The Sparrow: A Desecration of Faith | The Secret of Rahkat

whatever I tell you in the dark speak in the light and what you hear in the ear preach on the housetops and do not fear Those Who Kill the body but cannot kill the soul but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and Body in hell and are not Two Sparrows sold for a copper coin and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will Matthew 10: 27- 29 the sparrow is a 1996 science fiction novel written by Mary Doria Russell it takes its name from this Bible verse in the Christian worldview nothing happens in either heaven or Earth without God's knowledge even the seemingly innocuous action of a sparrow falling to the ground ostensibly this is a story about Earth's first contact with alien life but it is far more than that this is a science fiction novel that explores themes surrounding spiritualism religion Faith as well as the idea that evil actions can and often are initially undertaken with benign or even benevolent intentions sometimes a well-meaning purpose may lead to unexpected or even devastating results and most of the time when events like this occur upon reviewing the facts of the case it turns out that it could have been easily avoidable had more caution and thought been employed the opening lines of the book sums this up perfectly it was predictable in hindsight the Jesuit scientists went to learn not prti they went so that they might come to know and love God's other children they went for the reason Jesuits have always gone to the farthest frontiers of human exploration they went ad majorum de glorium for the greater glory of God they meant no harm the sparrow is one of the most disturbing books that I've read in recent memory for its depiction of the desecration of both spirit and body if you have not read the sparrow and spoilers is something that you care about then you might want to stop this video soon the twist in this book turned my stomach it made me jittery and anxious as it was truly one of the most uncomfortable and disturbing sections of a book that that I've read in a long time if you like these kinds of stories philosophical slow science fiction stories that take their time releasing their secrets and if you like unveiling the Mysteries and Horrors for yourself then use the Amazon affiliate Link in the description and get this book first but if you don't mind spoilers then continue [Music] forward [Music] hi guys it's Quinn here if you appreciate my content consider hitting the like button it's the only way the YouTube algorithm notices me the book follows a mission led by the Society of Jesuit to an alien world called rot on Earth they had identified a signal it was a signal unlike any other for it had undeniably been sent by intelligent life it was music specifically singing the voices of extraterrestrials we can assume they have some kind of atmosphere that propagate sound waves George said but not necessarily anything we could breathe so they've got something like lungs and mouths and they can control expelled air or whatever it is they breathe and listed and they can hear or there'd be no point to singing right said Jimmy the language doesn't sound tonal to me Amelio said but it's difficult to tell when people are singing there is a sentence structure there are consonant and vowels and something in the throat like glot stops it didn't occur to him to wonder if they had throats the signal had originated somewhere from the vicinity of alpha centuri it was picked up by the search for extraterrestrial intelligence program at the arbo observatory the main character that we follow in this story is the Jesuit priest Amelio Sandos the story opens up in December 2059 from the perspective of Earth it has been about 30 years since the original Mission left for the planet of rot iio Sandos is the only Survivor but he is not as he was due to the effects of Relativity emelo is a lot younger than he would have been had he stayed on Earth and yet his mind and body are in a state of extreme decline as the book goes on the story is unveiled in chunks while jumping back and forth between the present and before and during the mission to Rott Jimmy Quinn Sophia Mendes Anne Mark roacha and DW yarro would also join emelo on this church funded mission to the alien world we eventually learned that on the world of rat that The Travelers encountered two distinct races of beings the Runa and the Jan ATA the Runa were the first of them to be encountered the Runa were a gentle and harmonious species inhabiting the planet rot they lived a simple agrarian life and are characterized by their strong sense of community and cooperation the Runa are depicted as humanoid with fur covering their bodies and prehensile Tales they seem to have a close spiritual connection to their environment and live in balance with nature the humans live among the Runa for some time and realize that they could not possibly have been the beings who sent the signal into outer space the humans Forge robust connections particularly with the Runa known as Asa but as the humans attempt to establish contact and understanding with the alien species misunderstandings and cultural clashes do occur in their efforts to communicate and coexist with the Runa on the planet rot the humans introduce various elements of Earth's culture technology and knowledge the linguist among the crew including amelo sandas make an attempt to teach the Runa language and this eventually leads to a unique form of communication between the two species likely the most significant aspect of this is the unintentional consequences of the introduction of Earth's agricultural methods the humans share their knowledge of farming introducing new crops and cultivation techniques to the Runa while this initially seems like a positive exchange it sets off a chain of events that dramatically Alters the Runa way of life the cultural impact also becomes profound and there is a shift in Thea's traditional social structure and beliefs and most importantly as the Runa adopts more of the human practices and Technologies the balance between the Janna at and the Runa is affected as I said the humans learned early on that the Runa could not possibly be the alien beings who produced The Signal containing the recorded music they would eventually learn that this was in fact the Janna Ada the Janna Ada and the Runa are similar in appearance except for the fact that the Janna Ada are larger and have sharper teeth and sharp claws the Janna Ada have a complex social structure and exploit the Runa for their labor treating them as a subordinate class the Janna Ada were Thea's primary trading counterparts they were a far more sophisticated species as well as being carnivorous the humans eventually encounter supari and he forms a substantial relationship with the mission especially an suari is unveiled to be a more Progressive member within the Janna Ada society which is often extremely brutal to the Runa but far worse things are yet to come for the Runa who have been affected by Humanity's influence due to the introduction of Agriculture into their society their population begins to Boom their numbers expanded far beyond their normal constraints this would turn out to be devastating for them eventually the Runa Village is attacked by the janata and it is there that the true nature of the relationship between the Runa and the Janna at becomes clear the nature of their coexistence was predatory the Janna at had been breeding their prey for adaptability intelligence but most importantly meat because the Runa had learned agriculture from the humans their population had tipped a delicate Ballance previously kept in check by the predation of the janata the janata in response rebalanced the scale the ensuing brutal Massacre also claimed the lives of several on the mission as the janata forces ravaged the Runa slaughtering inhabitants including the infants and obliterating the gardens only Mark and Amelio survived the attack on the Runa Villages rescued by The janata suari Who transports them to his abode since suari is described as a progressive member of Janna Ada Society his cruelty towards milio and Mark can be viewed as a testament to the standard barbarism of their society sapari in the custom of his people strips the muscle from their hands in a process which would render them utterly dependent it is a brutal and painful procedure that Mark does not survive sapari then surrenders Emelio sand to his elder brother and this is where his true suffering begins to cir Emilio is no more than a toy a play thing his humanity is meaningless to this alien being who turns out to in fact be the artist Behind the Music that they had received on Earth and at the hands of halin Ki Emilio becomes a victim of the darkest forms of abuse and degradation a desecration of both body and spirit language his life's work and his Delight which had failed Emelio Sand's word by word now deserted him utterly shuttering in violent moronic waves he could smell the nauseating glandular reek of his own Terror mute he was unable to even think the word for the UN speakable joyless right that was coming not even when his arms were seized from behind but when the powerful prehensile feet locked over his ankles and the belly settled behind him and the probing begin he went rigid with panic and fathomless horror understanding finally what was about to happen the penetration when it came made him scream things became much worse after that perhaps 10 minutes later he was pulled into an unfamiliar room bleeding and sobbing left alone he vomited until he was exhausted he did not think for a long while but only rested eyes open in the deepening Darkness eventually a servant came to take him to the bass by that time his life was irrevocably divided into before and after emelo is repeatedly assaulted by the Janna at and his faith in God which had been strained for much of his life Withers into nothing if there was a God then he had forsaken emelo long ago kept in captivity Emelia resolves to confront his tormentors by attempting to slay his captor in a desperate act Emilio decides that he will assault the next janata entering his cell but things take a terrible turn it is not a Janna ATA that he kills I didn't sleep for a long time I waited for the door to open and I thought about how I could kill someone without my hands he was still standing but he was no longer seeing John Kad so I waited and sometimes I would fall asleep for a few minutes I think but it was so dark it was hard to tell when my eyes were open and then I could hear footsteps outside my cell and I got up and stood in the far corner so I could use the momentum and the door opened and I saw a silhouette and it was so strange my eyes already knew but my body was so primed it was like the nerves fired without my telling them to I crashed into her so hard I could hear the bones in her chest snap John he tried desperately to take the forc against his ruined hands to cushion the shock but before he could make his arms come up they both cannoned into the stone wall and esima was crushed by the impact he found himself on the floor supporting his weight on his knees and his forearms with Aima crumpled beneath him her face so close to his that he could hear her whisper she smiled at him blood bubbling in the corner of her mouth and seeping from a nostril you see Milo your family came for you I found them inadvertently he attacks the Runa child he had befriended before asima had in fact come with members of the second Expedition from Earth in an outburst of rage against all that had happened to him Emelio ends up taking an innocent life misinterpreting the situation the official Earth party which had just arrived on rot concludes that Sandos cold-bloodedly murdered a child deeming him a disgrace after this Sandos an utterly destroyed man is returned to Earth disgraced in the eyes of the world it takes him many many months before he's ready to recount his story themes and ideas Emelio Sandos like so many people in the real world believed that if he lived out his life in accordance with his understanding of the will of God then he would be rewarded in the words of author Mary Doria Russell in doing so we're making a deal that God didn't sign on to emelo sees his relationship with God as a bargain that God has not kept his end of the deal on he feels that he has been seduced by God himself betrayed and assaulted when people go about acting as though they have the endorsement of God terrible things can happen as a result emelo blames God and himself for all of the terrible things that occurred on rakat and now the garden is laid to waste he whispered the wives and the husbands and the children are all dead and there is nothing left but Ash and Bone where was our protector where was God your Holiness where is God now the answer was immediate certain in the ashes in the bones in the souls of the dead and in the children who live because of you nothing lives because of me you are wrong I live and there are others I am a blight I carry death to raot like syphilis and God laughed while I was raped God wept for you you have paid a terrible price for his plan and God wept when he asked it of you SOS cried out and backed away shaking his head that is the most terrible lie of all God does not ask I gave no consent the dead gave no consent God is Not Innocent the sparrow is a science fiction novel that contains within it themes surrounding belief in a benevolent higher power in the face of all of the universes suffering and pain it boils down to the the old philosophical discussion the problem of evil if God is benevolent and all powerful how could he allow evil and suffering to exist in his world if he could prevent it but chose not to he could not be wholly good if he was incapable of preventing it then it would mean that he could not truly be omnipotent there is an aspect of this series that makes me think of the prime directive if you've been following my channel for a while now then you might know that Star Trek the Next Generation is my favorite TV show of all time in Star Trek TNG the federation's flagship the Enterprise is on an infinite mission to seek out new life on new worlds and new civilizations but there is a major rule that the Federation follows it is called the prime directive the events on rot perfectly illustrate why the prime directive is so important in the Star Trek universe the prime directive essentially states that they are in no way allowed to interfere with civilizations below a certain degree of development in the vast majority of cases there are of course exceptions and at times they do break or bend this rule but they also do a good job of showing why it is an absolutely necessary rule to have what I also think is interesting about this specific story is how Society judges emelo and the rest of the mission as the book jumps back and forth between the past and the present we learn that the public is very angry about what occurred on Rott and they need someone to blame for it and I can see why even though the Jesuits meant no harm it was still Reckless to visit an alien world that you know nothing about and attempt to establish contact and it's also the fact that they didn't let the rest of the world know about it in my opinion first Contact is something that all of humanity should share a role in when emelo hears this signal the music from another race of beings in space he is filled with a kind of divine certainty his belief in God which was always a bit shaky becomes more solid at that point he is filled with purpose because what they are doing is God's will they don't have to worry because God will take care of it to some this is what faith is and to some this is arrogance and when perceived arrogance leads to such devastating results of course people are going to be outraged it's the classic tale of the road to hell is paved with good intentions in an attempt to share their love of God and their way of life with the Runa they destroyed themselves and the lives of many others the author the author of this book was actually born into a Catholic Family and later in life became an atheist but interestingly enough when she was writing the sparrow she was in the process of converting to Judaism Russell has a PHD in biology and anthropology anthropology is of course essentially the study of all of humanity every aspect of us from our genetic Roots here on Earth to the complex social structures we manifest with great variance throughout the world a major aspect of anthropology also relates to how we as a species develop over time there are three distinct fields of anthropology archaeology sociocultural anthropology and biological anthropology to quote the UCC website on anthropology biological anthropology deals with the evolution of humans their variability and adaptations to environmental stresses using an evolutionary perspective we examine not only the physical form of humans the bones the muscles and organs but also how it functions to allow survival and reproduction the reason I am mentioning this is because I have no doubt that Russell made use of her knowledge of bioanthropology when creating the extraterrestrial life forms the Runa and the janata according to Russell herself the idea for the Runa and the Janna a to begin when she took a look at two species of ostop osine human ancestors hervores and carnivores she begin to wonder what it would be like if the herbivores and predators were still around and the predator species had domesticated its prey many have suggested that Mary dor Russell may have been inspired by a science fiction novel from 1958 titled a case of conscience by American author James blish there are several similarities from the main character's name which is rues Sanchez in bl's work in comparison to Emelio Sandos in Russell's work to the premise of Jes priest sent on a mission with others to make first contact with an alien race on a planet far away Russell apparently got asked about this comparison enough to where she had to leave a message about it on the frequently asked questions segment of her website in the message she denies being inspired by bl's work stating I get this question all the time because bl's 1958 story is about a Spanish Jesuit in space I was 8 years old when that book was published and a long way from Reading science fiction I was still reading horse books like Black Beauty and The Black Stallion people have told me that bl's protagonist is named ruis Sanchez so they thought that I must have named Emilio Sandos in omage to blish in fact Emelio got his name from the pharmaceutical manufacturer who made my son's cold medicine Danny had a cold in 1992 and when I started the book and I noticed the name Sandos on the medical label I like the sound of it no symbolism or homage beyond that I'm afraid the sparrow has been heralded as a masterpiece by some and in 1998 it won the coveted Arthur C Clark award Russell also released a sequel to The Sparrow in 1998 called children of God so I'll probably end up checking that one out as well conclusion the sparrow is truly one of the most disturbing books that I've read in recent memory it's been a hard one to stop thinking about it's not a book that makes you feel terribly good after you read it in fact it leaves a kind of bitter taste in your mouth that stays with you for a while there is a deep sadness to this story something bordering on pessimism and yet it's not quite saying don't try to do good things but instead maybe says consider the potential ways it can go wrong beforehand don't go in blindly and naively and expect the universe to line up behind you and bless you for your Good Deeds thanks for watching guys have you read the sparrow what did you think of this pretty disturbing book what are some of the other science fiction books that you'd like to see me cover on this channel thanks so much guys it is now time for patreon questions now I asked you guys if you had any questions relating to the concept of first Contact first question has there been a story written where first Contact is smooth enough that war isn't the first result unease and weariness but at least a genuine effort to reach out after the initial meeting second have you read the Wayfair series by Becky Chambers I've heard it's good and I would like a seasoned opinion well first off I have not read that series but I'll add it to my list as far as stories where first Contact is pretty smooth I might mention something like childhoods end although those aliens were pretty controlling and humans didn't really have much of a choice in the matter and then there's also contact by Carl Sean which is about uh benevolent aliens that contact Humanity um and then I also might as well throw in the Vulcans from Star Trek first Contact it's a pretty straightforward contact when we contact UM the Federation the Vulcans and the andorians because they are a very evolved races of beings and they only choose to contact races of beings that have reached a certain level of development my favorite contact story is the Andromeda Strain despite our proclivities about viruses do you think that first contact with a microbial being can potentially be benevolent so The Andromeda Strain is a book by Michael kryon who also wrote Jurassic Park and I know that it has something to do with a virus that we uncover in the atmosphere though I have not read this novel I think the idea of uncovering benevolent microbial organisms that are extraterrestrial is interesting and it makes me think of the concept of symbiotic organisms organisms that somehow benefit each other with a microb I feel like there's three potential ways that it can go um and that is coexistence Without Really affecting each other maybe we can just live on the same planet and coexist and these microbes really don't affect us at all positive or negative the other way is of course it could be a virus and it could be something that we cannot coexist with it could be something that you know infects us or causes some sort of disease in humankind so there could be no coexistence and then of course the third option is you know coexistence and somehow benefiting each other right now you have billions of foreign microbes living in your body and those microbial organisms are essential to the functions of your body so is it possible potentially but ultimately I don't think you could ever be able to tell with something that is from an entirely different evolutionary tree than everything else on Earth how it would affect us and then there's always the potential of mutation it could be one thing in the beginning and become something that is harmful later how would first Contact fundamentally challenge existing religious beliefs well I think it's going to be different for every religion and different for every religious person some religions don't really make room for the potential existence of extraterrestrial life some religions state that we are God's Soul creation we are the dominant species of the universe we are made in the the image of God so therefore there really couldn't be an extraterrestrial civilization that's also potentially designed in the image of God that is more advanced than us because they would potentially be visiting us it's all going to boil down to individual interpretation some people are going to think that they're potentially Angels some people are going to think that these are potentially Devils some people might worship the aliens themselves because then they would be a higher power I'm not into astrology as I've said before but I do think it is interesting how certain people that believe in astrology believe that we are entering into the age of Aquarius which is the age of science and reason and some people have said that something like alien beings or UFOs could be potentially the god of the age of Aquarius as humans move further away from tradition religions they look for something else that can lead Mankind and keep us from going astray how do you feel science fiction has evolved in regards to First Contact do the old school Concepts such as HG wells's the war of the world still terrify and hold relevance with its original Concepts compared to something like the modern Jeff vandermeir novel Annihilation very interesting question I'll start off by saying I think that earlier science fiction stories about first Contact like war with the worlds were more rooted in paranoia you know the idea that the Martians were watching mankind from Mars covertly waiting for their moment to strike and that they had the superior technology it's a very paranoid idea now I think in the 12 decades or so since War of the Worlds and due to the knowledge that we've gained about the universe since then I think that there is still of course an element of paranoia but there is also a certain sense to a lot of modern stories about first Contact that we are humbled before the Universe um because you bring up Jeff vander's Annihilation the area X trilogy and that trilogy basically says that we don't know anything about the universe that something could just stumble upon us this broken biological machine From Another Dimension From Another World potentially Far Far Away could somehow make its way to Earth and have devastating effects on the planet and we may never be able to understand why or even comprehend why it's happening because the universe really is this vast powerful thing full of all sorts of unknowns and all sorts of incredible possibilities and all sorts of incredible potential dangers that we aren't even aware of we've learned that the complexities of the universe may be something that we can never understand I think compared to a lot of later stories like the sparrow like the annihilation Trilogy the idea of a Maran Invasion seems quite simple is there anything humans can do to to prepare for First Contact good question and the answer is really not much I don't know if there's much that we can really do to prepare for First Contact until we collectively come together as one human species now perhaps first Contact will be the driving factor that makes that happen that's something that a lot of people tend to believe I don't know if that's necessarily true also the circumstances surrounding first Contact I think could vary so widely that there really is no way to prepare for it these could be aliens that drop out of another dimension um these could be aliens that were living below the surface of Mars this entire time they could be microbes like we mentioned earlier so I think there are so many factors and so much variance that I don't think there's any real way to prepare unless there was somehow some way that we knew about their existence way ahead of first Contact like so if we if we had the ability to gather intelligence about the type of life forms they were and their level of Technology before coexistence and maybe we could prepare by studying them in that manner otherwise I don't really know so that is it for patreon questions this time if you would like to support this channel you can click the patreon link in the description thanks so much for listening guys if you want more Quinn's ideas check out the podcast episode that I did with the Dum Jabar podcast one of the biggest Dune podcast we had an awesome time discussing all things Dune and making predictions for the upcoming movie you can also check out the video that I did with biblo Theory we did a direct onetoone comparison of Hyperion to Dune two of my favorite epic sci-fi books check that video out as well thanks so much guys [Music]

Channel: Quinn's Ideas

Views: 279,743

Keywords: Sci Fi, Science Fiction, Books, Lore, Explained, The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell

Id: Xz5KHF2wV-U

Length: 34min 47sec (2087 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 17 2024