If I Forget Thee Oh Earth Analysis

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The exposition of, “If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth” is that in the future, there is a nuclear war on Earth that leaves it uninhabitable causing a great percentage of the population to make a new home known as, “the Colony” on the moon. Meanwhile, some people stayed on Earth in hopes of coming up with a solution so that everyone may return home. Over time, these efforts proved to be useless against the radiation as Clarke describes that, “one by one the radio stations had ceased to call: on the shadowed globe the lights of the cities had dimmed and died, and they were alone at last, as no men had ever been alone before, carrying in their hands the future of the race.”
This leads the reader into the rising action where we are introduced to both …show more content…

On their journey, Marvin notes that his father was driving with, “reckless and exhilarating skill as if—it was a strange thought to come into a child's mind—he were trying to escape from something.” Marvin’s attention, however, is quickly drawn back to the scenery surrounding him as he watches the sun go down as the hours go by. There are also several times throughout the journey where Marvin takes notice of the beautifully isolated scenery. After a few hours of driving, the purpose of this drive is revealed, as Marvin and his father are now able to see the Earth. At first, Marvin can only see how beautiful Earth is and he doesn’t understand why they cannot return home. After all, the only knowledge he has of Earth is from books that talk about how wonderful Earth is. It is in the next moment that the story reaches its denouement. For in the next moment Marvin recognizes that the part of the Earth that should be in darkness was glowing from the aftermath of Armageddon. Marvin’s father then began to tell him the story of how the Earth came to be this way and it was also in that moment that Marvin knew that he would never live to see the day when they could return home. “That was the dream: and one day, Marvin knew with a sudden flash of insight, he would pass it on to his own son, here at this same spot with the mountains behind him and the silver light from the

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