The Way to Ground Zero: The Atomic Bomb in American Science Fiction

by Martha A. Bartter

Bartter surveys 250 American science-fiction stories, and American SF novels--with occasional overlaps of stories made into episodic novels--that have some relationship, often direct, sometimes marginal, to atomic weapons and their effects. . . . Highly recommended for popular literature collections. Choice

Divided into three principal parts, The Way to Ground Zero begins by exploring The Way to Hiroshima. Through a detailed analysis of the works included, Bartter reveals the sociopolitical assumptions that authors took for granted and develops a method by which these assumptions can be disclosed. She shows that encoded in these fictions we can find the patterns that led us to create and use the atomic bomb. In the second section, Bartter looks at the deeper assumptions on which these sociopolitical assumptions rest, focusing particularly on those which perpetuate considerations of nuclear war--both in science fiction and in actual policy making. Finally, Bartter explores alternative assumptions proposed by innovative science fiction writers. Throughout, an attempt is made to forge a deeper understanding of the ways in which science fiction both reflects and influences human and international relations. Students of science fiction and of literature and politics will find Bartter's work enlightening, provocative reading.

Bartter argues that a close examination of American fiction, particularly science fiction, can offer important new insights into the events surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. The use of an atomic bomb to end the war followed a scenario long established in science fiction--defeating our enemy with a super-weapon developed by native technological genius. By examining the interrelationship between this persistent plot-device and the development and use of a real super-weapon, Bartter sheds new light on the transactional role of literature and real life. Her analysis is based on a comprehensive theory of human nature, substantiated by exhaustive research in science fiction archives and libraries and covers a large number of stories--both well-known and relatively obscure--featuring super weapons or super war and published by American authors.

Genres: Science Fiction

290 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 1988

Reviews

[Karl Bunker · Rating 5 out of 5]

An examination of the atomic bomb in science fiction might seem like an outdated topic. The years since this book was published have seen both the end of the cold war and an abundance of newly-minted threats to domestic peace and human survival. So the days of worrying about an apocalyptic "World War III" may seem, if not nostalgic, at least anachronistic to current readers.

But it was in science fiction concerned with nuclear war that humanity made some of its most detailed, thoughtful and adventurous explorations into a wealth of issues that are anything but dated: Is war inevitable? Is war, or simply violence, a part of "human nature"? If so, what makes it so? What is "human nature" anyway? Can war be prevented? How might it be prevented? By world government? By the threat of annihilation? Through social engineering or improved psychology? By "redirecting" humanity's (supposed) violent instincts? All of these notions and many more have been explored in the pages of science fiction, and this book is an excellent history of this exploration.

Martha A. Bartter writes a thoroughly entertaining and interesting history. Many volumes such as this one are unreadable exercises in "scholar-babble"--language whose apparent purpose is to impress graduate-school professors rather than convey actual information. Not so with this book; when Bartter uses terms like "existential guilt versus existential shame" they're defined clearly and used with genuine purpose.

This is a book that will appeal to those interested in the history and analysis of science fiction, but really it deserves a wider audience than that.