Apocalyptic SciFi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Apocalyptic SciFi - Essay Example Apocalyptical elements we can find in the prophetical books of Joel and Zecharian and more mature and well-developed apocalypse presented in the book of Iaiah and book of Daniel. So the origin of the apocalyptical genre begins from unfulfilled prophecy and traditional elements drawn in different sources. One more source of apocalyptical fiction was basic mythological and cosmological traditions that open before the seer the secrets of the future no less surely than those of the past. The general object of apocalyptic literature was to solve the difficulties connected with the saintliness of God and the suffering of His righteous servants on earth. The saintliness of God stipulated according to the law the temporal happiness of the righteous and the common prosperity of necessity; for as yet there was no promise of life or recompense beyond the grave. But this feature was not found to obtain as a rule in life, and the difficulties arising from this conflict between perspective and experience centered round the lot of the righteous as a community and the lot of the righteous man as an individual. Old Testament prophecy had addressed itself to both these problems, though it was hardly conscious of the claims of this latter. It concerned itself essentially with the present, and with the future only as growing organically out of the present. Moder Modern variant of apocalyptic literature exists in genre of Science Fiction. Author who writes in the genre of Science Fiction at the same time is close to and far from religion. Every Science Fiction writer tries to be a creator of his own world with its own laws and creatures. Apocalyptic Science Fiction is a branch of Science Fiction that is concerned with the end of whole civilization through the nuclear war, plague or some other general disaster. The nature of catastrophe varies and depends only on author's imagination. In the history there were so unusual disasters and one of them is coming of the darkness described in the story "Nightfall" written by the famous Science Fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is one of his earliest stories and one of the best-known stories. To make sure that "Nightfall" belongs to apocalyptic literature peculiar features of the genre must be identified. Some main aspects such as "the last day of the world", "connection with religion" and "social criticism" that approve this belonging are shown below. Understand the nature of composition helps biography of the author. Speaking about the author Isaac Asimov, he was born on the 2nd of January in 1920, in Petrovichi shtetl, near Smolensk, Russia. His real name was Isaak Judah Ozimov. He was the oldest of three children. His parents were Orthodox Jews. In 1923 Isaac with his parents immigrated to the USA and settled in Brooklyn, New York. There his parents temporarily changed his birthday to September 7, 1919, in order to send him to school a year earlier. Their family name was changed from Ozimov to Asimov. From his early childhood Asimov was an avid reader. He knew Yiddish and English languages and only a few words in Russian. His education began in 1925 in the New York Public School. In 1935 he graduated from high school, in 1939 received a B.S. and in 1941 he earned his M. Sc. in Chemistry from Columbia