An Unstill Life: July 2013

I received an email the other day from Tim who had read and enjoyed Sargasso but had many questions that he wanted to know the answers too. I did my best to answer as many as possible, hopefully to his satisfaction.

If you have any question you would like to have answered about the story feel free to email at pete@claymorepictures.com

WARNING SPOLIER ALERT!

If you are planning on reading Sargasso and do not want the story to be ruined I would recommend you not reading this blog before hand. If you would like to read Sargasso, click the picture on the right hand side of the screen and it will take you to Chapter 1. (links will follow at the end of each chapter.)

Tim, below are your questions and my meager attempt to answer them :-)

All the best. Peter-John

Q: How does So-young know what a whale sounds like? Does she like whales? Is this an oceanside city?

A: So-young, as a child in school, became fascinated with marine biology and could not learn enough about it. In her available time she would escape to The State's National History Museum, which was very small but had an excellent display on whales and other marine animals.

Where she lives is near the ocean but the city itself is further up the river. When standing on the top of the tall buildings one could see the ocean off on the horizon. When So-young is on the mountain, after see escapes in the distance she would also be able to see the ocean.

So-young actually got to see the ocean once when she was a girl. The group home that she lived in took a trip up the coast to a medical facility where they girls were given thorough scans and various other test to ensure their health. While on the bus they drove the main road that took them briefly pass the coast. So-young didn't blink the entire three minutes, she was glued to the window looking on in wonder.

Another related yet unrelated note. It is So-young's love of studying marine biology that even made her aware of the word "Sargasso" in the first place, "the desert of the sea." Though not covered in the story Sargasso is the way that So-young views herself, she sees herself as Sargasso, a barren deserted wasteland. Though untrue and all of us who have come to know her would argue differently, this is introspective way that So-young sees herself.

* The other answer. I wrote the description of the Transport Ships and So-young's “view” of them as a mode of explaining what they look like in my mind, to the reader. In the film version it's not like suddenly So-young is going to say “look there's the whale” it's merely for the poetry of the piece. The term “whale” will never be used in the film version. However, when working with my designers when we create the beast in the computer they will be referenced. It's merely a description, I want the ship to be large and terrifying. I thought the idea of a flying whale sounded unique.*

Q: Will people still wear glasses in the Future?

A: Yes. As one who is creeped out by anything touching my eye I am sure of it. :-)

Q: I'm confused, the Tanks dropped the mine that blew themselves up? (reference to chapter 4 when So-young makes it to the war.)

A: I think you might have missed read the paragraph that describes this scene.

"So-young took long quick strides, trying to keep her balance on the steep incline. When she landed on level ground, her legs gave out from under her. She started to get up, but something was coming towards her out of the thick fog, and she hit the deck. A unit of floating tanks passed over, just a foot from her head. The machines hovered with a growling noise and fired bright lights towards the enemy. She stayed low, watching them fly away. She heard three high pitched beeps, and suddenly something jumped up out of the ground under one of the tanks. A land mine. A split second later, the object exploded, flipping the tank upside down and sending it crashing into another."

The scene here is that So-young is laying on the ground, the hover tank flies over her. Then a mine hidden in the ground is activated by the hover tank that is passing over. The mine jumps up. We use mines like this today, they are called Bounding Fragmentation Mines or a Bouncing Betty.

In the Sargasso, these mines are able to be activated in a couple of ways. Either by a large machine driving or flying over it, the mine has a magnetic sensor in it that triggers the mine. Once activated it jumps up and attaches itself to the machine. Like we see in the scene with the hover tank. The other way is that someone could step on it, depressing a traditional trigger which activates the mine, we see that in the scene after with the Thin Man.

Q: Why is she such a big deal? Or is she not a big deal, just another cog? How are other women treated/mistreated?

A: I'll do my best to answer this. Because of the one child policies of the previous generations, which boys were valued over girls, women quickly became a commodity. The State panicked and did not know how to correct this problem. *If you would like to read a little about this I recommend this article: http://www.lifenews.com/2013/07/10/warrior-mothers-miracle-daughters-chinas-battle-for-life/

At first The State obtained all the women and put them in government housing where their only function was to produce children. However, because of the uncleanness, abuse, lack of proper care as fellow humans, etc. The women became depressed and many killed themselves, as they saw no other way out of their never ending hell.

The State then began to modify their program and in time they realized that the women where much happier, better producers, if they were allowed to live in society. They were giving permission to marry if a suitable spouse was approved by The State. They were allowed to work, however they could not have strenuous jobs that required heavy manual labor. The program in time became more efficient and the success rate of births in these conditions improved.

In time the balance between men and women evened out. However, the Mandate continued. The Thin Man references that “women are highly honored” they are and though they are allowed to live in the society, under the conditions of The Program, they ultimately exist for one reason: to produce a population in order to advance The State. (Assumedly for building an army to conquer their northern enemy.)

In the film version you will get a chance to see a little more of this played out. But, to give you a sense of the order of events for So-young's life this is in general what took place for her.

1: She was born to a couple, who had two boys. So-young was the third child birth by her natural mother, however not the last child she would have.

2: After a year an Agent from the Ministry of Population came and picked up So-young and took her to live in a girls home. So-young would never see her parents again, nor would she ever know who they were. All girls are raised in a group “orphanage.” There are no parental rights in The State all children belong to the government.

Note: The boys are sent to boarding school at the age of 6 where they begin learning rudimentary education. By age 9 they are assessed for the occupation and begin their training. There are four classifications.

The first and the highest honored is the military. (So-young's husband would have been in this class)
The second, is working for one of the many various Ministries. (The Thin Man would be in this class)
The third, engineers.
The Fourth and lowest, working in “civilian work.”

3: When So-young “became of age” at 15. She was allowed to move about the city under certain restrictions. She became a hair stylist/barber, which answers your other question What was her job? The salon that she worked in was on the first floor of the building she lived in.

4: While working this job she met the young solider that would eventually become her husband. After gaining approval from The State. They were married in a traditional marriage and moved into their government appointed apartment.

So-young's troubles begin soon after her marriage since she was not able to conceive. She spent most of her off time at the Ministry of Population having test ran on her. Many attempts where made to help her conceive but all of them failed. The reasons for her barrenness were natural and not yet clearly understood by the doctors.

*Note: some have asked, "why was So-young not immediately required to begin having children at 15?" Technically she was required and this is a rather delicate topic. But the short version is this; obviously it takes time for some women to become pregnant and The State though very strict on their rules allows time for things to naturally progress. Because So-young was in a relationship she was not in violation of the law.

After a year or two has passed within a relationship, and a women has not produced a child, this is when the Ministry of Population begins to intrude in on such activities.

So-young's barrenness was discovered by the time she was 18 and it was at that point she begin the special treatments that the Thin Man references in the first chapter.

5: So-young and her husband where married for two years when he had to leave for the war.(Some of this will be covered in the film.) He leaves to fight and is killed some time after. His personal effects are sent home to So-young. There is a small funeral and he is buried in the national cemetery.

6: So-young files and is granted a “six month period of morning,” during this time she is not required to perform her civic duty, nor is she required to come in for her weekly test at the Ministry of Population. Then she proceeds to files other extensions prolonging her time over the next 2 years.

7: We meet So-young on the day after her extensions have ended the government has ran out of patiences with her. In a desperate attempt to buy herself more time she takes a pill, that she bought on the black market, to force her body to act like it's pregnant. The plan works but it doesn't go as she had hoped. So-young is required come onto the Ministry the next day. Of course at that point the lie would be discovered and she would be taken to “The South” or worse.

Q: What is the maternity ward like?

A: They are very nice, state of the art, clean. Remember this is Utopia. The city is immaculate, 10% of the population works day in and day out to keep it that way. At first glance anyone walking around this city would thing “what a wonderful place to live.”

Q: Does So-young read? If so, what does she read?

A: Yes she can read and loves to read. In her apartment there is a bookshelf filled with books that cover a variety of topics but mainly animal biology. She is very fond of nature, which is why she loved going to the Forest Reserve with her husband.

A scene, that will be expanded on in the film, is the hike they take the day before he leaves for the war. I mention in the short story how the reserve was a familiar place to her, So-young loved going there. She loved being outside away from the city. Though she grew up in the city So-young is a country girl at heart.

Major Spoiler ALEART!

Q: Where are these freedom thoughts coming from, this longing for release; journaling, reading, musings on the system's inadequacies, found something from the free state? (The State is suppose to groom this out of people, right? So where is she getting this?)

A: This is a deep question. Yes, The State works very hard to groom the idea of “freedom” out of the people. Which is why the word 自由 (Zìyóu) along with eight other words are “Illegal.”

However, as history is our witness, no matter how hard governments try to blot out thoughts and ideas, in an effort to control the masses, in the heart of all men and women is a desire to be free. Even if we don't know the word for it. Think about 1984 by Orwell and the concerted effort by the Ministry of Truth to remove words every year from the dictionary. The whole goal was to reduce language down to one word. Big Brother believed that if you could remove rebellious words from their language then you could remove rebellious thoughts. However, 2+2 still equals 4.

When So-young sees the word painted on the wall she is shocked by it. She knows what the word is, and she longs to understand it's meaning.

By the time that So-young makes it to the battlefield she has some glimpse of what freedom means. And is banking on the hope that if her country is dead set on fighting whoever it is in the North country, then they must believe something completely different. She has no idea where she is going or what it is like, she's taking a risk. But given the choice to continue being a slave or killed by her own people she chooses to find out what's on the other side of the boarder.

Great questions thanks for asking them, let me know if you have any more.

Peter-John

P.S. I have since posted another Q/A blog if you would like to read it, click here.