Twillinger’s Voyage
Ebor Press, 2000
According to Daniel Turner’s latest science novel, the “zini” society has existed for millions of years. The zini are an ancient group that functions in ways that Friends will recognize – they make decisions by consensus, they hold what seem to be Meetings for Worship, they have a system analogous to the elders in a meeting, and the eschew violence.
Many of the zini have spent eons traveling the universe aboard “counterplanets” that its members have built. Jerry Twillinger, a 24th century Gulliver from earth, finds himself on the counterplanet Z4, in the asteroid belt outside Mars. Like Gulliver, he must endeavor to understand the beings he encounters, the zini. Physically, the zini are smaller than humans, hairier, and look more like lemurs than homo sapiens. But, intellectually, they are rather similar to humans, just quite a bit more civilized. In fact, they consider humans in general and Jerry in particular to be barbarians. What makes them more civilized and us less so, they maintain, is the manner in which they live their lives, interact with others, and order their societies. Toward the end of the book, Jerry is in the city with nothing particular on his schedule. As Jerry (Turner) writes, without telling us in advance what sort of gathering he is about to encounter,
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We went in, and down the dropshaft to the lower level, entering an auditorium about a third filled with perhaps a hundred zini. It had the same box-shaped seating arrangement as the huge hall on the main level above. A song was in process as we entered . . . There were a few more songs . . . When the singing was over they all sat down, and nothing happened for about 10 minutes. Then a zinae stood up and started talking about the nursery children she had been watching in the playground outside before the meeting. Watching the children, she said, always stirred something inside her that was linked to the creative force. She said the feeling she had, watching the children, reminded her of what she really was. It was a relief to realize that, because for practical purposes she usually felt like a dotty old zinae.
During the next half hour three more individuals got up to talk. Each had something interesting to say and they all followed the basic theme the first speaker had set: the theme of how there are forces inside of us that we learn about through feelings.
I thought about what was going on here, and what I was doing on the little zini world. I realized that the meeting would probably be interested in hearing from me. However, my long practiced custom of reserve made me hold still. The minutes ticked by and I could not keep myself from imagining what I would say. Once my mind had formed the story, an impulse took hold of me and I stood up.
“I first learned there was something unexpected inside of me when I was being tested for my hearing adjustment,” I began . . . “The result was amazing to me . . . more significantly, and unexpectedly, I’ve learned what I am, in the sense used by the speakers before me herre this morning.”
“Where I come from, this whole subject is very muddled. Partly it falls into the category of science, partly it is religion. People don’t like to talk about it because they fear what they don’t understand. My family subscribed to a religion you would regard as primitive. But its concepts were stuck in my head when I arrived here. And immediately I began to wonder how my religion could be true, when it didn’t seem to allow for zini, or widrins.
“Well, a short time ago I had an insight on this subject. We are all sons and daughters of God, no matter what planet we come from. It’s possible to find this out very suddenly, which is what happened to me. But it’s also out there for anyone, because all the basic feelings of life tell you what you are: the feeling when you see a baby, or when you’re watching the nursery tots in the playground; or the feeling you have when you look at a planet, like the earth, from space, and wonder how it got to be the way it is.” I paused, and realized there was no need to say anything further, so I sat down.
When he lands on Z4, because he never before considered himself either inferior or “barbarian,” because he recognizes a high intelligence and decency among the zini, Jerry sets out to learn about society and to demonstrate that he is, indeed, civilized. It is a long, slow process, requiring that he learn to speak zini, read the language (by starting in nursery school), study their culture and their science (by completing elementary and high schools), and become a productive member of Z4 society. As Jerry recounts his experiences, he (and we) learn the philosophy, the structure, and the economy of the zini. In common with Friends, there is a sincere tolerance and respect for others; there is a concern for the community as a whole, for its social and physical well being; and there is an emphasis on the individual responsibility – every zin is responsible for her or his behavior and decisions.
Daniel Turner has written a captivating account of Jerry’s journey of discovery and education, which can be read on several levels, each nicely interwoven. First, there is an enjoyable, science fiction tale of humans inhabiting and developing the moon and much of space in the center of our solar system. But there are other levels to this narrative. Jerry’s education is central to the entire book; from it, as he studies these subjects, we learn a considerable amount about the zini, their history, their language, their culture, their economy, and their customs. However, interestingly, through Jerry’s eyes we learn much about education in general, such as its purposes and effective techniques for achieving these. We also have the anthropological experience of being deposited in a society about which we know very little, but which we come to respect and want to join. We want to be educated in the most fundamental sense of that concept. Both Jerry and we feel that we must learn to speak, to read, to employ subtle, non-verbal communication, to understand how to conduct personal interactions and economic transactions, and how to become a functioning, adult member of the society.
Underlying the entire story is the philosophy and the behavior of the zini. No one ever forces Jerry to do anything. No one tells him he must do this or that. True, there are rules to be followed if one wants to achieve a particular goal or outcome, but the alternatives are always clear and one must choose for one’s self what course to follow. True, also, that older and wiser members of society are present to help counsel and guide Jerry, to even apply “friendly persuasion” at times. However, Jerry and all other members of zini society are ultimately responsible for their own behavior and must make their own decisions.
Many of us have had to reconcile our pacifism with real-world situations. For example, a Meeting to which I once belonged struggled for several years with what to do before deciding we had to resort to a court order and the threat of police enforcement to control a mentally disturbed person who was disrupting Meeting for Worship every week. As a further example, Friends today are agonizing over appropriate, acceptable responses to the horrible acts of terrorism experienced recently, and the extent to which force or the threat of force may be necessary or justifiable. The zini, too, have arrived at various solutions that might be considered unacceptable compromises by some. When a zin is found to have committed an atrocious assault, he is given the alternative of exile or a corrective modification of his personality (a 24th-century version of a lobotomy). It is his choice, but the decision is enforced by the presence of sufficient strength. And, when two major shipments of materials owned by the zini are prevented from being transported to them from moon orbit and are taken into custody by terrestrial authorities who refuse to recognize zini sovereignty, the zini first utilize all available lawful procedures to try to free them. However, when these approaches are thwarted, the zini simply employ their superior force and technology to recover their property. They are careful not to hurt or harm anyone, buy they do use force and the implied threat of even more force to make their point and, ultimately, achieve their goal of “friendly” relations with the governments of earth.
Turner creates these situations and presents the philosophical dilemmas, but he cannot resolve them simply, any more than all of our human philosophers and Quaker thinkers. However, raising these issues and thinking about them seriously in an imaginative and intriguing tale is particularly engaging and of considerable value. Dealing with issues in an imaginary setting may free the mind to consider innovative solutions; it may help us avoid preconceived assumptions or approaches. Perhaps you will agree with the zini solutions. Or perhaps you will, as I did, wish the zini could have found solutions that relied much less on force or the threat of force. In any event, you will be enriched by your encounter with them and with pondering their society and its solutions to some of the same problems with which we grapple.
There was a silence for a few minutes, and then another old zinae got up. “We are honored to have Jerry Twill talk to us this morning,” she began. He is leaving Z4 today and may never return. But it is obvious Jerry has learned the best of what we would hope for any civilized person.”
What will our society evolve to after millions of years of existence, many of which have been spent traveling the universe? What will the Religious Society of Friends look like in our evolved society? Will Friends still need to be a strong voice for pacifism, reconciliation, and unity or will we have convinced enough others so that Quaker principles will be deeply integrated into all of our institutions? And, what will our world be like if Quaker principles prevail? Will there still be terrorism? If so, how will we deal with it?
—Robert S. Tannenbaum ’62
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A Doctor’s Shakespeare
Xlibris, 2001
A retired general surgeon, Foster still actively pursues his interests in medicine, and probably how you would least expect it: by reading Shakespeare. Finding it hard to ignore the numerous medicinal references and observations found in Shakespeare’s works, Foster began collecting related quotes as a hobby. Thirty-eight plays, 154 sonnets, and several long poems later, he turned his compilation into a fun and insightful book to share with others. Foster hopes that his reader will savor Shakespeare’s verses like good wine, sampling topics such as “pregnancy,” “wounds,” “melancholy,” “madness,” and “fermented spirits.” By successfully integrating the worlds of literature and medicine, Foster’s collection will hopefully help in promoting “a more humanistic perspective to a profession whose current readings are often dominated by science and technology.”
– Kate Lovell ’02
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Ninety-four years ago, a collection of alumni poetry was published to commemorate Haverford’s 75th anniversary. The beautifully hardbound book, titled Haverford Verse, featured an original drawing by Maxfield Parrish on the cover and included alumni poets such as F.B. Gummere ’72, J. Parrish ’62, J.F. Wilson ’10, and E.A.U. Valentine ’91. While some may be familiar with this collection (and might even be lucky enough to own a copy, thanks to the recent alumni auction), my own good fortune led me to it only after I had presented the very same idea (unbeknownst to me, of course) to the Alumni Office. How pleased I was to discover that there is already a piece of Haverford’s poetic history published for posterity; and yet, how eager to add some new voices to the tradition of Muse-inspired Fords. We have not quite reached the 100-year mark from that first 1908 printing, but I have nonetheless chosen to issue this request post-millennium, pre-centennial: I would like to put together a second volume of Haverford Verse featuring poems (of all forms), and perhaps even prints (if I can manage to gather enough submissions and more importantly, enough funding). If you would like to offer contributions of any kind, whether it be your work, your sponsorship, or just questions, please contact Arendt Speser ’02, aspeser@alumni.haverford.edu, or Violet Brown, Director of External Relations, (610) 896-1130; vbrown@haverford.edu.
In undertaking this project I hope to assemble a contemporary echo to the sentiments expressed by F.B. Gummere in honor of his alma mater on its 75th birthday:
Nor is thy labor fruitless. Though thy ear
Rings not with praises of the pious seer,
A thousand hearts beat braver for thy word,
And myriad memories shall hold thee dear.