The 20th century brought there the new philosophical tendencies and categories, which found their realization in the new genres of literature and literary works. The genres of science-fiction and anti-utopia (according to the principles of which Arthur C. Clarke wrote this short story) became the commonplace postmodern events. Such tendencies didn’t appear separately – they had their literal origin in modernism, when historically such manner of writing is probably caused by violent events and rapid technological development. Touching this issue, it should be noticed that U. Eco stated that postmodernism is not only the event of the 20th century – such disposition of thinking happens every critical moment of history, so that it is reiterative.
Arthur C. Clarke brings us to another planet, from which the Earth is observed by the characters. The Earth suffered from the radioactive catastrophe and now people are waiting at the Colony for their home planet to recover. So we can distinguish such main messages in this short story:
1) The author warns us against the nuclear threat. At the end of the II World War such threat became the reality, and probably gave the lesson to all who would like to repeat it. But even nowadays there is the risk of nuclear weapon being used. That’s why the story is actual: if people don’t stop such destructive activity, the image from A. Clarke’s story will become our reality. At least people should think about the generations that will come in future in order not to pass the history about the Earth as ancestors’ legend.
2) The second message is not as obvious as the first one, still these two are interrelated. People live at ht Colony. But there is only darkness outside. When Marvin with his father travel thought the landscapes of their new home, the boy feel uneasy: he is excited with the stars he see, but still the tension going from the dark nooks embarrasses him. All the rises, hills and cavities may be regarded as humans’ history: it is also full of triumphs and defeats. People are in continuous search, and the history of the 20th century often seemed to be a kind of a dark page. Still there are always ‘stars’ overhead, which attract our minds and bring the hope in any difficult situation.
3) The last message is the importance of communication among generations. This message is minor, but it is worth mentioning, as such communication is the source of people’s wisdom, commemoration and traditions preservation. In the story due to such relations between Marvin and his father the Earth would probably become populated again as the memory about the heritage was passé from father to son.
