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“If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth…”

“If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth…”. By Arthur Clarke. Setting:. Time: Future; 1 day Place: The Moon P.D.: Multi-level space colony 250,000 miles from Earth. Inside a plastic dome, fierce sun, jet black sky. Moonscape: “jumbled wasteland of craters, mountains, ravines”. Plot:.

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“If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth…”

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  1. “If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth…” By Arthur Clarke

  2. Setting: • Time: Future; 1 day • Place: The Moon • P.D.: Multi-level space colony 250,000 miles from Earth. Inside a plastic dome, fierce sun, jet black sky. Moonscape: “jumbled wasteland of craters, mountains, ravines”

  3. Plot: • When he is ten, Marvin’s father takes him outside for the first time for a long trip across the moon. • Marvin sees Earth and feels a pull toward the planet (homesick.) • His father talks of nuclear pollution and reinforces the dream of returning to Earth in some future generation. • Marvin prepares to take part in keeping that dream alive.

  4. Characterization: • Marvin • Ten years old • Lives in a dome on the moon • Earth calls to his heart – the sight of it awakens in him desire to know colors, sea, rain, snow… • Causes him to feel the “anguish of exile” = he understands why his father brought him here  to learn the dream (goal) of reclaiming the Earth. • Marvin’s father • “Drives with a reckless and exhilarating skill as if…trying to escape from something.” • Takes son on a pilgrimage to see the Earth to pass on the goal of reclaiming it in some later generation. • Views pilgrimage as a rite of passage for his son.

  5. Conflict: • 1. Man vs. Self • The men vs. their dream • The Earthmen on the moon colony vs. the need for a future goal • Having the dream to return to Earth some day gives the men strength to carry on and look forward to the future. • Man vs. Nature • The men vs. nuclear war/pollution • The Earthmen cannot return home

  6. Theme: • A goal gives people reason to live • Our actions on Earth will have consequences for humanity and our planet • Men carry future of the race • “But unless there was a goal, a future toward which it could work, the colony would lose the will to live, and neither skill nor science nor machines could save it then.” • A boy’s growth into manhood • Rite of passage • Learning of the dream and the role he will play

  7. Literary Elements & Techniques • Point of View – 3rd person omnicient • Foreshadowing – the sky is black; the stars do not twinkle • Allusion • #1 – the title refers to psalm 137 in the Bible • #2 – Armageddon (explained on pg 160.) The final battle between good and evil.

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