SLEZSKÁ UNIVERZITA V OPAVĚ

Filozoficko-přírodovědecká fakulta v Opavě

Alice Posoldová

Obor: Angličtina + Český jazyk a literatura

Affluence as a Threat in J. G. Ballard’s Post-Millennial Fiction

Bakalářská práce

Opava 2020 Vedoucí bakalářské práce:

Mgr. Radek Glabazňa, M.A., Ph.D. Abstract

This bachelor thesis deals with the theme ‘affluence as a threat‘ in selected novels by British writer James Graham Ballard. The first part of the thesis focuses on life of James Graham Ballard and his work and also introduces the theory of dystopian fiction. The aim of this thesis is the analysis of post-millennials novels Millennium and Kingdom Come.

Keywords: British writer, Millennium People, Kingdom Come, dystopia, affluence, millennium

Abstrakt

Tato bakalářská práce se zaměří na tvorbu britského autora Jamese Grahama Ballarda vydanou po miléniu. Jedná se o díla Lidé milénia a Království tvé. První část bakalářské práce představí autorův život a jeho díla, také uvede teorii dystopické fikce. Cílem bakalářské práce je analýza tématu ‘blahobyt jako hrozba‘ ve vybraných titulech.

Klíčová slova: britský autor, Lidé milénia, Království tvé, dystopie, blahobyt, milénium

Prohlášení

Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto práci vypracovala samostatně. Veškeré prameny a literaturu, které jsem pro vyhotovení práce použila, řádně cituji a uvádím v seznamu použité literatury a internetových zdrojů.

V Opavě dne 4. 5. 2020 ……………………………. Alice Posoldová

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to Mgr. Radek Glabazňa, M.A., Ph.D.

Obsah

Introduction ...... 7

1 J. G. Ballard ...... 8

1.1 His Life ...... 8 1.2 His works ...... 12

2 Dystopian Fiction ...... 15

3 J. G. Ballard’s Post-Millenial Fiction ...... 16

3.1 Analysis of Millennium People ...... 17 3.2 Analysis of Kingdom Come ...... 27

Conclusion ...... 36

Bibliography ...... 37

Introduction

This bachelor thesis deals with the theme ‘affluence as a threat’ in selected post-millennial dystopian novels Millennium People and Kingdom Come by British author James Graham Ballard. The first part of my thesis focuses on life of the James Graham Ballard, including his war experience which affected his life and oeuvre. It also covers his the most essential works such as autobiographical war novel Empire of the Sun or controversial novel Crash which both made it to the successful film versions. After that, I briefly introduce the theory of dystopian fiction. The last part provides characteristics of James Graham Ballard’s post-millennial fiction, with all the specific features, which is important for a better understanding of works from this period. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the theme ‘affluence as a threat’ in chosen novels Millennium People and Kingdom Come of a post-millennial triptych. This theme is followed throughout the summary of the plot of these works where selected parts are being analysed in order to learn how is this theme depicted in the books and what is its message.

7 1 J. G. Ballard

1.1 His Life

James Graham Ballard was born on November 15, 1930 in Shangai, China. His mother Edna’s demanding childbirth caused that Ballard’s head was severely crooked, which led to joking about a possible connection with his stubbornness in youth.1 His sister Margaret was born seven years later and the age difference never made them best buddies.2 Ballard’s parents married in 1920 and never revealed a reason for replacing England by Shanghai and their son also never questioned them.3 Despite Shangai’s modernity and sinfulness, young Ballard was keen on the city he grew up in and later said: “Shanghai struck me as a magical place, a self-generating fantasy that left my own little mind far behind.”4 His father, who was a big fan of H. G. Wells, was convinced that new technologies can save the human race and unlike his wife, Ballard’s mother, appreciated this feature of Shanghai. There was a dark side of pre-war Shanghai when dozens of rootless Chinese laborers were approaching Shanghai and most of them even could not find a job. Shanghai has also been plagued by cholera, typhoid, and smallpox at that time and a little Ballard fell ill with amoebic dysentery and had to stay in General Hospital for a great deal of time.5 At the age of six, James attended the junior form of the boys‘ Cathedral School. Lessons were led by English teachers and included, among the others, a great amount of scripture and Latin lectures. Not only studies were tough for little boys, but also an atmosphere did not make it easier since children were often physically punished by the principal of the School, Reverend Matthews. The only reason why little James avoided his fury was the high social status of his father who worked as a vice-chairman of the British Residents Association.6

1 See James Graham Ballard, Miracles of Life, London: Fourth Estate, 2008, 3. 2 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 32. 3 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 51. 4 Ballard, Miracles of Life, 6. 5 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 6-10. 6 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 18. 8 In 1937, Japan invaded China and higher quality of preparation provided Japan most of the Chinese cities, as well as Shanghai.7 This is the reason why Ballards were forced to leave their house and move to a rented house in the French Concession.8 In 1941, by the time Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, little Ballard was sitting in his room, studying, when armylike noises distracted him. His upset father, who just heard the radio, told little James that war has just started and went on looking for Ballard’s mother. As soon as troops gained all the major locations, hundreds of British and American citizens, “who were first Allied nationals to be interned“ were detained. Fortunately, it did not concern Ballard’s father and the family was enabled to stay at home until 1943.9 In 1943, Ballards had to join the Lunghua Camp in Shanghai due to imprisonment of “British and other Allied nationals“ by Japan. The camp kept around 2 000 imprisoned people in total, 300 kids out of it. Although camp itself looked like a half-wrecked college building surrounded by mosquitos spreading malaria, where space for a living was too confined for a family, and the circumstances of joining the camp were unpleasant, little Ballard was surprised by serenity of other interned people in the camp which made it much easier. In this horror, a child’s mind savored endless playing outside, being with his schoolmates every day and meeting new people even though the living conditions were unethical. “I enjoyed my years in Lunghua, made a huge number of friends of all ages (far more than I did in adult life) and on the whole felt buoyant and optimistic, even when the food rations fell to near zero, skin infections covered my legs, malnutrition had prolapsed my rectum, and many adults had lost heart.“10 One of the biggest problems in the camp was obviously lack of food and no variety of consumed food which led to malnutrition. Repast composed of ingredients that provided only satiety, not nutrition, such as rice, plain soups, potatoes or grain did not satisfy anybody but little Ballard who always willingly ate everything due to big appetite. Since all of those ingredients were inadequate, the family made a decision to consume larvae as well.

7 See The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Second Sino-Japanese War“, 2008, https://www.britannica.com/event/Second-Sino-Japanese-War 8 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 26. 9 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 54. 10 Ballard, Miracles of Life, 66-67. 9 In 1944 the life in Lunghua deteriorated as Japan was succumbing to the US in Pacific War and even worsened when Japan lost, which reflected on the behavior of Japanese supervisors and their barbarity against the people in the camp. Living conditions in the camp dramatically decreased by an incident with hidden radios which informed some of the interned people about the war development and resulted in the getaway of few men from the camp. “An immediate result was the sacking of the camp commandant, Hyashi. Lunghua was placed under the direct command of the Japanese military, and a harsher regime followed.”11 Despite all of the rough times regarding Lunghua, it strengthened their family bonds and all the war occasions he was a part of formed Ballard’s personality. Later on, things he was witnessing in youth, including Lunghua Camp, became a foundation for his not only war novels.12 Ballards quitted the camp in September 1945, went back to their house in Shanghai and a few months later Ballard with his mother and sister Margaret returned to England without the father who stayed in Shanghai until 1950.13 In 1946 Ballard attended a boarding school called The Leys School in Cambridge which he was not fond of much.14 Despite receiving the prize in writing at The Leys and becoming a member of the Essay Club, he did not follow his member’s role and did not participate in addition of any material even to a school journal.15 Afterwards, as an admirer of Freud, he decided to study psychology but since it was impossible that time at Cambridge, in 1949 he entered the medical studies at King’s College with an aim to be a psychiatrist.16 In 1951, after gaining award as a co-writer of the short story called The Violent Noon, Ballard came to conclusion to leave medical studies and start a writing career. The same year Ballard entered Queen Mary College and began with the English

11 Ballard, Miracles of Life, 91-92. 12 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 75-81. 13 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 84. 14 See Gregory Stephenson, Out of the Night and Into the Dream: A Thematic Study of the Fiction of J. G. Ballard, United States: Greenwood Press, 1991, 9. 15 See John Baxter, The Inner Man: TheLife of J. G. Ballard, London: Weidenfield & Nicolson, 2011, 31. 16 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 132-136. 10 literature which he left a year later.17 In the meantime, Ballard experienced a variety of jobs, such as copywriter or seller of books.18 For a great attraction for flying since childhood, Ballard registered himself to Royal Air Force for a three-year-old period. In 1954 he spent his time in a training base in cold Moose Jaw in Canada and during his free time he did a lot of writing and reading, especially science fiction magazines.19 In 1955, Ballard married Helen Mary Matthews, a secretary with whom he met shortly before he left for RAF and who gave birth to their 3 children, son James and daughters Fay and Beatrice. Before the birth of the first child, Ballard earned only a little money to provide them all needed in Shepperton, where they lived together, but it changed as soon as he started making money by publishing his stories to sci-fi magazines Science Fantasy and New Worlds.20 The situation improved even more in 1960, when Ballard got a position of editor of the science magazine Chemistry & Industry and concurrently could publish his fiction story The Wind From Nowhere in 1961.21 Two years after, during a vacation in Spain, Mary developed pneumonia caused by infected appendix and its difficulties and passed away at the age of 34.22 It was a hard time for a single father to take care of three children but family meant everything to James, however, the loss of his wife changed him as a person and it changed the way of his writing, according to his fans, his work evolved into ‘dark‘. Nevertheless, he continued with his work and started contributing his stories to magazine Ambit, and shortly after he also met his new love, a partner Claire Walsch with whom he stayed until the end of his life, though he never remarried.23 In 2006, J. G. Ballard was diagnosed with prostate cancer with bone metastasis and died in April 2009.24

17 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 149-153. 18 See David Pringle, “Obituary: J. G. Ballard“, 2011, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/apr/19/jg-ballard-obituary 19 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 162-164. 20 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 174-182. 21 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 190. 22 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 200. 23 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 202-219. 24 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 277. 11 1.2 His works

J. G. Ballard, as a child with neverending fantasy, has always been excited about literature and the process of creating a text. Thanks to his mom he was able to read by the time he accessed the Cathedral School, at the age of six. He started with writing from an early age, when, in the age of twelve, he formulated a manual to the game bridge, which his mom and her friends used to play.25 Ballard has written more than twenty novels, almost a hundred short stories, and plenty of pieces of non-fiction during a career of sixty years.26 “Together it constructed what their author calls mythology of the future.”27 Also, the uniqueness of Ballard's oeuvre was supported in the Collins Dictionary by the introduction of the adjective “Ballardian”: it is described as “of James Graham Ballard (1930–2009), the British novelist, or his works“,28 but also as “resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in Ballard's novels and stories, esp dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes, and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments.”29 His writing career initiated in 1956 with short stories that were coming out of science fiction journals.30 The first success came with his debut science fiction novel, dealing with ecological collapse, Drowned World (1962), followed by The Burning World or The Draught (1965) and Crystal World (1966) whose high-educated main figures have to deal with degenerating surroundings and the effect on their psyche is examined in the books.31 Atrocity Exhibition came out in 1966 as a set of short stories including those with the title The Facelift of Princess Margaret, Why I want to fuck Ronald Reagan or Plan for the Assassination of Jaqueline Kennedy. “A central character, a psychiatrist, who’s having a mental breakdown. He’s obsessed with about

25 See Baxter, The Inner Man: TheLife of J. G. Ballard, 11-14. 26 See Jeannette Baxter and Rowland Wymer, J. G. Ballard: Visions and Revisions, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, 1. 27 “J. G. Ballard Documentary“, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LosxrbL3sU&t=1387s 28 “Ballardian“ Collins Dictionary, www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ballardian 29 “Ballardian“ Collins Dictionary, www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ballardian 30 See Mark Bould et al., Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2009, 13. 31 See Jim Holte, Imagining the End: The Apocalypse in American Popular Culture, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2020, 95. 12 a cruelty and pure sensation for its own sake that floods the world, floods TV screens, and so on. He sets out on a strange little Odyssey of his own in which he restages some of the most terrible events of his time like the Kennedy assassination for example.“32 The controversity of the book led to legal proceedings in Britain and removal in the US.33 Another controversial piece was Crash from 1973 which explores the erotic fascination concerning accidents involving cars experienced by a group of people together with a character named James Ballard. Although being called mentally unstable by a publisher’s reader regarding Crash34, Ballard claims that people may find automobile accidents releasing in a way, that is why they are curious about them.35 Mark Cronenberg turned the book into a film in 1996 and it’s perception in Britain triggered a public outcry. The most significant piece, a war novel called Empire of the Sun, saw the light of the day in 1984. The novel was based on Ballard’s war experineces as a child, although he had to exclude many of the details. “Most of the novel is set in the Japanese camp where I was interned with my parents, the biggest change was leaving the parents out, I made the boy my younger self in effect, Jim, a kind of orphan, I had him separated from his parents. My parents could not feed me, clothe me, protect me. Also, I saw them shaken and rattled by the war. For a child, these days to see his parents frightened is very rare and when you have seen your parents sort of losing their authority is something they never regain again I think, so leaving them out was true psychologically to my actual experiences.“36 Ballard received Guardian Fiction Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction for the book.37 As a result of the great success of the novel, a film version was soon-to-follow and Steven Spielberg took care of it in 1987, with a cast namely John Malcovich,

32 “J. G. Ballard Documentary“, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LosxrbL3sU&t=1387s 33 See Bould et al., Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction, 14. 34 See Rick Poynor, Designing Pornotopia: Travels in Visual Culture, London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd., 2006, 137. 35 “Ballard talks about Crash“, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA4IxkpXomY 36 “J. G. Ballard Documentary“, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LosxrbL3sU&t=1387s 37 See Editors of British Council, “J. G. Ballard“, https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/j-g-ballard 13 Miranda Richardson, and young Christian Bale, who portrayed Jim Graham, the leading role of the film. The film gained two Golden Globes nominations and six Academy Award nominations and what more, three BAFTAs.38 The Kindness of Women (1991) is sort of a continuation of the previous book, a portrayal of his living in England after the war.39 In the years 2000–2006 Ballard created a post-millennial dystopian trilogy containing Super-Cannes, Millennium People and Kingdom Come.40 Millennium People and Kingdom come were chosen for analysis in this thesis. In 2008, while suffering from cancer, Ballard’s autobiographical book, Miracles of Life, came to the light. It was his last work before his death which ensued a year later.

38 See Robert Niemi, 100 Great War Movies: The Real History Behind the Films, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 101-103. 39 See Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “J. G. Ballard“, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/J-G-Ballard#ref259949 40 See Jeannette Baxter and contributors, J. G. Ballard: Contemporary Critical Perspectives, London: Continuum Interrnational Publishing Group, 2009, 107. 14 2 Dystopian Fiction

“The world dystopia is a combination of the Latin root dys-: ‘bad‘ or ‘abnormal‘ 41 and the greek root topos-: ‘place‘. Another expression can be anti-utopia as well. It follows that dystopian genre deals with narratives concerning harmful locations, precisely: “it is literature about possible future or near-future societies that will result if current or hypothetical political, and technological trends are amplified by history into overarching principles of social organization.“42 Nonetheless, according to Ruth Levitas: “Dystopias are not necessarily fictional in form; neither predictions of the nuclear winter nor fears of the consequences of the destruction of the rain forests, the holes in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect and the potential melting of the polar 43 ice caps are primarily the material of fiction.“ What is typical for dystopia in literature, is the supremacy of ominous political class, but not only that, but malicious dystopian aspects go hand in hand with penury, 44 apathy, overcrowding, mercantilism, or technological madness. Dystopia’s presence is easy to feel in many eminent pieces of work from the past for example in Gulliver’s Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift or Candide (1759) by Voltaire. The current shape of dystopia is depicted in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell, Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley and We (1924) by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Dystopia’s characteristics with all its motives including technics used by a totalitarian state, contemporary bureaucracy, absolute supervision, established standards regarding sexuality by which existence of people could be monitored, is to be 45 found in these books.

41 Keith Booker, Encyclopedia of Literature and Politics: A-G, Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005, 217. 42 Booker, Encyclopedia of Literature and Politics: A-G, 218. 43 Ruth Levitas, The Concept of Utopia, Bern: International Academic Publishers, 2010, 195. 44 See Booker, Booker, Encyclopedia of Literature and Politics: A-G, 218. 45 See Booker, Encyclopedia of Literature and Politics: A-G, 218. 15 3 J. G. Ballard’s Post-Millenial Fiction

According to Philip Tew, Millenium People (2003) is “the central panel of a post-millennial triptych of interrelated novels; a panel book-ended by Super-Cannes (2000) and Kingdom Come (2006).”46 What is typical for them is that each book is associated with a circle of people, a sect, that is responsible for various kinds of aggressive conduct and violence for no reason, even money.47 “In turn, each group is peculiarly radicalized and their actions impact unexpectedly upon the life of a centrally situated professional male in the throes of a profound (mid-life) identity crisis.”48 The main character is exposed to the death of a close person, whether it is alienated dad or ex-wife, and tries to find a motive of their killing and reveal the culprit.49 The intention of this trilogy of books is to make its readers aware of modern reality and to express the inconspicuous potential horror of the ever-increasing comfort and living luxury we strive so desperately for. All three novels also refute the view that life in a bourgeois comfortable world can make sense.50 Both Millennium People and Kingdom Come deal with consumerism and its negative effects on people’s mind and society. In Kingdom Come, Ballard compares consumerism to fascism. “There almost is something fascist about big shopping mall, the lines of Aires, the slogans, the banners, the pressure to conform. I can see the sinister possibilities just waiting. It’s not as if two people who go shopping have any other center to their lives. Most of them, I suspect, don’t and that’s what worries me.”51

46 James Graham Ballard, “Introduction by Ian Sinclair,“ in Millennium People, London: Fourth Estate, 2003, 12. 47 See Baxter and contributors, J. G. Ballard: Contemporary Critical Perspectives, 107. 48 Baxter and contributors, J. G. Ballard: Contemporary Critical Perspectives, 107-108. 49 See Baxter and contributors, J. G. Ballard: Contemporary Critical Perspectives, 108. 50 See James Graham Ballard, “Hledání smyslu v době postrádající smysl by Vanora Bennett“ in Království tvé, trans. Alice Posoldová, Praha: Maťa, 2004, 329-332. 51 “J. G. Ballard Reads from Kingdom Come“ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGTYhjupw4k 16 3.1 Analysis of Millennium People

The novel is divided into thirty-five chapters, and is partly written in analepsis. The opening chapter introduces Chelsea Marina to us, a city in London where the little rebellion took place and where “over-educated revolutionaries were rebelling against themselves.”52 The story is narrated by David Markham, a man who works as a psychiatrist and who gets into Chelsea Marina as a spy in order to investigate who stands behind the rebellious and violent actions against innocent people including his wife who died during a bomb attack but he himself is the last one to discover what is really going on. At that time he establishes a relationship with pediatrician Richard Gould who later turns out to be responsible for everything. David Markham and his wife Sally drive to the Heathrow airport for a medical convention when they find out that there is a bomb at the airport and except other people, his ex-wife, Laura, is seriously injured and dies later in the hospital. After this crime, everyone was in permanent danger since nobody knew the culprit nor the motive. “A vicious boredom ruled the world, for the first time in human history, interrupted by meaningless acts of violence.“53 This clearly indicates how unfounded and insignificant these acts are, caused by the dullness of the people. A wrongdoer still remains unknown. “Nothing explained why these passengers had been targeted, a group of bank couriers, holidaymakers, and Swiss wives visiting their London-based husbands.“54 Ironically, this is the main reason of the attack. The target is middle-class people who enjoy, use, and support all the means of the consumer world, including traveling. After Laura’s death, David starts with his role as a spy in order to seek his wife’s killer and in order to insinuate into the world of Chelsea Marina to understand better. He attends a demonstration at the cat show in Olympia where he meets Angela. Angela and other people demonstrate against the keeping of cats in cages at the cat shows and breeding of cats in general, even though cat shows did not do any harm to the cats in fact. Since it is another sign of snobbery and possible ferocity, Markham can not miss it. There are explosions in the hall and chaos reigns, Angela and other demonstrators try

52 James Graham Ballard, Millennium People, London: Fourth Estate, 2003, 3. 53 Ballard, Millennium People, 28. 54 Ballard, Millennium People, 30. 17 to free the cats from cages while the police attack her. In an effort to protect her, David Markham is beaten and arrested by police and gets a fine in the court. While resting on the bench, Chinese woman, Joan Chang, a parson named Stephen Dexter and a woman in elegant dress, who catches Markham’s attention, is in the court because of calling for riots at the shopping center. That elegant woman’s name is Kay Churchill and she and Markham start a conversation outside the court. She invites him to her place somewhere in Chelsea Marina to take care of him since he was injured by the police during the demonstration. “Chelsea Marina was designed for a salaried professional class keen to preserve tribal totems – private education, a dinner party-culture, and never-to-be-admitted estate for the lower orders.“55 During a conversation with Kay, she keeps talking about Chelsea Marina: “the whole place was purpose-built for the responsible middle class, but it’s turning into a high-priced slum. No city bonuses here, no share options or company credit cards. A lot of us are really stretched. That’s why we’re waking up and doing something about it. We’re holding a series of street demos.”56 This denotes Kay’s concern that Chelsea Marina is not what it used to be anymore, because people there lack funds and do not want to adapt to price increases. Markham also learns that Kay and her companions were arrested for damage of posters that promoted traveling since they do not support traveling. “Tourism is the great sopoforic. It’s a huge confidence trick, and gives people the dangerous idea that there’s something interesting in their lives. It’s musical chairs in reverse. Every time the music stops people stand up and dance around the world, and more chairs are added to the circle, more marinas and Mariott hotels, so everyone thinks they’re winning.“57 She continues: “All the upgrades in existence lead to the same airports and resort hotels, the same pina colada bullshit. The tourists smile at thein tans and their shiny teeth and think they’re happy. But the suntans hide who they really are – salary slaves, with heads full of American rubbish. Travel is the last fantasy the 20th Century left us, the delusion that going somewhere helps you reinvent yourself.“58 Kay demonstrates that people think traveling can make them better people. They go for a holiday and

55 Ballard, Millennium People, 51. 56 Ballard, Millennium People, 52. 57 Ballard, Millennium People, 54. 58 Ballard, Millennium People, 54-55. 18 pretend to be somebody else for a while. But as soon as they get back home, they are slaves again. Kay thinks traveling is the disillusionment of modern times. Kay feels that the fact that they paths collided is not a coincidence and asks Markham to join them. Markham answers that he is not interested in violence, Kay replies that neither does she. “People who use violence have to be responsible. It’s such a special key. Everyone dreams about violence, and when so many people dream the same dream it means something terrible is on the way…“59 Disgust for the system and people’s boredom at the same time can cause usage of the only weapon they have – violence. Stephen Dexter’s conversation with David Markham also sets the example of the ideology of the group around Kay Churchill. “Look at the world around you, David. What do you see? An endless theme park, with everything turned into entertainment. Science, politics, education – they’re so many fairground rides. Sadly, people are happy to buy their tickets and climb abroad.“60 Contempt of consumerist society and its support. David Markham asks Stephen Dexter, what is his next object of attack besides the travel agency they just attacked, whether is it Chelsea Marina. Stephen Dexter replies that his next target is the 20th Century. “It lingers on. It shapes everything we do, the way we think. There’s scarcely a good thing you can say for it. Genocidal wars, half the world destitute, the other half sleepwalking through its own brain-death. We bought its trashy dreams and now we can’t wake up. All these hypermarkets and gated communities. Once the doors close you can never get out.“61 This statement clarifies that people are naturally afraid of the upcoming millennium to come as it may change everything and bring many bad things too. No matter the 20th Century is over, its effect on society is still present and still active and it makes damages. Stephen Dexter compares new millennium to genocide, half of the population is poor, the other half is besotted by consumerism and modern life. Once you are trapped in this way of life, you can never escape and your life is changed forever. When David Markham and Kay Churchill leave Chelsea Marina, they see people who are furious due to a lack of parking places and fines for using a wrong place for parking. Kay nodded to James: “Believe me, the next revolution will be about

59 Ballard, Millennium People, 56. 60 Ballard, Millennium People, 62. 61 Ballard, Millennium People, 63-64. 19 parking.“62 J. G. Ballard once said: “The major problem for contemporary civilization is finding somewhere to park.“63 David Markham returns to Chelsea Marina again and this time he and Kay Churchill join a demonstration regarding the increase of handling charges where he also meets Vera Blackburn, a friend of Kay, who urges him to join them as well. She invites him to her apartment and confesses that she makes bombs for Richard Gould, but not the type of the bomb at Heathrow, her bombs do not kill people. Markham keeps asking about her bombs and their purpose. “Shopping malls, cineplexes, DIY centres – All that C2O trash. The regurgitated vomit people call the consumer society.”64 Kay Churchill, Vera Blackburn and Markham head to Twickenham, a rich neighborhood, in order to do a research about social manners, in disguise. They ask a woman, living in a big mansion, surrounded by fancy cars, what time does she spend on housekeeping. The woman answers that she has servants for that because she is a doctor and has a lack of time taking care of her house. Another Kay’s answers follow. “Speaking as a doctor, do you think there’s an overemphasis on domestic hygiene? How often would you say your lavatories are cleaned? Would you consider having them cleaned every three days? Or once a week? A less than snowy white bowl would worry you? How do you feel about the prevalence of toilet tabes among the professional middle class? Would your family consider washing less often? And you personally? Would you bathe less frequently?“65 The Woman shuts the door. It is obvious what was Kay’s intention with those questions. She wanted to highlight the distinction between people in Chelsea Marina whose incomes are not so high and the rest of the people. The reason why she took David Markham with her was probably that she wanted him to perceive that he needs to join them with fighting for the right thing according to Kay and others. As Kay later notes, “make them realize that they are the victims.”66 She certainly means that they are victims of consumerism. As they return from Twickenham, they stop by a video shop, and as soon as they are alone there, Kay opens her purse and extracts three video-cassettes and wants David Markham to return them to a store. As he returns them, they start to explode. Stephen

62 Ballard, Millennium People, 66. 63 Ballard, “Introduction by Ian Sinclair,“ in Millennium People, 13. 64 Ballard, Millennium People, 81. 65 Ballard, Millennium People, 88. 66 Ballard, Millennium People, 93. 20 Dexter helps David to escape the store while Kay Churchill is gone. David realizes that this was Kate’s intention. According to Stephen, Kay wishes David is arrested, she still doubts about David as a person and has no clue why he even came to Chelsea Marina. If David was arrested and sentenced for a year, it would prove his loyalty. David arrives home and has a debate with his wife Sally about what happened in the video shop. Sally is concerned about the circle of people around Kay Churchill and Kay herself, but David Markham starts to be under their influence. “You’d like the people in Chelsea Marina. They have passion. They hate their lives and they’re doing something about it. The French revolution was started by the middle class.“67 Ballard often referred to the historical events in his oeuvre and compared them to the actions of the characters. Markham probably referred to the fact that Kay Churchill wants citizens to rule hence the reference.68 Sally replies: “that’s the world we’re living in – people will set off bombs for the sake of free parking. Or for no reason at all. We’re all bored, David, desperately bored. We’re like children left for too long in a playroom. After a while, we have to start breaking up the toys, even the ones we like. There’s nothing we believe in.”69 David Markham supports Kay Churchill and others in an attack on the National Film Theatre with the aim of its demolition. They hurt two members of security which play into the hands of attackers so David Markham can use the suit of the security man. David’s task is to destroy all the posters and pictures of movie stars while Vera tries to turn off the alarms. David asks Kay if this all is necessary but it is clear for her: “They poisoned a whole century. They rotted your mind, David. We have to make a stand, build a saner England.”70 According to Kay and her companions, everything fake and unreal, everything American since Kay despises Hollywood movies, everything that corresponds with consumerism and people’s brainwashing needs to be destroyed as a clear sign. David still insists on leaving the National Film Theatre out of their list of targets and suggests trying some small cinema instead but Kay is relentless. Suddenly, the fire begins to intensify and the group needs to leave as soon as possible. David grabs the lifeless body of a harmed member of security but

67 Ballard, Millennium People, 109. 68 See History.com Editors, “French Revolution“, 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/france/french-revolution 69 Ballard, Millennium People, 115. 70 Ballard, Millennium People, 118. 21 he drops the body as it is too heavy and poisonous fumes of fire are all around. At that moment the guard awakes and tries to attack Markham but he fails and both run out of the National Film Theatre. Markham escapes the guard and enters the boat which stops next to him at Millennium Wheel. Markham notices a man on the boat who stares at him and who observes burning National Film Theatre with a sort of pleasure. It is Richard Gould. Richard Gould criticizes the 20th Century and compares it to the prison we can hardly escape, in which we can not be ourselves: “We’re a rentier class left over from the last century. We tolerate everything, but we know that liberal values are designed to make us passive. We think we believe in God but we’re terrified by the mysteries of life and death. We’re deeply self-centred but can’t cope with the idea of our finite selves. We believe in progress and the power of reason, but are haunted by the darker sides of human nature. We’re obsessed with sex, but fear the sexual imagination and have to be protected by huge taboos. We believe in equality but hate the underclass. We fear our bodies and, above all, we fear death. We’re an accident of nature, but we think we’re at the centre of the universe.“71 However, he believes, like others, that there is a need for exemption and considers the World Trade Center a courageous heroic act whose victims did not die needlessly, so did David Markham’s wife. David Markham is really flooded with a sense of freedom after what happened at National Film Theatre and can not wait to see his co-participants again. This is the moment when Markham starts to succumb and enjoy the harmful acts that he disliked before. Meanwhile, David Markham attends the demonstration at the Broadcasting House. The choice of the BBC is straightforward. “For more than sixty years the BBC has played a leading role in brainwashing the middle classes. Its regime of moderation and good sense, its commitment to the Reithian aids of education and enlightenment, had been an elaborate cover behind which it imposed an ideology of passivity and self-restraint. The BBC had defined the national culture, a swindle in which the middle classes had colluded, assuming that moderation and civic responsibility were in their own interest.“72 The demonstration does not last long and is interrupted by the news on the radio which announces that there was the explosion at Tate’s gallery, over twenty

71 Ballard, Millennium People, 139. 72 Ballard, Millennium People, 150. 22 injured people, and three people who did not survive it. Later on, Markham reads in the newspaper that one of the victims of the explosion is Joan Chang. She ran away with a book while it exploded in her hands. Markham decides to inspect the surroundings of Tate’s Gallery and finds out Joan’s car which is unlocked. The position of a car seat does not correspond with the height of Joan so it is obvious that somebody drove her here. Markham is sure it is Stephen Dexter. There is Joan’s mobile phone in the car and Markham tries the last dialed number, it is a number of Tate’s Gallery. While wondering why Joan called the Tate’s Gallery before her death, Markham is interrupted by Stephen Dexter. He warns Markham to stay away from Richard Gould because he is dangerous. However, Markham is suspicious and believes that Stephen is responsible for Joan’s death, not only because of the position of a car seat, but Tate’s Gallery is one of the goals of the middle class. Richard Gould contacts Markham and asks him for help. He is at the shopping centre, which he calls ‘consumer hell‘, following Stephen Dexter but he loses him. Markham drives Gould to Vera Blackburn’s place. Gould makes Markham aware of Dexter and tells him that this is not the last Dexter’s murder. Then, Richard Gould and Vera Blackburn leave Chelsea Marina and Markham does not hear about them for a long time. Revolutions at Chelsea Marina are overshadowed by ther murder of a TV presenter who returns home from the shopping centre. Somebody shots her right before the door of her house in the morning when everyone can notice it. The police arrest an obese young man who likes pistols and loves the stalking of famous people. Markham is convinced he knows who is the killer and thinks about what Richard Gould told him about Stephen Dexter observing the shopping centre. “A priest brain-damaged by repeated beatings had waded like a sleepwalker into the ever-deeper violence that could alone give a desperate meaning to his life.”73 David Markham also compares the act of murder of a person who speaks to people every day and is loved and admired by many to Princess Diana. Markham wants to inform the police, but at the end decides not to, because the police would find out Markham is an accomplice of many crimes. Still thinking of Richard Gould, Markham visits Vera’s house every day but without success. But one

73 Ballard, Millennium People, 239. 23 day, Vera’s doors are opened and Markham meets Sally there, but besides her, there is no one inside. Sally tells David that Gould visited her last night and may be dangerous because it felt like he hid a gun under his coat. David returns to Stephen Dexter’s place and the disorder of his interior indicates somebody was already there looking for something. There is a parking ticket in Stephen Dexter’s soutane and car keys. Ticket’s date correlates with the time of the bomb at Heathrow. Markham visits Heathrow’s car park and sees that there is already a car on the parking spot of Stephen Dexter’s parking ticket, it belongs to Richard Gould who interrupts Markham who sits in his car. Markham asks Gould what happens. “We accept deaths when we feel they’re justified.”74 Gould also says that Stephen Dexter is part of Heathtrow attack but he has nothing to do with a bomb but does not want to say who is responsible for it. “You have to see Heathrow attack as part of a larger picture. The middle-class protest is just a symptom. It‘ s part of a much larger movement, a current running through all our lives, though most people don’t realize it. There’s a deep need for meaningless action, the more violent the better. People know their lives are pointless, and they realize there’s nothing they can do about it. Or almost nothing.”75 Gould tells Markham the truth about the Heathrow. “It was part of Kay Churchill’s anti-tourism campaign. It was supposed to close Heathrow for days and make people think about the Third World. They’d cancel their holidays and send the money to Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières.“76 Gould points out that it should have been just a warning which went wrong. People were supposed to open their eyes and think about what is wrong with society. According to Gould and others, people should stop supporting consumerism by going on holiday which they do not really need but spend the money by supporting charities instead. Gould reveals that Markham is the real target of the bomb attack in fact. But he mistakes his surname with the surname of his ex-wife. “Right – the deaths were pointless and inexplicable, but maybe that was the point. A motiveless act stops the universe in its tracks. If I’d set out to kill you, that would have been just another squalid crime. But if I killed you by accident, or for no reason at all, your death would have a unique significance. To keep the world sane we depend on motive, we rely

74 Ballard, Millennium People, 248. 75 Ballard, Millennium People, 249. 76 Ballard, Millennium People, 252. 24 on cause and effect. Kick those props away and we see that the meaningless act is the only that has any meaning.”77 Gould confesses to murder of the TV presenter too, Stephen is not guilty, Stephen is the one who followed Gould and sensed his intention as well as Joan Chang. Gould needs Markham for another devilish plans and Markham secretly knows that he has no other choice since he already became his confederate. When Markham comes back to London, Chelsea Marina is almost vacant. He notices a police car with arrested Kay Churchill inside. When David Markham enters the place of crime, he notices that there is no security at all. “No armed police would guard us, on the safe assumption that a rebellious middle class was too well mannered to pose a physical threat. But, as I knew all too well, that was the threat.”78 Many people of the middle class leave Chelsea Marina, the others build barriers with their fancy cars, reject any kind of aid by arbitrators and even use violence against them. It is certain that people leave Chelsea Marina because they do not want to adapt to life there and are too proud to stay. Those who stayed do not want to adapt as well but use nonsensical violence against others, against their own possession just to let the society know their standpoint. They decide not to pay the bills and not to succumb to the system. “Inhabitants of Chelsea Marina had set about dismantling their middle-class world.“79 People who ruin Chelsea Marina behave as nothing wrong happened. People threw away their realm “as if putting out their rubbish for collection.”80 As walking through the street, passing by the empty houses which slowly become occupied by the foreigners, David Markham thinks to himself: “Were they ready to try a new lifestyle, to face the problems of school fees and Brazilian daily helps, ballet classes and BUPA subscriptions?“81 This thought represents the reason why people leave Chelsea Marina or why people protest there - disagreement with the system, refusal of obeying the rules, and as an answer to the system they act violently. With his question, Markham refers to people’s refusal of consumerism in Chelsea Marina.

77 Ballard, Millennium People, 255. 78 Ballard, Millennium People, 4. 79 Ballard, Millennium People, 6. 80 Ballard, Millennium People, 6. 81 Ballard, Millennium People, 10. 25 David Markham tries to get into a house of Kay Churchill, in order to look for his laptop in where he has material that can connect him to Richard Gould. When he enters her house, he describes the interior, saying: “beside a school blazer with scorched piping was an almost new worsted suit, the daytime uniform of a middle-ranking executive, lying among the debris like the discarded fatigues of a soldier who had thrown down his rifle and taken to the hills.“82 According to Florian Cord, the suit is supposed to be a metaphor for bourgeoisie. Its putting aside is a metaphor too and means refusal of the bourgeoisie, disagreement of the middle class with this kind of leadership.83 As he leaves the house of Kay Churchill with his notebook, he sees Richard Gould standing at the window of the flat at Cadogan Circle. David Markham is outspoken with Richard Gould and tells him that he changes him. Gould replies that it is Markham who wants to change because he needs it. Markham’s life is probably so stereotyped with no excitement that he needs something to bring him back to life – senseless violence. Gould looks at Markham’s wounded hand. “You need to clean that up. There are so many new infections around today, not all of them courtesy of Air India.”84 Another criticism of tourism as nothing beneficial and useful and even harmful. Markham goes to the bathroom to clean his hand and sees Vera together with Sally there. As soon as Markham decides to leave with Sally, it is impossible, because somebody locks them in a room. Meanwhile, Chelsea Marina prepares for Minister and the police to come so Markham thinks Richard Gould and Vera Blackburn do not stay there for a long. Markham hears footsteps above his head on the roof. Due to fear of shooting, Sally and Markham want to leave, so Sally hands him a key. It is she who locked the door in an effort to save him from Gould. Suddenly they see that residents of Chelsea Marina returned home together with the police and Minister. Gould tries to shoot the Minister but does not succeed. Shots repeat twice. As Markham enters the garage, he sees Richard Gould and Vera Blackburn dead in the car. He comes to the car to look at them but sees also Stephen Dexter who points the gun at Markham, instead

82 Ballard, Millennium People, 8. 83 See Florian Cord, J. G. Ballard’s Politics: Late Capitalism, Power, and the Pataphysics of Resistance, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2018, 195-196. 84 Ballard, Millennium People, 274. 26 of shooting him, he hands the gun to Markham and disappears. When Dexter shot Gould and Blackburn, he wore his soutane again. This is the symbol of his regained faith because he never wears it since Heathrow attack. Major Tulloch takes care of Markham so he is not accused of murder, because it was him who gave him permission to spy on people in Chelsea Marina. David and Sally go back to St. John’s Wood to live their life and families return back to Chelsea Marina. “Money, always harder-wearing than asphalt, helped to repave the streets. Amicable negotiations with the management company ended with the promise of a financial sweetener from the council. In return, the company postponed the rise in maintenance charges that had set off the revolt. Public concern that lower-paid workers were being priced out of the London property market shelved all plans for a complex of luxury apartments. Like nurses, bus drivers, and traffic wardens, the middle-class professionals of Chelsea Marina were now seen as poorly paid but vital contributors to the life of the city. This sentiment, repeated by a relieved Home Secretary in many television interviews, confirmed the residents‘ original belief that they were the new proletariat.“85 The ending shows how nonsensical their revolts are. The homecoming of people symbolizes the confession of failure of the revolt, which helps them to live again.

3.2 Analysis of Kingdom Come

The novel is divided into three parts. The story is narrated by Richard Pearson, a divorced unemployed PR manager from central London, whose father became a victim of shooting attack at Metro-Centre, a shopping centre in Brooklands. Duncan Christie, a psychiatric patient who hates Metro-Centre, killed three people, and fifteen people were injured. Richard Pearson is going to Brooklands for the purpose of finding the real truth about his father and shopping centre. Richard Pearson attends father’s funeral as well as Metro-Centre’s manager Tom Carradine who sees this as an opportunity for publicity and who invites Richard Pearson to take a look at Metro-Centre. There are also two women that Richard does not know and when leaves the funeral, one woman looks at him suspiciously.

85 Ballard, Millennium People, 289. 27 Richard Pearson is on his way to Sergeant Mary Falconer, who is about to tell him about the progress of his father’s case, and on that occasion he tells her his impression of the Metro-Centre and compares it to a monster which makes people look tiny in comparison. It is emphasizing of its dominance over the people. Mary Falconer replies that it is probably a purpose because it is supposed to make us better people. “So we buy things to make us grow again.”86 She advises him to stay away from the Metro-Centre. She tells him that his father was not the target and the shooter shot people. The fact that the shooter hates the Metro-Centre is well known since his daughter was injured while Metro-Centre was being built. There are a lot of people who feel it the same way as Duncan Christie. “They think it encourages people in the wrong way. Everyone wants more and more, and if they don’t get it they’re ready to be…“87 This is a clear demonstration of how consumerism changes people’s minds and manages their actions in a negative way. Shopping becomes people’s addiction and rule their lives. As he leaves the police station, Pearson sees a crowd surrounding a young woman, wife of Duncan Christie with their child, waiting for him to be brought by the police car. Full of anger, Pearson wants to attack Duncan Christie but somebody stops him. Geoffrey Fairfax, his father’s lawyer who takes care of his heritage and who also warns him. “Here in Brooklands we had a real community, not just a population of cash tills. Now it’s gone, vanished overnight when that money-factory opened. We’re swamped by outsiders, thousands of them with nothing larger on their mind than the next bargain sale. For them, Brooklands is little more than a car park. Our schools are plagued by truancy, hundreds of children haunting the Metro-Centre every day. The one hospital which should be caring for local residents is overwhelmed by driving accidents caused by visitors.“88 Fairfax demonstrates what Metro-Centre really means and what impact it has on people. People are obsessed with shopping and care of nothing more than that. They lose their minds and human values and their only meaning of life is headless wandering through the Metro-Centre and constant shopping.

86 James Graham Ballard, Kingdom Come, London: Fourth Estate, 2006, 21. 87 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 24. 88 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 24. 28 As Fairfax adds: “this is plague area, Mr. Pearson. A plague called consumerism.“89 Pearson enters the Metro-Centre for the first time to meet with manager Tom Carradine who introduces him the area. “This isn’t just a shopping mall. It’s more like a…religion experience. It’s like going to church. And here you can go every day and you get something to take home.“90 Tom Carradine is an example of a fanatic person. “Surrounded by this cave of transient treasures, guided by this nervous public relations man, death lost its power to threaten, measured in nothing more fearful than bust sizes and kilobyte capacities. The human race sleepwalked to oblivion, thinking only about the corporate logos on its shroud.“91 This statement of Richard Pearson clarifies the atmosphere of the Metro-Centre. It is a world of vanity and superficiality and unreality. Tom Carradine receives a phone call regarding Duncan Christie, he was freed due to lack of evidence even though three witnesses saw Christie at the Metro-Centre at the time of gunshots, a doctor of Brookland’s Hospital, Christie’s psychiatrist and headmaster. This all makes Pearson think about settling in at Brooklands for a while to find out who murdered his father. He moves into his father’s flat. Richard Pearson goes to the hospital to meet Julia Goodwin, a doctor who looked after his father when he was shot and the woman who stared at him at the funeral. He askes her many questions, for instance, if he wore St. George’s shirt with a red cross which should have been a symbol for new kind of fascism, associated with violence. As reading the local newspaper which provides information about the shooting at Metro-Centre, Pearson learns names of those three witnesses – a psychiatrist Tony Maxted, a headmaster William Sangster and a doctor Julia Goodwin. Julia Goodwin arranges a meeting with Pearson at the beach bar in the Metro- Centre. They start a conversation about meeting right in the Metro-Centre which supposes to explain his father’s death. “Richard, think about it for a moment. People come in here looking for something worthwhile. What do they find? Everything is invented, all the emotions, all the reasons for living. It’s an imaginary world, created by people like you. A madman walks in with a gun and thinks he’s in a shooting gallery.

89 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 33. 90 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 40. 91 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 41. 29 Why not start shooting? There are plenty of targets, and no one looks as if they’d mind all that much.”92 Julia Goodwin explains what consumerism does to people, how it infatuates their minds and actions. People can have everything they want mentions and yet they are bored to death. Richard Pearson starts being suspicious and wants Julia to help him with finding the real murderer. Richard finds out that Geoffrey Fairfax and others organize a rebellion at the football stadium. “Using the supporters‘ club in their patriotic livery, they were moving against the immigrant population, harassing them out of their run-down streets to make room for new detail parks, marinas and executive estates.“93 Richard is wondering what is his father’s involvement. In looking for the truth, Richard decides to visit a headmaster of the High School of Brooklands, William Maxted. Maxted also confirms that Christie is not guilty. Richard Pearson meets Duncan Christie on his way to the Metro-Centre. Christie offers old but functional home appliances. Pearson asks him about the price of the fridge. Christie replies that the price is too high for Pearson. After while, Christie reveals that the fridge is for free. “I come every Saturday, sooner or later someone asks, ‘How much?‘ ‘Free,‘ I say. They’re stunned, they react as if I’m trying to steal from them. That’s capitalism for you. Nothing can be free. The idea makes them sick, they want to call the police, leave messages for thein accountants. They feel unworthy, convinced they’ve sinned. They have to rush off and buy something just to get their breath back.“94 Duncan Christie demonstrates shopping addiction and criticizes capitalism. As much as people are addicted to shopping and it becomes a part of their lives, they do not accept getting something for free. If they do, they think they commit a crime and need to make amends by buying something in the shop. Suddenly, a luxury car stops nearby. It is David Cruise, chief of the Metro- Centre cable channel, a darling of all the customers, a leader of the Metro-Centre. “A band struck up ‘Hail to the Chief ‘, and a smile touched Cruise’s upper lip, a faint tremor that spread outwards to annex the muscles of his face.“ 93 Ballard compares consumerism to fascism and David Cruise embodies a dictator. He speaks to people daily via huge TV screens at the Metro-Centre and dictates people what to do and

92 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 66. 93 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 78. 94 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 91-92. 30 people blindly listen to him and consider him a deity. Duncan Christie is almost attacked by people but Tony Maxted, Christie’s psychiatrist and third witness, saves him as well as Pearson. Tony Maxted takes Pearson to his flat to talk and asks Pearson to join them. Maxted disappears from the flat and leaves Pearson alone. Pearson tries to get out of his flat but it is impossible because of the safety device. He tries to break it with a chair and it triggers an alarm. Shortly after, two security men come for Pearson. As soon as they get into the elevator, they hear an explossion. Mary Falconer waits outside and tells Pearson that there is a bomb explosion at the Metro-Centre but as it turns up later, the bomb is in a car at the Metro-Centre’s car park. The car belongs to Pearson. This crime has one victim, Geoffrey Fairfax. These events start rebellions full of violence and hate at the Metro-Centre. “A group of prominent local citizens who felt threatened by the Metro-Centre had mounted and amateurish putsch, an attempt to turn back the clock and reclaim their ancient country from a plague of retailers. Geoffrey Fairfax, Dr. Maxted, William Sangster among others, probably with the connivance of Superindependent Leighton and senior police officers, had seized the chance given them by the Metro-Centre shooting that led to my father‘ death.“95 It means they realize that the only way how to wake up people poisoned by consumerism and obsessed with shopping is to attack the Metro-Centre. Richard Pearson talks to Julia Goodwin about the explosion. Pearson does not understand the purpose of the revolt since he also hates the Metro-Centre but he does not want to hurt anybody. “You’ve still got your job. There are people who were doing very nicely and feel left out. Power has moved to the Metro-Centre and the retail parks along the M25. It’s a new kind of consumerism – sponsored football teams, supporters‘ clubs, marching bands, stadium light blazing all night, cable TV. A lot of people don’t like it. The police, the local council, old-style businessman who can’t get their noses in the trough. They want to discredit the metro-Centre, and they’ll do anything to harm it.”96 As visiting Brooklands racetrack, Richard Pearson meets David Cruise who invites him to his luxury place to talk and collaborate since both of them are involved in advertising. Pearson introduces his ‘new politics‘ to David Cruise. “The new politics

95 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 127. 96 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 132. 31 is going to be a little like pro rugby. Try it out on your next consumer show. Don’t change your style, but now and then surprise them. Show an authoritarian edge, be openly critical of them. Make a sudden emotional appeal. Show your flaws, then demand loyalty. Insist on faith and emotional commitment, without exactly telling them what they’re supposed to believe in. That’s new politics. Remember, people today unconsciously accept that violence is redemptive. And in their hearts they’re convicted that psychopathy is closed to sainthood.” Madness is the only freedom left to them. Pearson becomes Cruise’s advisor and people enjoy it. “In effect, Pearson follows the same trajectory as the narrators of Super-Cannes and Millennium People, outsiders beguiled into serving a regime that they dislike but which appeals to unsatisfied needs that they have long repressed.“97 Richard Pearson is told that he creates a fascist state. “We need drama, we need our emotions manipulated, we want to be conned and cajoled. Consumerism fits the bill exactly. It’s drawn the blueprint for the fascist states of the future. If anything, consumerism creates an appetite that can only be satisfied by fascism. Some kind of insanity is the last way forward.“ Richard Pearson returns to the Metro-Centre to see Tom Carradine and is attacked by Duncan Christie there. During a fight, Duncan Christie takes Pearson’s palm and pushes a bullet into it. It is clear that Christie tries to warn Pearson to be aware of his surroundings and people around him and the Metro-Centre in general and it gives him a hint about the murderer. On his way home from the Metro-Centre, Pearson finds out that his Chinese neighbours are attacked. Sergeant Falconer blames him for being responsible for those violent acts since he works for David Cruise and his TV shows affect the people. “My neighbours saw me as a sinister manipulator helping to sell, not refrigerators and microwaves oven, but a flat-pack führer and an ugly suburban fascism.“98 The new movement created by David Cruise and the Metro-Centre starts to spread. Pearson thinks of his injured Chinese neighbours and of his father and finds a file titled ‘Sports Diary‘, containing information about his last three months of life. Pearson learns that sports teams are just camouflage for spreading violence and racial hatred. “A Metro-Centre newsletter about a discount carpet sale is all that holds

97 Baxter and contributors, “Kingdom Come: An Interview with J. G. Ballard,“ in J. G. Ballard: Contemporary Critical Perspectives, 127. 98 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 188. 32 them together. They long for authority and some kind of deeper meaning in their lives. They need someone to admire and follow. The destination doesn’t matter. The nearest to a leader is a presenter on the cable channel called David Cruise. He winds them up at matches, but he is inadequate, an ex-actor lost without a script. He is dangerous, because the Metro-Centre is the mainspring of their empty lives.”99 This explains Ballard’s comparison to fascism as it shows the same features. The Metro-Centre is on fire. David Cruise speaks to people via TV screens and begs them to help with saving it because there are ones who try to destroy it. Obviously, it becomes a trigger for another rebellion led by sport clubs in St. George’s shirts. As soon as there is no enemy to attack, they start to attack each other. Suddenly, David Cruise faints and falls to the ground. There are rumors that there is a shooter in the Metro-Centre who shot Cruise and it proves to be true. Pearson meets Dr. Maxted outside and decides to go to the Metro-Centre. David Cruise needs to stay alive and needs to be saved otherwise panic prevails and the situation already so bad even worsens if people lose their leader. Pearson asks Dr. Maxter to take David Cruise’s seat because Cruise fights for his life. The police arrive and there is chaos. A woman in the crowd screams because the police want to close Metro-Centre and it triggers even bigger panic. People rush to the entrance of the Metro-Centre and scream: “Defend the dome!“100 The Metro-Centre represents the dome, a place that gives their life meaning and needs to be protected. The police together with Tom Carradine close the entrance so people are unable to escape the Metro-Centre. “The Metro-Centre is secure… Withdraw all army units…Repeat, the Metro-Centre is secure… We have hostages… Repeat, we have hostages…“101 In fact, people imprisoned in the Metro-Centre are the hostages. “The crowd was drifting back into the mall, resigned to a future of eternal shopping. The republic of the Metro-Centre had at last established itself, a faith trapped inside its own temple.”102 Suddenly, what people dream of become a reality. Few people are released from the Metro-Centre at the instigation of Dr. Julia Goodwin Carradine refuses to free those people at first. “Fanatical in his defense of the Metro-

99 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 195. 100 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 212. 101 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 216. 102 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 218. 33 Centre – and, according to Maxted, showing the first clinical signs of paranoia – he sat in his make-up chair at the mezzanine studio, tapping the sheet of paper with his eyebrow brush. He spent hours preparing himself for the camera, but had never actually appeared on the in-house channel, saving this moment for his last stand.”103 David Cruise is still in critical condition and as time passes by, people are still locked in the Metro-Centre. Sangster who becomes Carradine’s adviser proposes him to release five hundred of hostages every day, and so it happened. Julia demands a release of David Cruise but Carradine refuses as he is convinced that Cruise is healthy soon and becomes a leader again. It is a lie. Sitting on the chair and waiting, Richard Pearson notices a man who is looking at him, having a gun. It is Duncan Christie. He throws the same bullet at Pearson as before. This gesture means that the murderers of Pearson‘s father are still here and that people are in danger and wants Pearson to remember it. People in the Metro-Center start to talk about David Cruise’s improving health condition. He is supposed to be able to talk already and is ready to protect the Metro-Center. Tom Carradine decides to celebrate it by releasing other hostages. There are about three hundred hostages left in the Metro-Centre and the same count of rebels. Deciding to find something to eat, hostages learn that all the supermarkets are closed and there is no food available. Carradine announces that people receive something to eat as soon as they clean the surroundings of malls. People have to form ten working groups, each group gets a supermarket. It is a reference to history and its working camps. Julia Goodwin is tired of taking care of David Cruise and runs out of antibiotics since Carradine decides that everything needs to stay in its place because people’s health condition improves. Julia wants Cruise to get out of the Metro-Centre but neither Carradine nor Sangster allows it. The interesting thing is also the fact that there is no plundering in the Metro-Centre. The explanation is that people are so devoted to the Metro-Centre and glorify it. It probably changes when David Cruise dies. Meanwhile, five people hostages die during the police raid, but Sangster comes with a plan to tell others that it is them who are their killers. He does that because it is a sign of their power.

103 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 221. 34 Pearson almost falls asleep when a sudden gunshot wakes him. He thinks it is another police action but in fact, it has a mourning character. David Cruise is dead. Rebels in St. George’s shirt take the bed with David Cruise’s body for a ride around the Metro-Centre in order to wake him up. They believe that when he sees all the goods, it saves him and brings back to life. Julia Goodwin and Tony Maxted tell Richard Pearson the truth. Duncan Christie is not the murderer of his father. It is Brooklands. Precisely, a group around Fairfax. Fairfax loved Brooklands and hated Metro-Centre and organized it. Sergeant Falconery obtained a gun, Tony Maxted found a target, David Cruise but needed a shooter so they picked Duncan Christie. As a mentally ill person, nobody would have believed him if he decided to tell it to somebody. Sangster’s task was to observe the area. Julia Goodwin’s task was to drive Duncan Christie to Metro-Centre. It almost worked but David Cruise did not appear. Even though Maxted and Goodwin told Christie to cancel it, he just needed the target anyway. He wanted to shoot the family of big bears made of plush, a symbol of the Metro-Centre but it did not work and three people died. “The deaths were tragic, but we hoped everyone would see sense. In fact, the opposite happened.”104 The bears are surrounded by people in St. George’s shirts who pray to them. There is also a body of David Cruise. The huge explosion at the South Gate is a signal that encirclement of the Metro-Centre is over. “The Metro-Centre had devoured itself, a furnace consumed by its own fire.“105 Maxted dies in the fire at the Metro-Centre together with Sangsted, Sergeant Falconer, and Christie. The only person who survives is Julia Goodwin. Richard Pearson believes that she is innocent. She is the last one to discover what is the real plan of the rest. The arsonist remains unknown. The cause of the fire is probably the air together with the lights.

104 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 262. 105 Ballard, Kingdom Come, 276. 35 Conclusion

This bachelor thesis focused on British author James Graham Ballard and examined the theme ‘affluence as a threat‘ in chosen dystopian novels - Millennium People and Kingdom Come. Firstly, the thesis introduced James Graham Ballard and his biography. It did not forget to mention his war experiences, the camp imprisonment, and also sad life events that affected his life and his writings. Then, his oeuvre was presented, his very first writings were mentioned as well as his most successful writings, such as Empire of the Sun and Crash. The following part covered dystopian fiction with all its characteristics and important books. The last part examined post-millennial fiction of James Graham Ballard and showed its main features. J. G. Ballard was an exceptional writer for whom it was typical to portray his disturbing visions of near future of mankind in his books, whether it was the environmental problem or problems of society affected by modern technologies. In his post-millennial fiction he presented a catastrophic vision of society plagued by the consumer world and its worship. The aim of this thesis was to depict this topic in selected novels Millennium People and Kingdom Come and to demonstrate the author’s visions and his message. Millennium People showed us a community of people in Chelsea Marina who formed a movement that fought against the adaptation to modern worlds and consumer life with violents rebellions aimed at its symbols. Kingdom Come offered a catastrophic vision of Brooklands, a city ruled by the Metro-Centre, a shopping mall that became people’s shrine. Constant shopping was considered the only meaning of life. Both Millennium People and Kingdom Come demonstrate how comfortable yet dangerous the modern world and consumerism, in general, can be. People have everything and nothing at the same time because they are bored and empty inside. Boredom causes violence tending to be the only way of feeling something but shows us the absurdity of violence as any solution. It also shows us that any form of fanatism is wrong.

36 Bibliography

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