The article introduces us to several sections from different science fictions while they share a similar concept: migratory cities. Taking a closer look at the development of these science fictions through the timeline order, we would find that the authors gradually put more efforts to make the story logical and reasonable. This leads to a better immersion experience and, more importantly, attracting readers to reconsider the future by providing a possibility.
Taking the Snowpiercer as an example, it is a tiny city within a moving train. In the story, there are only hundreds of residents living on the train that endlessly travels on the rail to escape from the extreme weather. What makes this city logical is that these residents are divided into different class divisions and are located in different cabins. While the upper-class residents enjoy their life in luxury furnished cabins, the middle-class officials have proper rooms and food, leaving the lower-class residents sharing a crowded living area. Ironically, the lower-class residents are the most important people who maintain the functions of the train while the upper-class does nothing.
Adding this social content makes the Snowpiercer a microcosm of many contemporary cities. Take Hong Kong as an example, the upper-class lives in mansions, while the middle-class lives in apartments, with the lower-class living in subdivided units with poor conditions. These extreme contrasts urge readers to reconsider the possibility to break the barriers between different social classes in both the story and the reality.
In conclusion, I think it is the logical story and the background related to the reality that makes science fictions not only serve as a story but also pushing readers to think about the possible future.
—- Lin Wei Alex, 3035767554
I appreciate how you compare the sci-fi narratives with real-life conditions. What more does sci-fi offer beyond poverty/ inequality issues we are well-noted of? In fact, Hong Kong is not entirely like the Snowpiercer. People of different classes could encounter each other in various spaces in our city. What does the confinement in the sci-fi tell more about the class division issue?