Conversation with madmen?” by Isaac Asimov.

“Conversation with madmen” was written by an American writer Isaac Asimov. He was best known for his works of science fiction. This story is included in the science fiction novel “Peddle in the sky”, published in 1950.

This story is about an alien, named Arvardan who took a jet with the Earthmen. During the flight the passengers discuss the Time when people at the age of sixty are forced to leave the planet for younger generation.

In spite of all fact that the author depicts the forthcoming future, the story is about our daily routine. That’s why the story evokes these strong feeling and emotions because the situation is close to the readers.

The text is not full of devices. But one of the striking features is that the text is penetrated throughout occasionalisms (The Sixty, The Time, The Grand Tour, Council Day, The Brotherhood, Society of Ancient, credit, Outsider). Even if the word is familiar to us it changes the meaning in the text. Describing the future the author are forced to introduce new words and terms.

The author even changes the name of the cities (Washenn, Chica), but anyway it is easily to translate them as Washington and Chicago. The author supposes that in the future the Terrestrial capital will be Washeen. The author depicts the situation on the Earth. The planet is not good for living. (From the dark wine-purple of the extreme stratosphere, Earth presented a fabulous appearance. Beneath him the vast and misted land areas in sight (obscured here and there by the patches of sun-bright clouds) showed a desert orange. Behind them, slowly receding from the fleeing stratoliner, was the soft and fuzzy night line, within whose dark shadow there was the sparking of the radioactive areas.) The problem that the author raises is that the Earthmen have destroyed their planet, it becomes inappropriate for living because of radiation.

One problem the author raises is a matter of discrimination. When the earthmen and creatures from the other Galaxies began to communicate, the last ones began to despise the Earthmen. Though they tried to look naturally in their presence. The author shows the Arvardan’s attitude to his fellow passengers (Of course he had grown into the habit of thinking of Earthmen in certain set caricature types, and even now the word "Earthman" seemed an ugly one to him… Now certainly he would have no objection to eating with an Earthman, or even bunking with one in case of need-assuming the Earthman were reasonably clean, and healthy. In fact, he would in all ways treat him as he would treat anyone else, he thought. Yet there was no denying that he would always be conscious of the fact that an Earthman was an Earthman. He couldn't help that. That was the result of a childhood immersed in an atmosphere of bigotry so complete that it was almost invisible, so entire that you accepted its axioms as second nature... Intermarriage, for instance, was quite unthinkable.).

Because of the bad conditions of living on the Earth, Society of Ancient has confirmed that an Earthman at the age of the Sixty are forced to leave the planet in order to give opportunity to live for younger generation. The passengers of this jet are going to do the Grand Tour. This pair is about sixty, that’s why it is the last chance to look at the Earth.

Another passenger claimed how many days left for him. (I've got exactly twelve years, three months, and four days left. Twelve years, three months, and four days. Not a day more, not a day less.) The author uses repetition to emphasize the effect of the utterance. It is quite scary to know the exact date of the death.

At the same time people still be able to delay the day of their Time by having money and relationships with Society of Ancient. It can prove that the corruption still exists. (I knew a man once who was sixty the year after the 810 Census and lived till the 820 Census caught him. He was sixty-nine before he left off. Sixty-nine! Think of that! … He had a little money, and his brother was one of the Society of Ancients. There's nothing you can't do if you've got that combination.).

Analysis

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