The Great Bay: Chronicles of the Collapse, Essay Example

How Dale Pendell Risks by Depicting a Positive Future in The Great Bay

Dale Pendell’s The Great Bay: Chronicles of the Collapse presents a speculative view into events that happen after a global flu pandemic in 2021 that eliminates most of the human population in the world. It follows the geological, ecological, and climatic transformations that California goes through during the 14 millennia from 2021 to 16000. Von Mossner reports, “Covering the time span from 2021 to 16000 N.C., Dale Pendell’s speculative novel The Great Bay chronicles the profound climatic, geological and ecological transformations that California undergoes during these fourteen millennia” (Von Mossner, P. 203). Due to climate change and global warming, the sea level has risen and covered most of the place and made a bay that gives the novel its title. Pendell addresses the small scale of human life by compiling texts based on individual human accounts with a geographical focus in consideration as they contemplate what to do and what not to do. Von Mossner writes, “Human life becomes unimaginably small on such a time scale” (Von Mossner, P. 203). The author’s approach differs from that in many other novels, in which the end of the world is presented from a negative perspective. However, Pendell does not risk his book being dismissed as fantasy because of this approach which does not merely present a naïve idea of a cohesive post-apocalyptic society but instead gives a rationale for it. Instead, he considers all factors that will contribute to the portrayed post-apocalyptic human interactions. Mertens describes The Great Bay as a novel that uses new innovative techniques to depict a wide-scale event. Mertens writes, “It requires new and innovative techniques of storytelling” (Mertens, p. 9). It is possible to use evidence from critical references Pendell’s book to justify these arguments.

Pendell focuses on the cause of the apocalypse, a similar perspective in most texts, which makes the text not be the author’s imagination. The beginning of the novel shows the chaos that followed a mass extinction of the human population by a flu pandemic on a global scale. He writes, “There was a rumor that the disease was an army bug, a genetically engineered biological weapon that had back-fired. … The disease certainly spread with an engineered efficiency—two hundred million died in the United States in the first month” (Pendell, p. 2). The world’s dynamics are characterized by deaths and chaos during extinction, as well as immediately after it. This portrayal shows similarities with the idea of a global apocalypse that people know. A similar approach is in The Stone Gods, which considers the catastrophic implications of World War III. He reports,” There has been a Third World War, 3-War and this nuclear war” (Mertens, p.12). The main characteristics include a highly contagious disease, death, and chaos. The author goes further to recognize the statistical reality that total extinction is almost impossible, and there are always going to be a few survivors who would then struggle to reconstruct what was already there. The characteristic of distrust and uncertainty is significantly present in the novel. The novel expresses the speculation about the origin of the virus that caused the extinction of most of the human race. There exist claims that the military engineered the virus. This reaction is typical of the human response to catastrophes both in other existing texts and from previously observed human behavior. The aspect of climate change is the ultimate focus of Pendell’s book. The rising sea levels cause coastal towns to be submerged. Mertens claims that Pendell finds a way to represent the “seemingly unrepresentable” (Mertens, p. 16). Throughout the text, there is dwindling of the vision to flashes, which gives a snapshot view of the planet going into the next ice age. It comes out as a textual representation of how civilization springs up in the interglacial ages. This realistic and similar representation identifies Pendell’s text as not merely fantasy.

The author uses a scholarly approach in the text, which distinguishes his work from the rest of the end of the world text. This approach gives Pendell a detailed view of how humans may reconstruct themselves and society after such an event. The book provides the reader with both gnostic and practical learning in addition to the dramatic presentation. Pendell demonstrates an extensive knowledge of anthropology, botany, engineering, and basic bushcraft and survival techniques. He views humanity as advanced at the time of the collapse. Pendell states, “If after climate catastrophe organized society were somehow able, after many years, to reconstitute itself in another ecology, what will have been lost?” (Pendell, p. 85). He also emphasizes and shows significant knowledge of spiritual practices like occultisms, psychedelics, and Buddhism. Further penetration into traditional religions provides insight and a new perspective of religious activity after the collapse of human civilization. This approach presents the book as an archeological site for the future and past. He states, “Whereas McGuire structures his book as an archaeological site, Pendell’s is built up as a collage of texts collected and introduced by a future scientist” (Mertens, p. 83). The details mentions give the reader an assurance of the authenticity of the account provided in the text. Pendell explores the ability of humans to use the knowledge that has developed over the years. Humans developed these technologies, and they understand how they work, their opportunities, and their dangers. This development in human understanding of their surrounding places them at a strategic position to use their knowledge to reduce the negative aspect of global catastrophic events. Pendell looks back to the Bronze Age to justify the value of past advancement for the future. Mertens states that “There is a sort of movement that mirrors our past development all the way back to the Bronze Age” (Mertens, p. 85). While other texts of this time focus on the negative aspects of the time after apocalyptic events, Pendell’s text ushers a new era of such material that now considers human development of knowledge about various aspects of the world. It is possible to explore a post-apocalyptic future that is not very negative if human beings make maximum use of the experience gained over the years.

However, there is a danger of philia for an apocalypse because of Pendell’s depiction of a pleasant state of things immediately after the end of the turbulence of the collapse. From the text, Pendell expresses how humanity begins to work together towards a cohesive society shortly after the period of the turmoil. The book states, “That’s what people are supposed to do … I don’t think anybody survived who wasn’t in some kind of group” (Pendell, p. 26, 29). This calming turn of events is the opposite of what the other authors have depicted, raising the risk of Pendell being termed naïve. For a significant portion of texts in this aspect, chaos and turbulence reign long after the catastrophic events with no hope of humanity’s reconstruction. Pendell introduces a new view of human interactions after the occurrence of devastating events. He identifies humans as social beings capable of upholding their existing social institutions and beliefs before and after the catastrophic event. In the text, religion stands out as one of the most critical social institutions whose reconstruction in a post-apocalyptic time determines how humans behave and interact with each other. Religion acts as a unifying factor for the remaining humans on earth. The author explores the traditional religions of occultism, psychedelics, and Buddhism. He claims, “The sheer variety and diversity of the cults discouraged lethal rivalries” (Pendell, p. 6). He places significant interest in Buddhism and its role in the reconstruction of a cohesive society, playing a significant role in civilization. Von Mossner argues that The Great Bay focuses on civilization and its starting point. He states, “After all, it takes the near-complete collapse of human civilization as its starting point” (Von Mossner, p. 209). While this view seems to focus on the author’s attitude towards the religion, it also explores the significance that the religion has with nature. The environment is the primary concern in such a society, and focusing on a religion that emphasizes the role of the natural environment gives insight into how humans can address the situation. It justifies Pendell’s view of humanity, making a cohesive society, and working together.

In conclusion, Pendell’s novel provides a new view of the post-apocalyptic world and society. He focuses on the cause of such extinction by considering the changes in the earth’s natural environment and the role of human beings in the cause of this destruction. He uses a scholarly approach to demonstrate the extensive knowledge of human beings in the present age and how they can use the same knowledge to alleviate the negative impacts of catastrophic events. While his work presents the risk of desire for an apocalypse, Pendell uses his knowledge of religion and its role in society to justify the ability of human beings to work together to form a cohesive society. Therefore, Pendell’s positive view of a world after an apocalypse does not risk his novel being dismissed as fantasy.

Works Cited

Mertens, Mahlu. A Matter of Time: Richard McGuire’s Here, Dale Pendell’s The Great Bay, and Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods as Literary Attempt to Capture the Timescale of Climate Change. Diss. Ghent University, 2016.

Pendell, Dale. “The Great Bay: Chronicles of the Collapse.” North Atlantic Books. 2010.

Von Mossner, Alexa Weik. “Science Fiction and the Risks of the Anthropocene: Anticipated Transformations in Dale Pendell’s The Great Bay.” Environmental Humanities 5.1 (2014): 203-216.