"And that was true. I really didn't care. It was like if I put you in the Spiderhead and gave you the choice: Which of these two strangers would you like to send into the shadow of the valley of death?" (56).
In the short story "Escape from Spiderhead" we follow Jeff and track his thoughts regarding the conditions he is living in in Spiderhead. Each day he is given different drugs while the coordinators record his and the other subjects' reactions. Overall, reading this story was quite disturbing. The fact that they were creating this medicine to allow people incredible sexual pleasure, but then immediately revoking those feelings so that humans are able to carry on with their lives sans emotions. Additionally, there is such cruelty in the conditions where Jeff is residing. Him, along with the others, are given all of these medications, not knowing exactly how they will react. Later on they even ask the different testers which person they have feelings for and which they wouldn't mind getting Darkenfloxxed. Yet, Jeff argues (expressed in the quote above) that he understands the severity of Darkenfloxx and wouldn't want even his worst enemy to have to suffer through it. Arguably, Jeff is in this institution for a reason, but does the truly deserve all of the cruel and unusual punishments he is put through?
In the end, Jeff successfully escapes from this institution, yet I can't help but wonder how humane this process is. Jeff and the other subjects are treated like lab rats on a day to day basis and I can't wrap my head around the logic behind it all and the little sympathy Abnesti feels for the testers. I feel that this short story greatly explores the humanity of humans. Abnesti seems to not care about the emotions of any of his subjects and distinctly only cares for his experiments and gaining the scientific results he wants. Jeff proves however, that even though he was put into this experiment for committing a crime, he is the least evil of all. Even when he has the change to confront the other subjects with Darkenfloxx he chooses not to. The story explores the battle between good and evil, but moreover who is good and who is evil. Evil, which in my opinion, is Abnesti, the man with zero apathy for anything, and good, which is Jeff who, although a criminal, is never cruel towards others.
I like how you started off with a quote at the beginning and your observation that the story is about who is good and who is evil.
ReplyDeleteI like how you started off with a quote at the beginning and your observation that the story is about who is good and who is evil.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you started with a quote. It was captivating, I also enjoyed your examination of the humanity surrounding experimentation, it's contrast, and your link with the motifs of good and evil. I think that 'evil' would be those with little to no empathy while 'good' would be those with empathy.
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