What is real? How do you know?
Hi everyone, time for another book review!
“A Case if Conscience” is a short novel I picked up in a second-hand book store years ago, but instead of being a pulp-fiction space adventure, was actually a strangely thought-provoking story that stayed with me for years.
The novel opens with the space faring human exploration group finishing their analysis of the distant planet of Lithia. This jungle world is home to an exotic ecosystem that is centered on the reptilian Lithian race, who have their own unique view of science and have mastered technology up to jet planes. What the explorers find strange about Lithian society is that they have developed an eerie parallels with humanity in terms of how they view the responsibility of living in a society as balanced with the freedom of the individual – but Lithians have never known war, murder or revolution. The happy, peaceful lizard people are unable to even comprehend the concept of evil, and there has never been so much as a single theft in the entirety of their recorded history. They are also completely materialist, and the human explorers cannot find a single instance of any superstition, spirituality or religion.
The members of the human exploration team are therefore at odds as what to do with the planet; one wants the planet isolated from human contact, to preserve the Eden-like existence of the Lithians. Cleaver, a cold hearted capitalist, wants to exploit the Lithians to mine a rare, unstable and highly dangerous mineral used to create fusion bombs. Ruiz-Sanchez, a biologist and Jesuit priest, has a darker suggestion, that the planet’s perfection could not possibly exist in reality, and that the entire planet is a demonic creation – a theory that puts him directly at odds with the church he serves.
The group return to Earth, bringing with them a Lithian egg gifted by the planet’s inhabitants. As the debate over what to do continues, the egg hatches and the new Lithian becomes a global celebrity. However the seemingly innocent, child-like questions of the young reptilian figure seem to cause more and more civil unrest, until the Lithian finally leaves for his home planet after causing global chaos.
The ending of the book is ambiguous (no spoilers); it’s unclear if Lithia’s final reality is due to Cleaver’s exploitation of the planet or Ruiz-Sanchez’s desperately spoken prayer.
What did this book teach me about writing?
That an ambiguous ending, and one that questions the nature of reality, can be a good ending if it’s tied to character development. In the end, “A Case of Conscience” isn’t so much about the mystery of Lithia as it is about Ruiz-Sanchez’s struggling faith. Another great example of this style if storytelling is the movie “Inception.” Did Cobb, the main character trying to illegally implant a false memory in a shady corporation’s competitor, ever find out whether he was truly back in reality? Or was he still trapped in the dream world with a facsimile of his children? We don’t know, and the uncertainty is part of why it’s compelling. As for Cobb himself, he came to terms with the death of his wife and his role in her suicide, and he is now content to simply move on with his life – whatever reality it’s in.
That’s all for now, if you have a favorite ambiguous ending, be it a book, movie or television series, please comment below, and don’t forget to repost this article to your timelines. Meanwhile, I’ll have some more fresh stories and articles coming for your enjoyment later this week!
Leave a Reply