Nature and Civilization

One of the binary oppositions that was listed in class was civilization or culture vs. nature. A classmate brought up in discussion that to them, civilization seems more cyclical than nature and nature is more unpredictable. I take issue with this assessment in both the novel and actual life. In his article, “The Archetypes of Literature,” Northrop Frye asserts that, “in human life a ritual seems to be something of a voluntary effort…to recapture a lost rapport with the natural cycle” (103). Therefore the cycles or repetitive aspects of our lives and our culture stem from nature itself and our desire to perhaps be closer to, or emulate it.

In Lucifer’s Hammer, nature (the comet) wreaks havoc over civilization and seems to be a random and catastrophic occurrence. This natural, catastrophic event does bring the survivors closer to nature (I would assume, I haven’t actually read that far yet). The comet was a natural disaster that forced humans to exist more like primal beings, like animals. It is also true that in the novel, many characters seem to wish for the comet to strike. Fred Lauren believes the comet will strike so that he can grant himself permission to commit murder. Less outwardly, Harvey Randall wishes for this disaster so that his financial and domestic life will be erased.

By desiring this disaster that is basically the destruction of their civilization, it is possible that these characters are unconsciously hoping to start fresh. This fresh start will be closer to nature and they will be able to begin new cycles more closely connected to nature. Their new lives will exist without all of the extraneous elements that civilization and culture bring along with them like marriage, debt and law. The cycles of nature and civilization are connected and become increasingly intertwined like most of the oppositions found in the early part of this novel.

1 comment

  1. We might disagree less than you think. When I was talking about civilization being cyclical, I didn’t mean to imply that this means evolution doesn’t occur. I believe my original idea was that both civilization and nature operate in cyclical fashions–an idea that I expect Frye would support as his table of contents for the myth as an archetypical structure is one based on the expectation of a repeated sequence of natural events that inform the creation of narrative (a part/representation of civilization)–but that civilization more intentionally progressives in its cycle, whereas nature haphazardly (or, to use your word, “unpredictabl[y]“) progresses or evolves. We may just have misunderstood each other on this small, possibly semantic, point.
    I do agree that the characters in Lucifer’s Hammer seem intrigued by the possibility of a new world or life. In fact, I think this interest–and for some even hopefulness (no matter how cynical and depressing that may sound)–furthers the idea that human civilization vies for the opportunity to, “change” (read: progress, evolve, un-stagnate). In fact, it just occurs to me that for the characters in the book the comet acts as fuel, no matter what end someone wants to get to (going in to space, murder, a new life without responsibility) it seems to act as an excuse for people to accept change or take action, while the comet itself (being narrated throughout as well) has been patient in its journey. The comet has spent millions of years floating through space, to one day maybe, perhaps, affect the cycle of our planet in even the slightest of ways. The comet (nature)’s affect on Earth’s nature is completely unintentional, constantly being pulled by gravitational fields, never promising to actually change anything. Despite astronomers in Lucifer’s Hammer pointing out the unlikelihood of the comet having an extreme impact with Earth (due to all these constant variations), human civilization will not permit the comet to go without notice. Before it’s even possible to assume a catastrophe, people do. It seems a fairly alright example of what I mean when I talk about nature allowing itself to evolve unpredictably, while civilization likes to take every chance it can get to introduce change.

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