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Loc, Kevin 68018212

Varela
Writing 39B
5/5/17

Cultural Relativism and Humanity

The ruins of mankind are often dramatized in the recently popular Post-

Apocalyptic genre surge. This genre describes the decimation of the human population

and describes the wasteland left by the wake of the apocalypse. The apocalypse comes

in many forms ranging from a virus outbreak to an alien invasion. With whatever form

the author chooses to end humanity with, the author has a wide variety of techniques

and tropes at their fingertips to use. Dark Dark Were the Tunnels tells the tale of Greel,

an evolved human being who takes refuge in the dark tunnels of planet Earth after a

post-apocalyptic nuclear war. While on a scouting trip, Greel comes across two

archaeologists from the moon and is amazed as well as frightened by their technology.

Although both the archaeologists and Greel are humanoid, the two parties do not think

of each other as human beings. Through the use of vivid imagery and mysterious tone

as well as logos (the appeal to logic), Martin pushes the idea that the line separating

human from subhuman/nonhuman is thin and blurred, and it should not be determined

by the comparison of the technological advancements and the differences between two

cultures. It should instead by analyzed through cultural relativism.

Martin begins the story with the introduction of a dark and gloomy atmosphere

using dark imagery and tone which sets a precedence for the ever depressing post-

apocalyptic theme. Greel was afraid. He lay in the warm, rich darkness beyond where

the tunnel curved... (Martin 87). This sentence sets a literal dark and mysterious

atmosphere and causes the audience to wonder how the main character has started off

in the location. The readers still are not aware of who or what Greel and the abrupt
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introduction of Greel may paint him as a human being stuck in a rough situation.

However, Martin throws this idea into a spiral with the line The tunnel was on fire. He

had never seen fire. But the taletellers had sung of it many times. (Martin 88). This

image of the fire in the tunnel continues the obscurity that is the identity of Greel. It

prompts the possibility that Greel might not be human or he has been sheltered for most

of his life. The introduction of the archaeologists who exhibited full human qualities

further threaten the humanism of Greel. Theyd be trap down here. Theyd adjust.

After a few generations they wont want to come up, said Cliffonetto (Martin 91) .

Cliffonetto, one of the archaeologists, describes the outcome that ended the world and

the possible outcome of the survivors. The line describing the inevitable evolution of the

survivors adds a new layer to the question regarding whether or not Greel is human: are

evolved/mutated human beings still human? The idea of Greel not being human

confuses the target audience of young adults who have been exposed to a usual human

protagonist in the post-apocalyptic genre. The use of vivid imagery and mysterious tone

sets the atmosphere for the post-apocalyptic genre as well as make the readers

question whether or not Greel is human.

Continuing with the post-apocalyptic theme, Martin uses the tropes and cliches of

the post-apocalyptic theme in order the instill the idea that Greel should be considered

human through logos. In the story, Greel is accompanied by his mind brother, Hssing,

who is a giant rat that is mentally attached to Greel (Martin 88). This special a link is

common within Greels culture and is important in the hunter-gatherer style of Greels

people. This draws a connection between the common trope of animal companionship.

In the post-apocalyptic genre, the main human protagonist is often accompanied by an

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animal companion and also develops a sense of dependency on the animal. This is

similar to the lone wanderer and dogmeat in the Fallout game series and Neville and

Sam from I am Legend. Greels dependency on Hssing and compassion for Hssing is

paralleled by the cold and ruthlessness of the characters in the People of Sand and

Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi. You talk to it?... But its not sentient. said Lisa (Bacigalupi

46). This quote from the story shows that characters do not have the same compassion

and dependency on animals as opposed to Greel who loves his companion and even

considers his companion his brother. Greels compassion towards animals and his

companion shows more humanity than Bacigalupis characters who do not consider

animals as anything other than food.

Greels compassion towards Hssing is exemplified in the climax of the story.

There was a roar, a flash. Then a second Got it, said Von der Stadt. A damn rat.

(Martin 98). This vivid image of a gun going off describes the death of Hssing by the

hands of Von. The moments leading up to this even included Von taking aim at Greel

and questioning his humanity. Greel looked different from Von and Cliffonetto which

caused Von to question whether or not Greel was human. Von also only thought of

Hssing as just a rat which is a major cultural difference between Vons moon people

and Greels underground people. This causes revelation of events causes Greel to

strike Von, resulting in the mortal wounding of Von and the instantaneous death of

Greel. This sequence of events is used by Martin to appeal to the audiences sense of

logic. Greels compassion and love towards Hssing logically goes hand and hand with

Greels humanity. The use of logos promotes the idea that although the archaeologists

may not think Greel is human, Greel is human in his culture and environment, which is
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the basis of cultural relativism. This idea of cultural relativism is shared in Boruchoffs

statement that ...barbarians were human and their status should not be changed due to

their disconnect from the rest of the world or their atrocities. (Boruchoff 20). This quote

goes hand and hand with Greels situation. Greel was disconnected from the fire

people but should still be considered human. In the eyes of cultural relativism, Greel

was a human and it showed through his humanity towards animal companions.

Advancing the idea of cultural relativism, the lens of cultural relativism also allows

differences in technologies to be forgotten, only leaving human beings. The search for

technology and advancement of technology is addressed in Heffermans paper in which

she states that human beings work towards technological advancements in order to

outperform the technology owned by the enemy (Hefferman 3). This insight into why

humans attempt to move forward shows a deadly cycle in which technological

advancements is fueled by atrocities seen in the battlefield. It explains why humans

always inherently searching for information and explains why the archaeologists came

back down to Earth in the first place.

Dont worry. Even if we dont find them, nothing will be lost. They

were clearly sub-human. Men once, maybe. But no more. Degenerated.

There was nothing they could have taught us anyway Ciffonetto

(Martin 99)

This harrowing passage is taken near the end of the the story shows the blatant

disregard for the culture of Greels people on the basis that their primitive technology

was not as advanced as the humans on the moon. In this quote, Cliffonetto classifies

Greels people as subhuman because they are degenerated as well as state that
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offered no valuable knowledge. Readers up to this point would deem this statement as

false due to the fact that people living in the tunnels were able to make psychic

connections with the animals in the tunnel. Both the advancement of guns and psychic

connections are valuable and a comparison between the two would not make logical

sense. Martin uses this portion of the story to emphasize the importance to cultural

relativism on the stance of technology. The idea that one society believes it is more

advanced than the other should not mean that any other society is any less human.

This idea is shared in Mohammads paper in which he states that the comparison of

technology as determinants of the value of human beings is detrimental to human

beings in that it dehumanizes one another (Mohammad 7). This is evident in Martins

story when both Greel and the archaeologists dehumanize each other due to their

cultural differences and their technologies. Greel peered into the thoughts of the

archaeologists (which can be considered a technological advancement) and concluded

that they were mad men and were worthless because they were not able to reciprocate

the ability. The archaeologists evaluated Greels spear and concluded it was worthless

due to how primitive it seemed. This shows that ones notation on advancement

should not influence the humanity of either parties. The scope of technology should be

looked through the lens of cultural relativism in order to avoid unjust dehumanization.

With all things considered, though Martins refreshing take on the post-

apocalyptic genre, Martin successfully proves that cultural relativism should be taken

into account when determining the humanity of an individual or an entire culture. Martin

uses the post-apocalyptic genre in order to attract the young-adult audience who seem

to have a fascination towards the destruction of humanity. By doing this, Martin passes
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on the idea to young adults that cultural relativism does not exclude anyone from being

human no matter how different their culture is from us or how far/behind they are

technologically. Having young adults learn and nurture this value will one day allow

human beings to unite as one single banner and hopefully stop wars fuelled by

dehumanization of the enemy.

Works Cited

Bacigalupi, Paolo. "The People of and Slag." Wastelands: stories of the Apocalypse.
London: Titan , 2015. 39-54. Print.

Boruchof, David A. "Indians, Cannibals, and Barbarians: Hernn Corts and Early
Modern Cultural Relativism." Ethnohistory, vol. 62, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 17-38.
EBSCOhost, doi:10.1215/00141801-2821657.

Heffernan, Teresa. "The Post-Apocalyptic Imaginary: Science, Fiction, and the Death
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Drive." English Studies in Africa 58.2 (2015): 66-79. Web. 26 Apr. 2017. <The
Post-Apocalyptic Imaginary: Science, Fiction, and the Death Drive >.

Martin, George R.R. "Dark Dark Were the Tunnels." Wastelands: stories of the
Apocalypse. London: Titan , 2015. 87-100. Print.

Mohammed Akinola, Akomolafe and Olusegun Steven Samuel. "An African Humanist
Assessment of Technology and Moral Concerns." Journal of Pan African Studies,
vol. 9, no. 3, June 2016, pp. 14-33. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=117910310&site=eh
ost-live&scope=site.