The Machine Stops"

PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research University Center of Ain Temouchent Institute of Letters and Languages Department of Letters and English Language Dehumanization in E.M.Forster’s novella "The Machine Stops" An Extended Essay Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for a Master’s Degree in British Literature Submitted by: Supervised by: Cherif Nour El Houda Belhamidi Selma Board of Examiners President : Hassain Zahira Supervisor : Belhamidi Selma Examiner : Rezigue Fatima Zohra Academic Year: 2016/2017 Dedication First and foremost, I praise the Almighty God for everything and I whole- heartedly dedicate this research paper to my supportive parents, brothers Adel Taki Eddine and Mohamed Amine, my beloved sisters Asmaa and Lina Aya. Acknowledgment My thanks and deep appreciation go to my supervisor Mrs Belhamidi, and to all our professors for their encouragement and guidance. In addition, this dissertation would not have been possible without the unending support of my parents and family. Table of contents Dedication .................................................................................................................................. I Aknowledgment ................................................................................................................ II Abstract .................................................................................................................................. III Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 1 : definition of key concepts .........................................................................4 1. Dehumanization ............................................................................5 2. Alienation .......................................................................................8 3. Faith .............................................................................................. 10 Chapter 2 :Late modernity and democracy ....................................................... 13 1. Control and resistance ............................................................ 15 2. Individualism.............................................................................. 18 3. The importance of personal relations .................................. 21 Chapter 3 :Utopia and Dystopia ............................................................................. 23 1. Forster’s Dystopia .................................................................... 25 2. The inhumanity of Dystopia .................................................. 27 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 30 Work cited .............................................................................................................................. 32 Abstract Forster’s novella has surprisingly an assumption of future elements. However, its symbolism reflects a contemporary society. Forster’s humanist voice may be also a reminder to man about human connection and the loss of humanity. Along these lines, the purpose of this research paper is to identify dehumanization and where should people draw the line of control. Introduction In 1909, E.M.Forster published his only work of science fiction, a dystopian tale titled ‘The Machine Stops”. It is merely the only dystopian short story. Moreover, it is completely different from the dystopias that were written at that time. The Machine Stops is somewhat similar to Well’s The Time Machine and Huxley’s Brave New World. Besides the machine stops does not contain horror and violence in the novels listed above. Nevertheless, Forster depicts a future life of human beings who are almost repressed and dependent on a single machine underneath the earth’ surface. Forster creates an anti-utopian world where everybody is happy. Forster’s novella also cannot be just a simple tale of a futuristic world, but an allegory of bleak and a very negative image of a contemporary culture. Despite the advances in society, the writer develops his own explanation of the future. Moreover, at the end of the tale, he depicts to his readers an image of a dehumanized society and on the brink of collapse. Dehumanization is thus present in ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. The phenomenon is established in language, emotions and law. H.Jack Geiger notes that the dehumanizing aspects mainly deal with the loss or diminishing of human qualities: the inherent worth in being human, the uniqueness of the individual, the freedom to act, the ability to make decision, and the equality of status. These are the aspects observed when reading the “Machine Stops” by E.M.Forster.1 As the enlightenment changed the world into a mysterious one, knowledge was defined according to what is available to the physical senses. Whilst the apparatus or the machine in Forster’s story diminished the set of senses, the universe became more closed, for there is nothing beyond the senses to be studied. Thus, Forster in most his writings and especially in “The Machine Stops” describes people caught in the trap and suggests a way out. 1 Geiger, H. Jack. "The Causes of Dehumanization in Health Care and Prospects for Humanization." In Jan Howard and Anselm Strauss eds., Humanizing Health Care. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1975. 2 Dehumanization is the psychological process of humanness degradation. However, the development of empathy and the establishment of personal relationships between people could be the only solution in order to pursuit common goals. To speak about this topic, we arrived at raising some questions: 1. How the machine in Forster’s novella produces fear? 2. Can reason coexist with belief in The Machine Stops? 3. Does religion exist in Forster’s dystopian tale? Since its introduction in the early 19th century, the term dehumanization has assembled a variety of meanings. It is used to refer or describe the denial of “humanness” to others. As for the question, we hypothesize that the domination of the machine in society takes away the interaction between people. In the novella, each person is isolated. They live far away from each other’s, and their only interaction is through the machine. Humans create the machine; however, the machine takes place over and they start worshiping it. After Forster, human can attain spiritual liberation and enlightenment without the existence of God (the Machine). To answer these questions, I make a research that embodies three main chapters. In the first chapter, I will define some key concepts related to the topic and the novella. These concepts are dehumanization, alienation and faith. Furthermore, other concepts like; modernity, democracy, control, resistance, personal relations and individuality will be discussed in terms of Forster’s novella. In the last chapter, other terms will be also discussed such as utopia, dystopia, and Forster’s ideal about it, besides the inhumanity of dystopia. 3 Dehumanization in E.M.FORSTER’s novella "THE MACHINE STOPS" Chapter one Definition of key concepts It is important to know that the dystopian literature emerging in the twentieth century was mainly taken from the utopian vision that seeks to create a perfect and ideal world. Nevertheless, in the nineteenth century many intellectuals and authors realized impossibility of utopian perspective. Thus, a wave of anti-dystopianism emerged. The dystopian vision tends to present a brilliant and terrifying vision of a soulless society. In his novella “The machine stops”, Forster examines a society as the citizens become increasingly dependent to a controlling machine, a machine that strips away human qualities such as denying others individuality. Forster as a modernist as well as a humanist endeavours to show the importance of human connection, humanness and freedom or democracy above all else. In the light of the novella “The Machine Stops”, it is obvious to speak about three main motifs: dehumanization, alienation and faith, in which I relate some researches that have been already done by some philosophers and writers. 1. Dehumanization : The concept of dehumanization is mainly the psychological process of humanness degradation. It is described as the process of depriving an individual of aspects and qualities that constitute their humanity or “humanness”, thus treating them as inferior to others or less than human1. For this reason denying human abilities such as feeling and thinking. After the fading of romanticism in mid-nineteenth century, a reasonable number of European intellectuals embraced science as the sole verdict of knowledge, including knowledge of humanity as well as society. In his novella “The Machine stops”, 1 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dehumanization 5 Dehumanization in E.M.FORSTER’s novella "THE MACHINE STOPS" Chapter one Definition of key concepts E.M.Forster recounts the events as if it is a spoof for the modern reality, besides the scientific and technological advance. In a volume entitled “The Abolition of Man”, the British writer C.S.Lewis wrote about the imperilments of scientific materialism and notified that "If man chooses to treat himself as raw material, raw material he will be: not raw material to be manipulated, as he fondly imagined, by himself, but by mere appetite...in the person of his dehumanized Conditioners".2 C.S.Lewis called the innovators ‘the

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