In Gwyneth Jones’ short story, The Universe Of Things, there is a general understanding that there is a rift between humans and aliens and a strong human stigmatization of the aliens themselves. The story takes place in a futuristic model of Earth where humans and aliens frequently interact with each other, where such interaction is normalized to some extent. However, despite this normalization humans still seem to be disgusted by the alien visitors and mistreat them. This can be highlighted by the fact that the aliens are ridiculed by humans where “people would crowed around [them] heartlessly, pointing their cameras” (54), in other words the aliens are treated like a roadside attraction. The alien also “did not expect humans to behave reasonably”( 53) which implies that it commonly came across humans who treated it in a rude and unreasonable manner thus suggesting that humans typically mistreat the aliens. The fact that it was stated that “aliens traveling alone were rarities” (54) also suggests that aliens are prone to experiencing human violence and as a result travel in groups for protection. Even those who do not directly express hatred and violence towards the aliens, still seem to hold hateful views. For instance, although the mechanic attempts to treat the alien with respect and even offers it hospitality, in reality he is embarrassed by the alien’s presence, is uncomfortable with the thought of having it in his home and is even disgusted by the alien itself when thinking about the bacteria it carries. Although this short story is a work of fiction, it is no coincidence that the human treatment of the aliens is parallel to how humans treat each other in today’s society. Just as the aliens encounter mistreatment in the human society, so do people of color, ethnic/religious minorities, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community and other oppressed groups encounter mistreatment in today’s society.
In addition to drawing parallels between the aliens’ mistreatment in the short story and peoples mistreatment of each other in today’s society, Jones also employs irony throughout the text. Since this is a futuristic society where extraterrestrial life and other life bearing planets have been exposed to Earth, it would be expected that all Earth life forms or humans at least would develop a sense of Earth unity just as people would establish a national unity or identity within a country. There may not be a common culture but there would at least be an acknowledgement of unity. However it is evident that no such Earth unity or even human unity has occurred since humans still seem to alienate or categorize each other and other earth life forms into different groups, despite that the fact they are the same species or derive from the same planet. For instance the mechanic states that he has no connection with earth animals and even compares the alien, a non earth derived life form, to an earth animal. This, in turn, shows that humans still insist on distancing themselves and placing themselves above other life forms rather than acknowledging that they are equal and even derive from the same biological ancestor as expressed by the evolutionary theory.
Discussion Questions
- In what ways is the human mistreatment of the aliens similar to how people in today’s society treat oppressed groups?
- In what other ways do humans distance themselves from earth life forms within the story and what is the significance of this?
