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Darrian Barrera

April 22, 2018

English 123

Final Essay #3

Science fiction, a genre used to describe the theoretical ideas of the

advancement of technology, extraterrestrial life, genetic alteration, etc., as the main

issue in a plot that negatively impacts society. However, these problems within the

science fiction genre have some connections, or hidden symbolism, that relate to

present society or have some correlations with historical events. In the novel Cloud

Atlas, written by David Mitchell, tells the story of six characters from different timelines

who must overcome obstacles in their journeys, but are somewhat connected to each

other. Within these stories consists of six different genres: Travel Literature, Epistolary

novel, Mystery, Science fiction, and post-apocalyptic. Although this novel consists of

different genres, they all share a common theme that is seen in each character’s

journey. This theme revolves around the topic of slavery and oppression. In one of

Mitchell’s stories, “The Orison of Sonmi”, this topic is seen more often than the other

stories and helped develop a theme. Mitchell uses the science fiction genre to explain

his views and ideas of slavery and oppression, which further helped clarify the topic

within the other genres. The theme of this book is individuals with higher power

manipulate or force the weak into following their demands, but soon become overthrown

by the weak. Individuals hungry for power feel that they are entitled to own people, and

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treat them as if they are their property, and this is constantly seen throughout Mitchell’s

book.

Sonmi realizes that the fabricants, clones, are being mistreated by the

purebloods, people who are not clones. In Sonmi’s futuristic society, the fabricants are

the slaves and are ignorant, inhumane creatures; whose only purpose of existing are to

obey the purebloods. This has some relations with slavery from history. The fabricants

and slaves from history are both seen as an unintelligent group, and both groups of

people are force to follow other individuals that think they are far more superior than

them. In the Orison of Sonmi, Sonmi says, “Unlimited power in the hands of limited

people…”(Mitchell 180). The purebloods contain so much power and control over the

fabricants. However, there are a small amount of them in this fictional world, and seem

to not fully understand hard work. Even though the fabricants are constructed to just

follow orders, there are an abundance of them, and most of them are aware that they

are just slaves to the purebloods. The fabricants that have ascended realized that they

have as much rights as purebloods have, and that they should be known as people, not

as tools.

When a slave tries to gain knowledge, the owner of the slave sees this as some

sort of revolt, but in truth they are scared. In Mitchell’s story, this is clearly seen in

“Orison of Sonmi” whenever a fabricant goes through “ascension”. Whenever a

fabricant acquires a new language, a new thought process that were beyond the other

fabricants, or a craving for knowledge it was known as an ascension. However, the

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purebloods saw it as a defect and would try to get rid of them at all costs. Wing-027, a

fabricant, showed Sonmi an “operation” that would allow sonmi to gain knowledge, and

with her discussion with the Archivist she says, “...never let a pureblood catch me

gathering knowledge, for the sight scares them, and there is nothing a scared pureblood

will not do”(Mitchell 207). For example, Yoona-939, Sonmi’s friend, ascended and tried

to escape papa Songs. Since she was a fabricant, the purebloods were scared for they

thought she was revolting. Consequently, she was killed because of this fear. In a

conversation between Mephi and Sonmi, Sonmi wonders why the purebloods have so

much resentment towards the fabricants. His response, “Try this for deviancy: fabricants

are mirrors held up to purebloods conscience: what purebloods see reflected there

sickens them. So they blame you for holding the mirror”(Mitchell 222). The reason why

the purebloods hate the fabricants is because fabricants are artificially created, and the

purebloods view them as unnatural beings, so this makes fabricants an easy target to

take the blame for purebloods actions or mistakes. To her response, Sonmi asks, “why

don’t they blame themselves”. Mephi replied with, “History suggests, not until they are

made to do so”. Mitchell suggests that history is being repeated. In order for the person,

or group, with higher authority to take full responsibility for their own actions, their must

be a force that threatens their power. In Mitchell’s story, Sonmi is the force that

threatens the purebloods power. This is the reason why purebloods are so afraid of an

ascending fabricant. If a fabricant acquires enough knowledge, then they will have the

power to revolt. A similar situation happened in history. Martin Luther King Jr. is a great

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example of an oppressed individual who had the courage to stand against oppressors.

This opened the eyes of most people, for they had the knowledge and the courage to

finally take a stand. Sonmi acquired plenty of knowledge and courage to finally stand up

for what she believes and stand against the oppression amongst the fabricants, in order

to help her people be heard. Her voice is heard and even became a deity later in the

book.

Science fiction and history go hand to hand. Many science fiction authors use

their ideas of a fictional world where an artificial creation, or extraterrestrial being

represents an issue from a historical event. In this case the clones/fabricants represent

slavery and oppression of many races, especially African Americans, endured from a

group of people who believed it was right to own these group of people as their own, the

purebloods. In an article written by Janice Liedl, the author writes that science fiction

contains the same elements as a historical fiction genre. She writes that “Science fiction

illuminates the entire historical process from concepts of evidence and historical

analysis through persuasive outcome”(Liedl). Here Liedl is stating that the genre of

science fiction follows the basic concepts of history; providing an investigation of an

issue and provides evidence that interprets the past. Also, in this article Liedl also states

that “history and its guidance for the future are created between the interplay’s notation,

details from the past, and the predictive, which constitutes the historian storyline”(Liedl).

Liedl is saying that science fiction and history both intertwine, for history investigates the

future with predictions, while science fiction looks back in the past. In David

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Mitchell’s story, the fabricants are examples of the future that is repeating history, for

purebloods are using fabricants as slaves, for they believe fabricants are genetically

programed to follow purebloods orders. This then means the fabricants are the

oppressed. In the past, the people who were oppressed have found solutions that will

benefit them in the future. Since, the fabricants are looking at the past, Sonmi helps

them look into the future by providing her confession. Sonmi’s confession will provide

fabricants their freedom, but the power hungry purebloods, especially Unanimity, will do

anything to prevent any fabricant uprising.

Science fiction itself is a difficult genre to understand, in most cases, many

authors and writers believe science fiction isn’t a genre at all. However, in the book

Science Fiction and the Mass Cultural Genre System, the author, John Reider,

discusses the importance of science fiction and disregards the whole “genre system”

other writers had developed. In his book, Reider writes that “Both the writer and reader

of the sentence in it science fiction sense are using the genre to actively shape their

understanding of the world...and its relation to both empirical environment and to the

other genetically constructed worlds” (Reider). Science fiction offers a reader an

opportunity to forge the world into their own understanding, while connecting the

puzzles the plot holds. This is abundantly used in “The Orison of Sonmi”, for the plot

was very difficult to understand and the use of creative words, and a different dialect,

made it much more difficult to follow through the story. Nonetheless, the use of

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imagination allowed for an easier access to the stories plot, language,and allowed

symbolisms within the stories to be easily distinguished. The understanding of “The

Orison of Sonmi”, not only clarified the plot, but it also helped clarify the theme within

each story.

Throughout Cloud Atlas, all of the six protagonists are faced against an individual

or group that would do anything to maintain their power, even if it means the cost of

peoples lives. However, how do these groups/people gain and maintain their power. In

the “Half-lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery”, the main protagonist, Luisa Rey, is against

a science company known as Seaboard corporation. Alberto Grimaldi, the CEO,

imagines himself giving a speech about power. Within his imaginary discussion, he

thinks of three steps a person does to maintain power. He calls this the “Holy trinity”

(Mitchell 129). The first trinity is having good charisma. If a man/woman are attractive,

then they have a higher chance of gaining power, for their outgoing personality or

beauty gives them the advantage to easily manipulate other individuals. The second

trinity is training the person with charisma to use their gifts towards their advantage,

Grimaldi thinks, “...humanity’s topsoil is fertile with talent, only one seed in ten thousand

will ever flower- for want of discipline” (Mitchell 129). Grimaldi thinks that people who

have these gifts and are looking for discipline, will be successful in gaining power and

receiving what they want, and if these individuals develop and improve their skills, then

they will be able to maintain their power and gain control over others. The

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third trinity Grimaldi thinks of is “The will to power,” (Mitchell 129). Grimaldi thinks this

trinity is slightly confusing, but as a result simply states that it is human nature. Anyone

who rises above and controls everyone else and maintains that position is a known and

seen as a powerful person.

Papa Songs, for example, follow these three trinities. The second step are the

seers, they are taught to manipulate each fabricant and give false hope to the fabricants

that they will be free after receiving twelve stars. The first step is the environment of

Papa Songs. It not only provides customers a place to eat, but it provides the fabricants

a place to sleep, drink soap, and happiness, for they feel like they belong there. The

final trinity, the will to power. In the end, fabricants are killed by the purebloods, and

their remains are then turned into soap. This shows that the purebloods are much

higher than the fabricants. They can not only create the fabricants, but they can also kill

them and use them as resource for the other fabricants that are unaware of this hidden

process. The power difference amongst the fabricants and purebloods, indicate that the

purebloods are acting as God, and these three trinity's shows how the purebloods

maintain a constant cycle, until the power is shifted.

Many other science fiction novels consist of a society where people of higher

authority oppress groups of individuals who are viewed as abnormal by the oppressors.

The protagonist is usually the one who is the oppressed, and throughout the story finds

ways to deal with the oppressors. For example, In the book Divergent, written by

Veronica Roth, describes a plot that is similar towards “The Orison of Sonmi”. The book

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takes place in the future, in which society has divided up into five factions: Amity,

Abnegation, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. To be considered in one of these groups,

individuals must take a test that will determine which faction they will join. People who

fail this test are known as Divergent, and these group of people are abominations and

do not get to partake in this society. Tris, the main protagonist, also a female lead, fails

the test and is known as a divergent. She manages to hide her results but struggles with

her new identity and tries to deal with the oppression. The Erudite, the faction

containing a group of intelligent individuals, also the oppressors, manipulate the

divergents into partaking simulations that will kill the divergents, or imprison them to

conduct experiments; they will have no guilt in doing so, for the Erudite believe they are

far more superior than the other factions, especially the divergents. Their obsession with

knowledge and power is their own weakness.

Individuals who have power are addicted to it, and this can lead to their downfall.

Just like the purebloods the Erudite are afraid of losing their power. In Divergent, Tris

recalls a saying her father would say to her about power, “My father says that those who

want power and get it live in terror of losing it. That is why we have to give power to

those who do not want it” (Roth). This quote not only can refer to the Erudite or to the

purebloods, but to everyone who has power. People who do not want power or are

afraid of it tend to use it for good. While those who seek it and crave it use it for evil

purposes that will only benefit their selfish needs. These individuals become blind with

power, and feel that they are a force to be reckoned with, and that is their greatest

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weakness. In a conversation between the archivist and Sonmi, the archivist tells Sonmi

that he has heard rumors that fabricants don’t have personalities. Sonmi responds

saying that this is said amongst the purebloods to bring “comfort”. To his confusion, the

archivist then asked what Sonmi means? Her response is, “To enslave an individual

troubles your consciences, but to enslave a clone is no more trouble than owning the

latest six wheeler ford...but make no mistake: even same-stem fabricants cultured in the

same wombtank are as singular as snowflakes” (Mitchell 187). Although purebloods do

not feel any guilt of imprisoning and killing fabricants, they don’t understand the

connection the fabricants have for one another, just as the divergents have a strong

bond with each other.

Overall, each character in Cloud Atlas seemed to have stop an individual or

group from their power frenzy. With the help of the literary features of science fiction,

and how Mitchell uses this; it helped connect the stories together and what he was

trying to prove. Each character suffers imprisonment and oppression, and each

character deals with it differently. However, they all managed to stand together, gain

enough courage to face against these obstacles head on. Through enough suffering

and pain, they all knew that enough is enough, and that is what Mitchell is trying to

prove. Through all the hatred, power, and greed; the weak manages to withstand all that

is thrown at them, and fight back. As a result, the weak are the ones that are left

standing.

Work Cited page:

Mitchell, David. Cloud Atlas. Random House Inc, New York. 2004.
Liedl, Janice. "Tales of Futures Past: Science Fiction as a Historical Genre." Rethinking

History, vol. 19, no. 2, June 2015, pp. 285-299. EBSCOhost,

Rieder, John. Science Fiction and the Mass Cultural Genre System. Wesleyan, 2017.

EBSCOhost, 0-

search.ebscohost.com.library.4cd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1402665&

site=eds-live

Roth, Veronica. Divergent. Katherine Tegen Books/an Imprint of HarperCollins

Publishers, 2011