H.P. Lovecraft’s Temple tells the story of how a German crew on a badly damaged ship during World War One slowly descends into madness. A combination of odd sightings, fear, illness, and eventually violence and suicide leave the protagonist, Karl Heinrich, all by himself on a doomed ocean voyage. Ultimately he leaves his ship and dies while exploring what he believes to be Atlantis. An episode of Star Trek: Voyager titled “Bliss” also deals with theme of a descent into madness. This science fiction 1990’s television show features the starship Voyager’s journey back to Earth, after being flung 70,000 light years away from Earth. Along the way, the crew faces many obstacles, such as in the episode “Bliss,” where the crew encounters a wormhole
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For example, the difference between being lost at sea and lost in space have different connotations. Additionally, in Temple, the crew is entirely German, whereas the crew in Star Trek is of many different species of alien. The most rational characters in each of the stories, Seven of Nine and Heinrich, handle their situations differently. It is also easy to analyze the different strategies of the captains of each ship when in the face of fear. Despite all of these differences, ultimately the moral of each story is the same: don’t let fear overcome rational thought, because that will inevitably lead to faulty decision making. This fact that the two totally different stories have the same moral proves the truth and strength of that …show more content…
In the early stages of Temple, Heinrich had the option of surrendering to the English. However, this added fear of embarrassing his home country leads Heinrich to faulty decision making, particularly when he murders several members of his crew: “I shot all six men, for it was necessary, and made sure that none remained alive.” He shoots them due to their madness and constant insistence on surrender. Heinrich is too prideful to surrender, preferring death. This is a sort of fear never present in the crew members of Voyager. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, saw the future as devoid of racism, classism, or sexism. As a result, the crews of every ship in the “Federation of Planets” within the Star Trek universe are completely diverse. The 24th century humans in Star Trek have absolutely no prejudice in regards to the species of aliens aboard their ships. This is one added aspect of fear in Temple that was not present in Star
For example, the difference between being lost at sea and lost in space have different connotations. Additionally, in Temple, the crew is entirely German, whereas the crew in Star Trek is of many different species of alien. The most rational characters in each of the stories, Seven of Nine and Heinrich, handle their situations differently. It is also easy to analyze the different strategies of the captains of each ship when in the face of fear. Despite all of these differences, ultimately the moral of each story is the same: don’t let fear overcome rational thought, because that will inevitably lead to faulty decision making. This fact that the two totally different stories have the same moral proves the truth and strength of that …show more content…
In the early stages of Temple, Heinrich had the option of surrendering to the English. However, this added fear of embarrassing his home country leads Heinrich to faulty decision making, particularly when he murders several members of his crew: “I shot all six men, for it was necessary, and made sure that none remained alive.” He shoots them due to their madness and constant insistence on surrender. Heinrich is too prideful to surrender, preferring death. This is a sort of fear never present in the crew members of Voyager. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, saw the future as devoid of racism, classism, or sexism. As a result, the crews of every ship in the “Federation of Planets” within the Star Trek universe are completely diverse. The 24th century humans in Star Trek have absolutely no prejudice in regards to the species of aliens aboard their ships. This is one added aspect of fear in Temple that was not present in Star