The planet Lagash has 6 suns that
constantly illuminate the whole planet completely, not a corner even dim; total
darkness unknown. Thus, when the time comes that these suns are kept on a
single file, leading to a total eclipse, people become aware of the actual presence of darkness. Fear,
doubts and drama ensue.
How does one know what darkness is?
You have to know darkness to know what light
is. But apparently in Lagash, there is no such thing as darkness, which I find
absurd. In the radio play, there are mentions of buildings and domes. If we
were made to imagine these things as humans, then undoubtedly, there will be
the presence of shadows --- of darkness. And apparently, citizens of Lagash do
not get blinded from the ridiculous amount of light that seeps in to their
eyes. There was also a mention of a tunnel and the experience of darkness for them; such thrill, an
experience of a lifetime, after that, people get diagnosed by claustrophobia or
something worse than that --- claustrophobic fixation. If they knew for sure
that such an apocalypse were bound to
happen, why did they not promote more activities such as this? If they actually
thought of the well-being of their entire existence then they should have made
people endure the insanity they feel
right after and get themselves accustomed to it. The more accustomed they get,
the more natural this insanity would
become for them. Ending their fore sought racial
extinction.
Although it seems that I am just
ranting from all these, Nightfall has
quite a unique and amazing plot. From the sci-fi movies that I have watched and
dropped my jaw at, this one quite left a mark because of the plot. Who would
even thought of darkness being
non-existent? Isaac Asimov did.
0 comments