Science Fiction Text Analysis a Science Fiction Essay

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There is little doubt that Adam Marek's "Without a Shell" is a story that belongs to the category of literature known as science fiction. The tale adheres to many conventions of this particular genre. One of the chief elements of many science fiction tales is the fact that they take place in the future. This story certainly takes place in the future, as denoted by the fact that it is called "futuristic" by Dr. Vino Dhanak. Moreover, the very nature of the plot of this tale revolves about scientific processes -- which is another hallmark of science fiction stories. The primary basis for this tale is that in the future, there are children who are wearing protective suits (designed for the military) that allow them to heal wounds at an exceedingly rapid rate. These suits utilize the very real element of nanoparticles, which, Dhanak reveals, can give greater protection for body armor. Finally, it is worth noting that one of the primary characteristics of science fiction is that it helps readers contextualize and "view" the future in a way that helps to take away some of the anxiety about new, foreign processes (such as protective body armor due to repeated terrorist attacks). Marek's tale certainly does this in a way that past science fiction literature has helped to induce other futuristic processes that are readily used today. Additionally, Marek's tale makes use of a distinctive thought experiment and storyworld that are at variance with the notion of our contemporary world, and render this work one as one of science fiction.

The title of Marek's tale refers to the fact that during the climax of this story, the protagonist, Bucky, discards his protective suit that allows for bodily regeneration and expedient healing. The fact that he does so while engaging in an act of violent, physical contact with a young girl (Gayle) who serves as both his chief antagonist and romantic interest makes this maneuver all the more dramatic.Essentially, Bucky is driven to remove his "shell" due to the fact that with it on, he has a repeated series of violent, physical encounters with Gayle in which the latter unequivocally bests him. However, Bucky really has romantic feelings for Gayle, and she harbors the same sentiments for him. They were romantically involved with one another until Bucky inadvertently tackled Gayle roughly during a school related physical education game -- knocking her unconscious and angering her. Bucky is one of the few characters in this story renowned for his intelligence. By removing his shell and engaging in physical contact with Gayle he proves deserving of this description, as she is forced to not injure him in an ultimate demonstration of the sort of romantic feelings she has for him. By thinking and removing his protective garment or shell, Bucky is able to win his girl back which explains the title of this story.

The thought experiment proposed in this experiment is: what if there was a protective, regenerative body armor that people could wear in which they could endure physical punishment and ultimately not suffer for it? How would that change human nature and life in general? This fact is explained to the reader fairly readily, as Marek begins his tale with the children and their teacher thoroughly bombed at school. However, because they all were wearing their protective garments, they were able to reassemble their severed body parts and go on with class as normal. In this way, Marek's thought experiment allows people to not have as much future anxiety about terrorism, or at least not allow the characters in the story to have such anxiety. This thought experiment also allows Bucky's mother to inflict….....