I created this story as a way to show the unnecessary advancements of humans and our

technology. This story also highlights the demonic and selfish nature of humans, it displays
our immense greed as well as our need for conformity. Metalanguage has been used in this
short story to enhance the message. These include similes, metaphors, and a time loop.
Metaphors have been used to emphasise the wasteful actions of humans. When the
protagonist states, “The world had been set on fire,” it is not literal, by saying this, readers
can imagine humans creating this ‘hell on earth’ and saying that humans are adding to the
flame. Similes have been used to show the comparison between the protagonists'
disappointment and that of a stone being dropped into the ocean. “My heart sinking like a
stone in the ocean” shows the protagonist's distaste for oral speeches and relates it to a
stone. A time loop is also used to show the need for conformity. The starting and finishing
sentences are the same, showing society’s need for regularity and traditionalism. The
protagonist's speech went against the new world's ideology, it delved into the past and
inquired about what was, which led to her assessment not being done to standard, and she
was required to do it again, without her knowledge. The protagonist is oblivious to the fact
she has already attempted this assessment and simply believes it is the newest assessment.
All these combined create a world in which oblivion is bliss. This is also true in today’s
society. In this case, however, the world has reached its downfall due to a lack of human
intervention.