Eternity Road And John Wyndham's The Wheel

In Jack McDevitt’s Eternity Road, Nancy Kress’s “By Fools like Me,” and John Wyndham’s “The Wheel,” the authors aim to encourage open minded thinking to the reader to avoid the tragic outcomes of the societies in their texts. Ignorance and tribalism are significant issues that hold societies back from achieving greatness outside of the social norm. The negative use of technology is a common theme among these texts, as the characters in the texts view technology as evil. The reader is shown that when used properly, technology is effective in making life easier and tasks more efficient. In order for society to get ahead, it is important for people to be opened minded to new thoughts and encourage creative thinking. In each of these texts, people …show more content…
These people refuse to take responsibility for their own sins, and instead blame the wheel in “The Wheel” for being evil and books for being blasphemous of their religion in “By Fools like Me.” People in these texts are stubborn and view anyone who thinks differently, such as Davie and Gran in “The Wheel,” or Hope and her Grandma in “Fools Like Me,” as horrible people who need to be killed. Wyndham shows how people in “The Wheel” prohibit anyone from making a wheel, and if somebody is seen with a wheel, “The Priest comes and they burn the wheel. And they take the man away. And to stop him from making any more wheels, and to discourage any other folk, they burn him too” (Wyndham, 186). In “By Fools like Me,” society worships trees and views books as being evil tree killers. Whenever someone in this text sees a book, they burn it which releases carbon dioxide into the air that not only destroyed their environment, but it also destroyed the ability to pass on culture and knowledge by ruining books. Kress shows the ignorance of these people who refuse to break from their tribal beliefs that books are evil, even though their environment is damaged, and they are illiterate, referring to