| Xen: Ancient English Edition by D. J. Solomon |
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Third Place $100.00 scholarship
The world is a terrible place. As jobs disappear, people are forced into lower and lower
standards of living. Nobody cares if a husband abuses his wife, or if his wife neglects
their kids. Morals simply don't exist. It's become an anything goes society. It wasn't
always like this though. Oh, no, when Man first formed, he was a peaceful creature - if a
little deprived of today's conveniences. Then he found weapons. Simple at first, but
more advanced as time went on. Woman started staying home to raise children, and
Man had something to protect. When some Men realized it would be easier to take from
others than to do themselves... war was born. From then on, Man just became more
confrontational, more aggressive and less caring. Or at least that's what Pawkey
Seneschal believes of Man.
Dr. Seneschal, you see, is a very cynical Man. When we first meet him, it seems that he
is a Complainer. Indeed, he discourses at length to the crimes of the world. Sexual
exploitation. World hunger. General dislike between people. We see some of his
unhappiness in his own failed marriages. Although he is a learned medical man, he
appears to take no pleasure in his craft, beyond the yearly convention he attends. A
Man well aware of the wrongs in his world, he seems to be completely ignorant of the
greater forces in life - besides Water, carbonated and sweet, but not fattening (of
course).
In the first three of the books specifically about Dr. Seneschal, we see the same thing -
he is unhappy with life around him, but does nothing about it. He merely walks through
every day, bitter to those around him. One gets the feeling that, beyond himself, he
doesn't much care what happens to the world. We write him off as someone who talks
much and does little. That is, until the last two chapters.
In the second to last chapter, we are introduced to an earth completely different than Dr.
Seneschals. People live for hundreds of Rotations, or years. They may choose any form
of work they want, for however they want, and then switch to any other form of work that
interests them. Everything is free, and no one envies another because they a can get
everything at some time or another. There is no sickness or disease, no hunger or
deprivation. Everyone respects the wishes of others, and strangers help each other out
for no reason at all. The world, it seems is perfect. Everyone knows about life before the
Plague - it wiped out most of the population, and for the good, it would seem. Life before
- no one even wanted to imagine what it would be like to have lived there. Murder.
Hatred. Pain. It was all right there to read in the history books.
As we read about this idyllic life, from the point of an adolescent living there, we, along
with the rest of the population, hear that aliens have landed on Earth. After years of
interplanetary travel, finding no intelligent life, one has come and found us. The aliens
are friendly, and wish to talk to the populace at large. This is arranged through DCD's
(Domiciliary Communication Devices) The entire population tunes in for the broadcast of
the Minister speaking to their alien friend. Five minutes into the broadcast, their world
turned upside down.
The history books, it would seem, aren't quite right about the Plague. It wasn't a disease
that suddenly sprang out of nowhere, and Man didn't realize his wrongs and strive to fix
them. No, the Plague, the change of heart, it was all deliberate. It was all the result of
one Man's work. That Man was Pawkey Seneschal. It seems that he woke up one day
from a dream, and had a vision that could, and would, change the world. So he saved
for fifteen years and bought a large island. He staffed it completely, and worked on his
idea. When he succeeded, he had created an extra chromosome. He puts this into a
complex virus, which will seek out everyone in the world and cause them all to sleep
deeply. No one can escape the virus, and it will identify all the scumbags of the earth -
they will never wake up. The Survivors will be instilled with a new, 47th chromosome,
which will not only eliminate bad habits, it will make them kinder and more understanding
towards their fellow man. In addition, it will cause everyone to live far longer than was
"normal".
The populace are stunned. Everything they knew about the Plague was wrong. They
owed their existence to this one man, who had chosen to not survive. He knew he would
never get to see the result of so much hard work, but he went forward with it in order to
give them the kind of life he thought they deserved. And they spent time mourning for
those who had died in conflicts in this terrible time? No more! It is decreed that all past
holidays be abolished, and the two days in which they found out the truth hailed as new
holidays.
The world is a beautiful place. Everyone works so that all may have what they desire. No
husband ever would abuse his wife, and no wife ever neglects their child. No man is
looked down upon for the choices he makes, and hate simply does not exist. Tolerance
of all is practiced, and love is the real way to find happiness. Man has gone back to the
days of his creation and become a peaceful creature once more.
XEN is, on the surface, a book that makes no sense. There are ten books, in addition to
several excerpts of the Wind and Water on Earth betting about Man. The books aren't
really in order, and all are written in the second person, malting it difficult to ascertain
anything about the actual subject of the story. As you go through, you see a few of the
same characters more than once, yet they still are disjointed, with no real purpose.
Once the entire collection is finished, however, we see how every book is really about
Dr. Seneschal, either directly or indirectly. Yet why would a book such as this be
devoted to only one man?
Why shouldn't this book be about one Man? One person, seeing the pain and hatred in
the world around him, took it upon himself to fix it. Sacrificing himself, he made the world
a beautiful place again. In this way, Pawkey is not that unlike Jesus on the cross. We
look at Dr. Seneschal as a complainer and yes, he does complain, but don't we all? How
many times have you walked down the street and heard person after person
complaining about almost anything - the weather, traffic, other people? How many times
have you thought I wish there was something I could do? Then to read this book, and
see how one man, by himself, stopped the complaints. He stopped the pain, He stopped
the hatred. He made people happy to have whatever they had. Pawkey Seneschal is
indeed an amazing example. Not everyone can buy and island and create another
chromosome as he did, but he makes us realize that there is something that everyone
can do to make their part of the world a better place.
When he wrote this book, Mr. Solomon may have thought he was writing a battle of the
sexes book. Maybe he thought he was writing a book cataloging the ills of the world.
What he really was writing was neither of these. What he truly was writing was an
example. An example of how we all can do something about our little part of the world.
He showed us that yes, the world is flawed, and yes there is a lot wrong, but he also
showed us that we are each capable of making it better. For that we owe him thanks.
The world is a terrible place. As jobs disappear, people are forced into lower and lower
standards of living. Nobody cares if a husband abuses his wife, or if his wife neglects
their kids. Morals simply don't exist. It's become an anything goes society. It wasn't
always like this though. Oh, no, when Man first formed, he was a peaceful creature - if a
little deprived of today's conveniences. Then he found weapons. Simple at first, but
more advanced as time went on. Woman started staying home to raise children, and
Man had something to protect. When some Men realized it would be easier to take from
others than to do themselves... war was born. From then on, Man just became more
confrontational, more aggressive and less caring. Or at least that's what Pawkey
Seneschal believes of Man.
Dr. Seneschal, you see, is a very cynical Man. When we first meet him, it seems that he
is a Complainer. Indeed, he discourses at length to the crimes of the world. Sexual
exploitation. World hunger. General dislike between people. We see some of his
unhappiness in his own failed marriages. Although he is a learned medical man, he
appears to take no pleasure in his craft, beyond the yearly convention he attends. A
Man well aware of the wrongs in his world, he seems to be completely ignorant of the
greater forces in life - besides Water, carbonated and sweet, but not fattening (of
course).
In the first three of the books specifically about Dr. Seneschal, we see the same thing -
he is unhappy with life around him, but does nothing about it. He merely walks through
every day, bitter to those around him. One gets the feeling that, beyond himself, he
doesn't much care what happens to the world. We write him off as someone who talks
much and does little. That is, until the last two chapters.
In the second to last chapter, we are introduced to an earth completely different than Dr.
Seneschals. People live for hundreds of Rotations, or years. They may choose any form
of work they want, for however they want, and then switch to any other form of work that
interests them. Everything is free, and no one envies another because they a can get
everything at some time or another. There is no sickness or disease, no hunger or
deprivation. Everyone respects the wishes of others, and strangers help each other out
for no reason at all. The world, it seems is perfect. Everyone knows about life before the
Plague - it wiped out most of the population, and for the good, it would seem. Life before
- no one even wanted to imagine what it would be like to have lived there. Murder.
Hatred. Pain. It was all right there to read in the history books.
As we read about this idyllic life, from the point of an adolescent living there, we, along
with the rest of the population, hear that aliens have landed on Earth. After years of
interplanetary travel, finding no intelligent life, one has come and found us. The aliens
are friendly, and wish to talk to the populace at large. This is arranged through DCD's
(Domiciliary Communication Devices) The entire population tunes in for the broadcast of
the Minister speaking to their alien friend. Five minutes into the broadcast, their world
turned upside down.
The history books, it would seem, aren't quite right about the Plague. It wasn't a disease
that suddenly sprang out of nowhere, and Man didn't realize his wrongs and strive to fix
them. No, the Plague, the change of heart, it was all deliberate. It was all the result of
one Man's work. That Man was Pawkey Seneschal. It seems that he woke up one day
from a dream, and had a vision that could, and would, change the world. So he saved
for fifteen years and bought a large island. He staffed it completely, and worked on his
idea. When he succeeded, he had created an extra chromosome. He puts this into a
complex virus, which will seek out everyone in the world and cause them all to sleep
deeply. No one can escape the virus, and it will identify all the scumbags of the earth -
they will never wake up. The Survivors will be instilled with a new, 47th chromosome,
which will not only eliminate bad habits, it will make them kinder and more understanding
towards their fellow man. In addition, it will cause everyone to live far longer than was
"normal".
The populace are stunned. Everything they knew about the Plague was wrong. They
owed their existence to this one man, who had chosen to not survive. He knew he would
never get to see the result of so much hard work, but he went forward with it in order to
give them the kind of life he thought they deserved. And they spent time mourning for
those who had died in conflicts in this terrible time? No more! It is decreed that all past
holidays be abolished, and the two days in which they found out the truth hailed as new
holidays.
The world is a beautiful place. Everyone works so that all may have what they desire. No
husband ever would abuse his wife, and no wife ever neglects their child. No man is
looked down upon for the choices he makes, and hate simply does not exist. Tolerance
of all is practiced, and love is the real way to find happiness. Man has gone back to the
days of his creation and become a peaceful creature once more.
XEN is, on the surface, a book that makes no sense. There are ten books, in addition to
several excerpts of the Wind and Water on Earth betting about Man. The books aren't
really in order, and all are written in the second person, malting it difficult to ascertain
anything about the actual subject of the story. As you go through, you see a few of the
same characters more than once, yet they still are disjointed, with no real purpose.
Once the entire collection is finished, however, we see how every book is really about
Dr. Seneschal, either directly or indirectly. Yet why would a book such as this be
devoted to only one man?
Why shouldn't this book be about one Man? One person, seeing the pain and hatred in
the world around him, took it upon himself to fix it. Sacrificing himself, he made the world
a beautiful place again. In this way, Pawkey is not that unlike Jesus on the cross. We
look at Dr. Seneschal as a complainer and yes, he does complain, but don't we all? How
many times have you walked down the street and heard person after person
complaining about almost anything - the weather, traffic, other people? How many times
have you thought I wish there was something I could do? Then to read this book, and
see how one man, by himself, stopped the complaints. He stopped the pain, He stopped
the hatred. He made people happy to have whatever they had. Pawkey Seneschal is
indeed an amazing example. Not everyone can buy and island and create another
chromosome as he did, but he makes us realize that there is something that everyone
can do to make their part of the world a better place.
When he wrote this book, Mr. Solomon may have thought he was writing a battle of the
sexes book. Maybe he thought he was writing a book cataloging the ills of the world.
What he really was writing was neither of these. What he truly was writing was an
example. An example of how we all can do something about our little part of the world.
He showed us that yes, the world is flawed, and yes there is a lot wrong, but he also
showed us that we are each capable of making it better. For that we owe him thanks.
| © Copyright 2004-2008 by Avar Press. All rights reserved. Copyright of the individual essays belongs to the respective writer and may not be reproduced in any fashion without express written permission from each author. Interested parties may contact the author via their high school or by sending correspondence to Avar Press. |
| Nichole Norling Homeschooler St. Louis, MI The Love of a Man |
