Immortality

Entry updated 2 October 2023. Tagged: Theme.

Immortality is one of the basic motifs of speculative thought; the elixir of life and the fountain of youth are hypothetical goals of classic intellectual and exploratory quests. What is usually involved is, strictly speaking, extreme longevity and freedom from ageing, if not actual Rejuvenation – the uselessness of the former without the latter is reflected in the myth of Tithonus and in JonathanSwift's account of the Struldbruggs inGulliver's Travels (1726; rev1735).

One thing immediately noticeable about this rich literary tradition is that immortality is often treated as a false goal, sometimes as a curse recalling the infinitely tedious punishments meted out to Ixion, Tantalus, Sisyphus and theWandering Jew. It is understandable thatGothic fantasies such asSt Leon (1799) by William Godwin (1756-1836),Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) by CharlesMaturin,The Mortal Immortal (inThe Keepsake for MDCCCXXXXIV, anth1833;circa1910 chap) by Mary WollstonecraftShelley;The Wandering Jew (1844-1845) by Eugène Sue (1804-1857),Auriol (1850) by W Harrison Ainsworth (1805-1882) andThe Death Ship (1888) by W ClarkRussell should be suspicious; these are cautionary tales, warning against the emptiness of dreams (though a cynic might equally suggest sour grapes). It is perhaps surprising, though, that early sf writers mostly followed suit. WalterBesant'sThe Inner House (1888) proposes that immortality would lead to social sterility – an opinion echoed by many later writers, including MartinSwayne inThe Blue Germ (1918), HaroldScarborough inThe Immortals (1924) and AldousHuxley inAfter Many a Summer Dies the Swan (November 1939-March 1940Harper's Magazine as "After Many a Summer";1939; vtAfter Many a Summer1939). Stories which take a brighter view – like George CFoster'sThe Lost Garden (1930) and the trilogy by George SViereck and PaulEldridge begun withMy First Two Thousand Years (1928) – usually have only a few privileged immortals living in a world of mortals. When George BernardShaw expressed enthusiasm for universal longevity inBack to Methuselah (1921; revs1921-1945), KarelČapek added a rebutting preface to his own playThe Makropoulos Secret (1925) to explain his own opinion that it would be an unmitigated curse even for a single individual. Jorge LuisBorges also took a dark view in his presentation of a community of degraded immortals in "El immortal" ["The Immortal"] (February 1947Los Anales de Buenos Aires as "Los immortales").

This difference of opinion remains very evident in sf. In some stories immortality is the beginning of limitless opportunity; in others it represents the ultimate stagnation and the end of innovation and change. We find the former view in such early pulp stories as "The Jameson Satellite" (July 1931Amazing) by Neil RJones, theAnton York stories by EandoBinder collected asAnton York, Immortal (August 1937-August 1940Thrilling Wonder; fixup1965) andThe Man Who Awoke (stories March-August 1933Wonder Stories; fixup1975) by LaurenceManning; and its converse in David HKeller's "Life Everlasting" (July-August 1934Amazing; title story ofLife Everlasting and Other Tales, coll1947) and John RPierce's "Invariant" (April 1944Astounding). In later magazine sf, the former attitude is implicit in J TMcIntosh's "Live For Ever" (1954Science Fantasy #11) and JamesBlish's "At Death's End" (May 1954Astounding), while the latter is seen in DamonKnight's "World Without Children" (December 1951Galaxy), FrederikPohl'sDrunkard's Walk (1960), Brian WAldiss's "The Worm that Flies" (inThe Farthest Reaches, anth1968, ed JosephElder) and BruceMcAllister's "Their Immortal Hearts" (inTheir Immortal Hearts, anth1980, ed anon).

There is, however, a general acceptance of the fact that thedesire for immortality is immensely powerful, and that it constitutes the ultimate bribe; lurid dramatizations of this supposition include JackVance'sTo Live Forever (1956), James EGunn'sThe Immortals (1955-1960 var mags; fixup1962), JohnWyndham'sTrouble with Lichen (1960), NormanSpinrad'sBug Jack Barron (December 1967-October 1968New Worlds; exp1969), BobShaw'sOne Million Tomorrows (1970), RobertSilverberg'sThe Book of Skulls (1972), Thomas NScortia's "The Weariest River" (inFuture City, anth1973, ed RogerElwood) and MackReynolds's and DeanIng'sEternity (1984). There have been numerous notable sf novels featuring immortal heroes, including A Evan Vogt'sThe Weapon Makers (February-April 1943Astounding; dated 1947 but1946; rev1952; vtOne Against Eternity1955 dos), WilsonTucker'sThe Time Masters (1953; rev1971), Clifford DSimak'sWay Station (June-August 1963Galaxy as "Here Gather the Stars";1963), RogerZelazny'sThis Immortal (1966) and Robert AHeinlein'sTime Enough for Love (1973). But the dominant opinion seems to be that boredom and sterility must eventually set in. Raymond ZGallun'sThe Eden Cycle (1974) is an extended study of this presumed phenomenon, and the protagonists of MichaelMoorcock'sDancers at the End of Time sequence (1972-1976) must go to extreme and absurd lengths to keepennui at bay.

Another traditional handling of the problem (if it is a problem) of immortality is to introduce drawbacks such as monstrous physical transformation. In AldousHuxley inAfter Many a Summer Dies the Swan, already cited, the immortals may enjoy copiousSex but regress to ape form. The eponym of FrankHerbert'sGod Emperor of Dune (1981) has spent the 3500 years since the previous book turning into a sandworm. The Spatterjay virus of NealAsher'sThe Skinner (2002) rewrites one's genes to confers indefinitely prolonged life, increasing bulk and strength, and astonishing powers of self-repair; but without a steady supply of virus-free food, a human body will develop various unpleasant features of the virus's normal leech host. In BobShaw'sOne Million Tomorrows (1970), already cited, men pay a price of not only sterility but physical impotence. A more obvious drawback, if immortality is for everyone, is massiveOverpopulation as in RichardWilson's sardonic "The Eight Billion" (July 1965F&SF), whose titular population figure of immortals is that ofNew York alone.

Some of the modern stories dealing with the theme are scrupulously analytical, and are among the finest exercises in speculative thought that the genre has produced. Most are respectful of the problematic aspects of longevity, but almost all eventually favour the prospect; notable examples of extendedcontes philosophiques in this vein include Robert Silverberg's "Born with the Dead" (April 1974F&SF) andSailing to Byzantium (February 1985Asimov's;1989 dos), OctaviaButler'sWild Seed (1980), PamelaSargent'sThe Golden Space (1982), KateWilhelm'sWelcome, Chaos (1983) – where the immortality package includes resistance to radiation and threatens to destabilize theCold War – and PoulAnderson's epicThe Boat of a Million Years (1989). A particularly notable (and neatly titled) negative story is RichardCowper's "The Tithonian Factor" (inChanges, anth1983, ed MichaelBishop & IanWatson), in which hasty users of a technology that gives them a Struldbrugg-like longevity are discomfited by the subsequent discovery that humans do indeed have a joyous spiritual afterlife (seeTranscendence) from which the physically immortal are barred. Damon Knight's "Dio" (September 1957Infinity Science Fiction; vt "The Dying Man" inThree Novels, coll1967), MartaRandall'sIslands (1976; rev1980) and FrederikPohl'sOutnumbering the Dead (1990) are interesting stories about lone mortals in societies of immortals.

Lone immortals offer their unique perspective on the human race in FredricBrown's "Letter to a Phoenix" (August 1949Astounding) and – toSatirical effect – MelBrooks's comic creation the 2000 Year Old Man and HeathcoteWilliams's playThe Immortalist (performed 1977;1978 chap).

In media treatments, immortality may become a covetedMcGuffin as inTarzan's Magic Fountain (1949) (seeTarzan Films),TheImmortal (1969-1971) or more recentlyRenaissance (2006; vtParis 2054: Renaissance). But it is more often depicted as a rather sinister goal involving the savage exploitation ofClones (which see for examples) or aVampire-like draining of others' lives. Examples of the latter includeTheMan Who Turned to Stone (1957),TheLeech Woman (1960; vtLeech),Daybreakers (2010) andOnly Lovers Left Alive (2013). The theme is more thoughtfully handled inLost Horizon (1937) andJerome Bixby's The Man from Earth (2007; vtThe Man from Earth).

Research in biotechnology following the cracking of the genetic code has encouraged speculation that technologies of longevity are a real prospect, and a new immediacy was introduced into the theme when R C W Ettinger'sThe Prospect of Immortality (1964) popularized the idea thatCryonic preservation might allow people now living to be preserved until the day when they might benefit. Though satirized in such novels as AndersBodelsen'sFreezing Down (1971; vtFreezing Point), this notion inspired a curious political "manifesto" in AlanHarrington'sThe Immortalist (1969), followed by his extravagant novelParadise 1 (1977); Harrington prefers the term "emortality", which signifies an immunity to ageing but not to injury. Technologies of longevity and genetically engineered emortality play a central role in Brian MStableford's and DavidLangford's future historyThe Third Millennium (1985), and the theme became a constant preoccupation in Stableford's later solo work, notablyThe Empire of Fear (1988) and the six-bookEmortality sequence opening withInherit the Earth (July 1995Analog; exp1998).

A collection of essays on immortality in sf isDeath and the Serpent (anth1985) edited by Carl BYoke and Donald MHassler. A theme anthology isImmortal (anth1978) edited by JackDann. [BS/DRL]