The Universe of things by Gwyneth Jones is a short story that takes place in the future where humans and aliens are able to coexist and interact with each other on a daily basis. It’s through the point of view of a mechanic who is trying to help an alien with their car but throughout the story, the mechanic is judgemental and shows disgust and distrust towards the alien for just existing and being around him. For example, when he is in the presence of the alien he judges every aspect of it. From how they look, speak, and their facial gestures. Although, It seems as though a lot of people in this future society are used to seeing and sharing their space with aliens because when the alien walked into the mechanic shop no one acted surprised or amazed but there is still some sort of amazement about them because the mechanic knew that the alien’s car could get featured on the news and it would be good for his business. But there is also this distinction that the mechanic makes of “us vs them”, “human vs alien” because of how different they are and even tries to make the alien seem less worthy or something beneath by referring to the alien as “an animal dressed up, a talking animal from a children’s cartoon”. This story can be seen as humans fearing and feeling anxious towards something that we don’t understand because it’s so different from what we’re used to. For example when the mechanic has a sort of hallucination about his tools coming alive similarly to how the alien’s tools are alive, he is terrified and nauseated and relieved to see that his tools are “normal” and that he’s just an ordinary human.
This short story about a human, looking down upon and judging this alien while also fearing it can also be interpreted as to how in today’s society we treat and view our current “aliens”, immigrants and other minority groups who are viewed as less and treated poorly. One part of the story that stood out to me and helped me make the connection to how we treat immigrants in today’s society was when the alien first spoke to the mechanic. “He wasn’t surprised that it could speak English; he’d only imagine it would not trouble itself to do so.” Many people who immigrate from foreign countries are usually condemned for not speaking English or not even trying/bothering to learn the language. Also, the way that mechanic judges the alien for how it looks and how it expresses itself with gestures that are seen as different from human gestures can be seen in today’s society and how people hold ethnocentric views about others and their cultures.
Questions:
- What does this short story show us/reveal about how we treat others for being different?
- How is the quote “People fear what they don’t understand and hate what they can’t conquer” (Andrew Smith) relate to or is shown in this story?
