Nazis Compared To Story Essay, Research Paper
What if a there was one feature on or in a human being that separated them into two groups, with each filled with hate for the other? With the Asian ethnicity and white race being the two most dominate ethnic/racial groups in the world, imagine these two groups having nothing but pure hatred for the other, and a world completely divided . This scenario is the basis for James Alan Gardner?s short story, Three Hearings Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream. In this story, instead of using realistic races, Gardner splits society by having a group of people with a snake-like figure in their blood, and a group without. He shows the evolution of his fictitious society through three crucial events between Supreme Patriarch Septus XXIV and Anton Leeuuenhoek, Charles Darwin and Britannic Majesty, Anne VI, and Dr. Julia Grant and Senator McCarthy. These three events intimately discuss the discovery of the difference in blood types and the horrid repercussions that the discovery might bear. Compared to actual historic events, Gardner?s three created events closely resemble the Nazi movement in Germany, which began with Adolf Hitler?s emergence as political leader on January 30, 1933 . The Nazi movement denounced almost all ethnic groups, in particular the Jewish, and through his story, Gardner successfully display the ills in discrimination, racism and prejudice. In his short story, Gardner productively conveys to his audience that to focus on petty differences such as the color of one?s skin, the sect of their religion, or in this case, the contents of their blood, is profound and ultimately leads to horrific events such as the German Nazi movement.
The first crucial event that is seen in the short story is, as stated before, between Supreme Patriarch Septus XXIV and Anton Leeuwenhoek. Gardner describes the scene and situation well by writing:
?The man currently standing before Patriarch Septus occupied a seldom-seen middle ground in the quantity of restraints: two solid handcuffs joined by an iron chain of business-like guage, strong enough that the prisoner had no chance of breaking free,??
From this description, it is learned that obviously, Patriarch has a wealth of power and is evidently deciding on this criminal?s fate. After learning of the criminal?s name, and following a customary prayer before the trial, Septus learned of the charges facing Leeuwenhoek. In reference to a fundamental biblical text of the Mother Church, which stated that each drop of one?s blood was coursed with a legion of serpants, Leeuwenhoek quickly denied the passages? truth . Claiming he created a device similar to the telescope, that is able to amplify one?s vision, upon examining blood he concluded that although he was able to find ?minute animalcules? within the blood, there were no signs of snakes. In response to Leewenhoek?s findings, Septus ruled that the case could not be decided at that present moment, calling for Mother Church to build a device similar to Leewenhoek?s to see what and what not blood held. The problem with Septus? ruling, was that not only did Septus rule that the Church was to build a device and examine the blood, but he also declared, ?I think the church should make magnifiers available to all persons who ask. Let them see for themselves.? As we see in the second event in Gardner?s short story, Septus? ruling sent society into complete disarray.