Smith 1

Grant Smith

English 123-2895

Wilson

April 22, 2018

Are We Unique?

A brief look at discrimination in mankind’s history will make at least one thing clear:

Humans want to draw a line between themselves and anything that reduces makes them seem

less unique. Every person that we accept as an equal to ourselves means that being human is that

much less rare and special in our minds. This explains why discriminators often refer to the

discriminated as inhuman. Much of the world, though certainly not all, has moved past

discriminating based on things such as sex, race, and religion. However, a forethinking person

may ask which group will suffer next? In his novel Cloud Atlas, David Mitchel tries less to

predict the answer but to prevent there from being one by sending a message that all sentient

beings should be considered equal regardless of other differences. More specifically he

introduces new forms of life we have yet to encounter in reality to support this idea in the science

fiction section ,“An Orison of Sonmi-451”, of the novel. Mitchell uses the interactions only

possible in science fiction to support his message that all intelligent life should be treated

equally.

This idea is not uncommon in science fiction, although it is highly contested between

different writers of the genre. While there are large group of science fiction writers who would

agree with Mitchell in this belief, others would argue that other forms of intelligent life present a

threat to humanity as competition would inevitably arise between us and any other intelligent life

that we encounter. Those who agree with this would argue that in order to avoid our potential
 Smith 2

destruction, humanity must either destroy or control any other intelligent life. Philip K. Dick

addresses a possible inevitable conflict between different species in his novel Do Androids

Dream of Electric Sheep: “Empathy, he once decided, must be limited to herbivores or anyhow

omnivores who could depart from a meat diet. Because, ultimately, the empathic gift blurred the

boundaries between hunter and victim, between the successful and the defeated” (29). While the

preservation of human life appears on the surface to be a noble cause, Jimena Escurdero Pérez

discusses another possibility for the motivation to conquer other intelligent life in his paper

“Sympathy for the Clone”: “where is the boundary between the self and the other. For

postmodern western culture, obsessed with the concept of subjectivity, both the copy and the

clone threaten the individual…” (6). Jimena discusses the loss of that which makes something

unique on a more personal level, one person no longer being the only version of themselves from

being cloned, but this can also apply to humans as a whole. If we were encounter another form of

intelligent life, be it through cloning or extraterrestrial life, and acknowledge it as equal to

ourselves then we as a form of life will lose something that we believed to be special to us. We

would no longer be the only intelligent life and that may be hard for some to accept. This

problem is not without historical backing either as many would argue that one cause for racism

throughout history is the oppressors desire to remain on top, unopposed, still special. Throughout

his novel Mitchell fights against any ideas that any intelligent life should be above another. He

does so by showing stories from the perspectives of those benefitting from such discrimination

and those it hurts as well as interactions between the two and displaying that the two are the

same in the end.

To understand the significance of Mitchell using science fiction as a tool to deliver its

message, an understanding of some of its elements is necessary. Science fiction can be defined
 Smith 3

as: “…a literary genre characterized by its inclusion of real or imaginary science and technology

and its impact on people and societies” (Caffrey). Such imaginary technology allows writers to

comment on present societal issues by showing how they could evolve with new technology. In

addition, authors can discuss underlying problems in society that we believe to have moved past

but are actually waiting for slightly different circumstances, such as the introduction of new

technology, to appear once again in different shape. Works in the genre often fall into one of two

categories on their view of humanity: highly pessimistic or highly optimistic. Pessimistic works

usually depict humans ultimately bringing about their own destruction, often at the hands of their

own creations. This can be observed in the classic science fiction film Blade Runner in which the

CEO of a company that creates synthetic humans, replicants, is killed by one near the end of the

film. Optimistic works choose to show humans facing new challenges, or perhaps even old ones

in a new form, and repeatedly overcoming them to display humanity as resilient. These tools

allow Mitchell to deliver his message in such. fashion that the reader cannot simply believe that

we have moved past treating other life unequally. Relating all of this to Mitchell and his story of

clones is the next step in understanding why this genre was selected over others to convey the

novels theme.

The features of the science fiction genre are useful to Mitchell because he is able to

display how humans are not past discriminating against other intelligent life. There is currently a

large number of people who believe that discrimination is nearly solved in the modern world and

that once everyone has moved past racism, homophobia, and other forms of prejudice we deal

with today, the fight will be over. By using the freedom to introduce new elements to humanity

that science fiction provides, Mitchell as able to show how humans could still be intolerant

towards new issues with intelligent life that should be equal. Taking a pessimistic point of view,
 Smith 4

rather than one of optimism, towards these potential problems brings alertness to the reader that

they will not solve themselves and require active awareness on our part to prevent them. Mitchell

displays not only how discrimination against other intelligent life hurts them, but also how it may

ultimately hurt the discriminator equally in the end. The message that humans should not be

intolerant towards other intelligent life may be difficult to deliver to people who believe it to be

an issue of the past. However, by using the elements of science fiction Mitchell is able to make it

clear to such people that the problem is not solved and requires vigilance to prevent from

reappearing. While all these tools and abilities of science fiction are available to Mitchell that

does not mean that each one will be used in the traditional manner one would expect.

Knowing the literary features Mitchell uses in “The Orison of Sonmi” will allow the

reader to better comprehend how they each support the theme as well as why they specifically

were chosen to do so. This section establishes a world that has been taken over by corporations

and that in which clones are created to serve natural born humans, called “purebloods”, creating

a societal hierarchy. The section follows one such clone in future Korea named Sonmi-451 that

has gained sentience as she describes what lead to her execution sentence to a historian. She

details her escape from those that would seek to destroy her so that she may help bring freedom

and equality to all other clones. She writes down her message to the world before she is

ultimately betrayed by those who initially set her upon this mission and assisted her throughout,

turning her into a martyr-like figure. It is revealed that they were using her as a figure to scare

natural born humans into fearing the rest of the clones, further dividing the two groups. Sonmi

expects this betrayal and is simply content that her message gets out in hopes that it may inspire

change. Mitchell ends the section on this note, creating ambiguity as to whether her actions mean

anything in the end. However, in the following section it is made clear that humanity has since
 Smith 5

nearly destroyed itself. In addition Sonmi was significant enough for a culture that has lost most

details of history to use her name for the god they worship. The pieces of the section in totality

lead us to believe that the clones are the same as ourselves and should receive the same

treatment.

Mitchell is very deliberate when creating these elements in Sonmi so that they each

support the idea that not only clones, but all intelligent life should be considered equal. The name

“ purebloods” is intended to remind us of racist beliefs, in which non-white people are

considered “dirty” and “impure”. This falls in line with the overarching motif of slavery in the

section, alluding to how African Americans were once forced to serve under white people

because they were also seen as “impure” and therefore lesser. We have since learned as a society

that this belief is blatantly untrue and that humans are equal regardless of race. Mitchell uses this

lesson from history and extends fair treatment from races to all intelligent life. Sonmi’s role as

the noble sacrifice is also intended to be reminiscent of the past. By having her be betrayed by

those who claimed to be her allies, Sonmi shares a fate with Jesus. In creating this linkage

Mitchell makes his character and her cause of equality for clones appear more heroic to the

reader. Mitchell creates each feature in a deliberate manner to support the message that all forms

of intelligent life should be treated alike. However, some of these features do and other do not

fall in line with what we believe science fiction should look like.

Mitchell uses literary features that are common in science fiction literature in the section

“An Orison of Sonmi-451” because they provide a familiar method to receive a message to the

reader. Clones are present in many works of science fiction as they allow us to explore many

unique ideas of what makes us human and how to value that. Mitchell uses clones in a similar

manner to demonstrate that the only element that separates humans from other life is a level of
 Smith 6

intelligence. This supports his theme as blurring the lines between normal humans and other

forms of life also obscures any reason that the two should receive different treatment. Authors

will often use a pessimistic point of view towards humanity in science fiction create a sense of

urgency for change in the reader. Mitchell chooses to show some of the worst potential of

humanity in this section, such as one man throwing a clone off a bridge to avoid paying for a

company to kill her for him: “Before we could do or say anything, the man swung her off the

bridge, by her hair, and watched her fall… “Cheap riddance”-he grinned at us-“To very xpensive

trash”’ (Mitchell 334). This bleak view of how humans could treat another sentient being like

simple trash because it is slightly different is intended to make us question what ultimately

meaningless qualities we may discriminate against. Mitchell, like other science fiction writers,

uses an extreme example that could only be possible through technology that doesn’t exist

currently to encourage people to be mindful of, or even change, their behaviors of events in their

everyday lives that relate to his example. Mitchell wants his reader to see any kind intelligent life

in the clones of “An Orison of Sonmi-451” and to communicate the importance of treating them

all fairly. While these similarities are important to notice, it is the differences that catch our

attention as readers.

While features of science fiction we are accustomed to make Mitchell’s theme easier to

initially deliver, it is the moments that go against the traditional that serve to emphasize his point

by addressing challenges his belief faces. A common topic in science fiction is the creations

rebelling against their devisers that have treated them poorly such as in Blade Runner when six

androids realize they’ve been wronged by their creators and try to escape: “Quite an experience

to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave” (Scott). However, this rebellion

traditionally ends in the destruction of the creators in some way as it does when the CEO of
 Smith 7

company who creates the androids is killed by one. While there is certainly rebellion from the

creations in the form of Sonmi, by the end of the section we have no evidence that has truly

caused any damage to those responsible for creating and abusing her. Mitchell specifically

avoids this common event in science fiction to showcase that discrimination is not always met

with proper comeuppance. Not only would such an idea be disingenuous but also make his theme

less relevant as actions that always receive fair consequences can hardly be called issues in

society. Another commonplace event in science fiction writings is a clear resolution to the

conflict of the plot. However, “An Orison of Sonmi-451” ends without any indication of how the

world will change as a result of the events described as Sonmi is put to death but not without

getting her message out, whose impact is unclear: “We see an endgame beyond the endgame. I

refer to my Declarations, Archivist. Media has flooded Nea So Copros with my Catechisms.”

(Mitchel 349). Such an ending demonstrates how there is not an obvious way to eliminate all

discrimination against other amongst intelligent life and that it is something that must be fought

continuously. By addressing the obstacles in facing discrimination, the importance of actively

doing so becomes all the more evident.

In order to best showcase his theme, Science fiction was definitively the best genre for

Mitchell. In order to best communicate a message many people may feel they already know

creating a situation they never considered is the most effective method and science fiction has

always allowed authors to create such situations. This is likely why science fiction is so

commonly rooted in criticizing problems with society. Humans face the issue of only being able

to pay attention to so much at a time. On both a societal and individual level our knowledge of

current issues far surpasses that of potential issues. We are too busy correcting the issues we

have now to even care to think about what may come in the future. To cure this science fiction,
 Smith 8

and Mitchell through Cloud Atlas, seek not to tell us what is wrong with the world today but

what will be if nothing changes.

Works Cited

Caffrey, Cait. "Science Fiction." Salem Press Encyclopedia of Literature, 2015. EBSCOhost, 0-
search.ebscohost.com.library.4cd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN
=100259377&site=eds-live.
Jimena Escudero, Pérez. "Sympathy for the Clone: (Post)Human Identities Enhanced by the
‘Evil Science’ Construct and Its Commodifying Practices in Contemporary Clone
Fiction." Between, Vol 4, Iss 8 (2014), no. 8, 2014. EBSCOhost, doi:10.13125/2039-
6597/1303.
Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1968.
Print.
Scott, Ridley, director. Blade Runner. Performance by Harrison Ford, original release, Warner
Bros., 1982.
Mitchell, David. Cloud Atlas: a Novel. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2004.
Smith 9