Fifth Head

Tony Ellis · 16 Feb 1999, 11:39 · from urth-v0023.mbox · original

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From: "Tony Ellis" <tony.ellis at futurenet.co.uk>
Subject: Re: (urth) Re: Fifth Head
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 11:39:21 +0000
Message-ID: <urth-v0023-0068 at digest.urth.net>
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Roy wrote:

> >William H. Ansley wrote
> >
> >Since the narrator is supposed to be older that David, this could explain
> >the order of the roll call. It could also be in order of social rank: the
> >narrator is the clone of Maitre and his heir, while David is a mere natu=
ral
> >son, really little more than an experimental control.
>
>     True, but at the time of the incident the narrator is only seven. It
> isn't until several years later, at about the age of puberty, that he lea=
rns
> he is the older brother.
>
Actually, we don't have any reason to believe that the narrator -is- older =
than
David. He -thinks- he's older because his father tells him that he's the he=
ir.

>  The likelihood of such a quaint custom surviving
> that span of time seems, to me, improbable. But then, why what we see of =
St.
> Croix should be on a par with 19th century Europe (gas lights, carriages,
> etc.), rather than the hi-tech society it would take to get there, is no
> less improbable.
>
Not so. One of the things I've always liked about The Fifth Head of Cerberu=
s is
precisely this up-yours to the stereotypical SF colony where the buildings =
are
all new, the level of technology is high, and the dominant culture is Ameri=
can.
You need an awful lot of resources to establish and maintain a "hi-tech soc=
iety",
and the only resource St. Croix seems to have in any abundance is slave lab=
our.
Everything else has to be shipped from Earth, taking twenty years and costi=
ng a
fortune. Easier to pull your carts with oxen. Don't forget too that St Croi=
x has
fought a war and lost. Whatever was achieved by the original French colonis=
ts has
been blown to pieces, while the new regime is corrupt, decadent and bureauc=
ratic,
and governs a steadily declining population - hardly the circumstances under
which a new society is likely to flourish.


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