argues that J.G. Ballard’s “The Terminal Beach” and E.M Forster’s “The Machine Stops” illustrate attempts at reconciling inner-space and outer-space and maintain that science and technology will ultimately lead to humanity’s non-existence. Read the article.

The “Afterlife”

Who Forgives God?

In this article, Kevin Bryant asks — echoing the protagonist in The Rapture — “who forgives God?” If faith was taken out of the equation and all an individual would have to do is submit to God’s will to be saved, why would she turn down paradise? Michael Tolkin’s 1991 film, The Rapture, asks this question, but there are no easy answers. Read the article.