The Tunnel Boy Kathryn Ngapo
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AUT Master of Creative Writing The Cystmaster ©Kathryn Ngapo 2010 THE CYSTMASTER Part 1: The Tunnel Boy Kathryn Ngapo A thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Creative Writing (MCW) 2010 School of Communication Studies Thesis Supervisor: John Cranna Exegesis Supervisor: Barry King 1 AUT Master of Creative Writing The Cystmaster ©Kathryn Ngapo 2010 Contents ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP .................................................................................................3 Intellectual Property Rights .......................................................................................................4 Abstract ......................................................................................................................................5 ‘What if: A Thought Experiment’ ...................................................................................................6 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................6 What is science fiction? .............................................................................................................8 The young adult novel............................................................................................................. 11 The Story ................................................................................................................................. 13 The Ideas ................................................................................................................................. 16 Themes .................................................................................................................................... 17 Working in the Genre of Science Fiction – My Process .......................................................... 22 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 25 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 26 2 AUT Master of Creative Writing The Cystmaster ©Kathryn Ngapo 2010 ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgments), nor material which to a substantial extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning. Kathryn Ngapo 3 AUT Master of Creative Writing The Cystmaster ©Kathryn Ngapo 2010 Intellectual Property Rights All intellectual property, including copyright, is retained by the candidate in the content of the candidate’s thesis. For the removal of doubt, publication by the candidate of this or any derivative work does not change the intellectual property rights of the candidate in relation to the thesis. Confidential material 1. The content of the candidate’s thesis is confidential for commercial reasons, that is, the possible publication by the candidate of the thesis, or a derivative of it, as a work of creative fiction for sale. 2. This confidentiality remains until after any commercial publication. For the removal of doubt, publication does not change the intellectual property rights of the candidate of this or any derivative work. 4 AUT Master of Creative Writing The Cystmaster ©Kathryn Ngapo 2010 Abstract This thesis is comprised of an exegesis “What if: A Thought Experiment” and a novel The Cystmaster - Part 1: The Tunnel Boy (referred to hereafter as The Cystmaster). The Cystmaster is the first draft of a science fiction novel and it is aimed at a young adult audience. It explores a post nuclear society 300 years in the future and attempts to revisit the ecological science fiction writing of the sixties and seventies which was resurrected by writers such as Kim Stanley Robinson in his 1990s Mars series. Both the exegesis and the novel examine the tension between Utopia and Dystopia – the novel dealing with the dynamics of existence and ethics in a radioactive world where food and genetic material are commodities to be offered and traded in a no ownership, anarchistic society. The Cystmaster is also a coming of age, love story illustrating the role of adolescents in a society where the guiding imperative is one driven by a collective guilt at the human destruction of the world 300 years earlier. Everyone is attempting to regrow the Earth. Because some people live in highly radioactive environments, those in more benign environments give genetic material, food and other resources to try and balance this equity equation and to ensure world peace. The sacrificial role imposed by this sort of society creates tensions and a loss of choice as well as questions of ethics concerning the roles of children and adolescents. However in striving for a better world, people on the new Earth are drawn together and the general impulse is utopian. The exegesis attempts to define what constitutes science fiction and compares themes and ideas in The Cystmaster to other science fiction novels. To a lesser extent the exegesis also looks at how relevant the novel may be for its intended young adult audience. Aspects of the author’s process are also discussed including some of the difficulties experienced. 5 AUT Master of Creative Writing The Cystmaster ©Kathryn Ngapo 2010 ‘What if: A Thought Experiment’ “Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.’ “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.” “A human being is part of a whole, called by us “universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in all its beauty.” Einstein Introduction This year in completing the thesis for the Master of Creative Writing my goal was to write the first draft of The Cystmaster, a coming of age story, written in the science fiction genre and aimed primarily at a young adult audience. I say jokingly, think Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery, 1987) with a male, child protagonist, set in the future, 300 years after global warming and a nuclear war devastated the Earth - an unlikely comparison although not without some element of truth. Frank Herbert, the author of Dune, one of the most successful science fiction novels of all time, said about the role of science fiction: I think science fiction does help, and it points in very interesting directions. It points in relativistic directions. It says that we have the imagination for these other opportunities, these other choices. We tend to tie ourselves down to limited choices. We say, “Well the only answer is...” or, “If you would just...” Whatever follows these two statements narrows the choices right 6 AUT Master of Creative Writing The Cystmaster ©Kathryn Ngapo 2010 there. It gets the vision right down close to the ground so that you don’t see anything happening outside. Humans tend not to see over a long range. Now we are required, in these generations, to have a longer range view of what we inflict on the world around us. This is where, I think, science fiction is helping. I don’t think that the mere writing of such a book as Brave New World or 1984 prevents those things which are portrayed in those books from happening. But I do think they alert us to that possibility and make that possibility less likely. They make us aware that we may be going in that direction. Who2Biography: Frank Herbert, writer Herbert talks above about two vital aspects of science fiction: the way it can offer both signposts and warnings and also the way that it generates alternative, outside-the-square ideas and solutions. Robinson (1992, 1993, 1995) does this in his Mars series. The Cystmaster also seeks to do this, warning that Earth could be heading towards resource shortages and nuclear war, then imagining a possible scenario of humans surviving and of humanity as a whole living a more peaceful existence. As yet, the ideas are not fully realised because at this first draft stage, it is essentially an exploratory text. Thomas Keneally says “...the first draft is very much finding the tale and finding the dynamics of the thing.” (Woolfe and Grenville, 1993, p.186) When reading The Cystmaster it helps to keep in mind the exploratory nature of the draft, especially as the genre is science fiction and ideas and invention had a large role to play. I was writing this draft to find a story, to create a world and to do a preliminary investigation of a thought experiment. As yet my world is only partially created, my investigation is still ongoing and parts of my story remain hidden. This exegesis attempts to describe the nature of my thought experiment and the nature of science fiction in relation to my story, my process and the challenges I have faced. I will also be looking at some of the themes and ideas in the story and placing them in a context with other science fiction and young adult literature. Although the exegesis