Finis, by Frank L. Pollock
Even the faintest imaginary hint of nuclear war or global warming mustn’t have been present in the mind of Frank L. Pollock way back in 1906; his apocalyptic story, Finis, surely had no connection to either of our contemporary bogeymen, yet the reflection of those two species killers offers itself to even the casual reader. Finis is the end of humanity with no escape.
Indeed, Finis goes beyond existential crisis. We are utterly insignificant. Insignificant to such an extent that there is no crisis to be had. Just meaninglessness. At best, we are seeds for some future life that may evolve amongst the new scorched conditions that proceed us in the tale (a tale of dubious, though still clever science which ends us all). And that end has all the trappings of our own manmade extinction events. Scorching heat in a runaway greenhouse, flash blasts that burn the air and set exposed flammables alight, riots, extreme weather events, all packed into the shortest of spans, as some imagine our end to be coming once we reach the climate change tipping point, or the madfolk in charge of our world finally detonate their arsenals. Or, for the more theology minded, Finis could be the very literally coming of the second Su(o)n, destroying all sinners in a final, cleansing Armageddon.
Click on this link to read a story here .
Click on this link to listen to an audio-story here.
For all Finis’ simplicity, it is a complex pool from which to draw criticism. Even its views on the world, a world that feels very late 20th Century as opposed to early 20th Century, a world whose views of women may be retrograde to us but were positively revolutionary in 1906, a world of impotent animals facing an end beyond their control, offer myriad places from which to draw criticism and kick off debate. If only I could track down an old radio adaptation of Finis. I bet that would be excellent for a little late night listening.
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