You Betta’ Recognize.

Memory and senses alert you to the familiar. You “recognize” something when you have had previous experience of knowledge with a thing or a situation. In an unfamiliar situation, you know, such as a comet destroying half of the world, recognizing familiar people and situations could be a key to survival. The word “recognize” appears in Lucifer’s Hammer fourteen times. If you want to get passive, “recognized” appears twenty-four times.  They all appear in the context you would think, and they mostly pertain to people.

Out of the thirty-eight ways this term is used, my favorite would probably be “Then a worse thought: I could be recognized. As the man who invented the Hammer…” (235).  Obviously this is Tim thinking this right after the impact and the immediate aftermath.  Tim realizes that if he is recognized some sort of panicked riot could ensue and he would be suffering a more personal disaster. This is why he disguised himself as a reporter, etc., until he was rescued.  He recognized that he needed to make himself unrecognizable.  Anyways, it might have sounded a little more compelling in my head.

Speaking of recognizing things from past experiences, Harvey Randall was able to identify that the Brotherhood was using mortars to attack the Stronghold (580).  Not that it’s particularly useful knowledge in present every day life, but at least he was able to put a finger on exactly how they were being attacked.  I would imagine this, what could be considered, useless skill turned out to be something relatively valuable in this new kind of living situation.  He had enough sense to recognize what was going on and led a few people to temporary safety (as far as I know).

I mean, I guess this is kind of a weird word to pick. But I think without recognition (which only shows up ONE time, btw.) some of our favorite characters from this ripping adventure/disaster novel wouldn’t have some of the advantages that they have used for protection.  It’s better to recognize a threat to your life than not, right? I guess the more the characters knew about the world around them pre-hammer, the more they are able to recognize patterns, things and behaviors post-hammer.

1 comment

  1. I wouldn’t have thought of focusing on recognize and its variations. It leads you to an interesting observation, though, which is the emphasis the authors’ place on pattern recognition and its role in kicking in the “fight or flight” evolutionary mechanism. Seen in this light, the book could be seen as an extended argument for Social Darwinism as a necessary foundation for civilization-building (an ideology we ourselves could question).

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