Danivar And The Wind

An old friend, sort of, comes back on stage in the Epilogue of Twilight World. Danivar describes his visit to the desert planet, Earth:

"'...a few primitive plants tried in their distorted fashion to live. And the wind blew around those old, old snags of wall and the sunlight of Earth spilled over us with a horrible brilliant indifference.'" (p. 179)

He describes the sunlight as horrible and indifferent but says of the wind only that it blew so why do I feel that the wind also comments? Partly because it does in so many other Andersonian works. Partly because it  blows over ruined walls that are reminders of the Final War and of the collapse of the terrestrial biosphere. But, in any case, over the page, Danivar continues:

"'...I stood with the wind gibing at me, there on the old broken planet...'" (p. 180)

That is comment enough.

When Orna describes Ganymede as the frontier, Danivar responds:

"'What a beautiful word that is... Frontier. And yet...I don't know. The ancestors survived, enough of them, and now we are pleased to call ourselves Homo Superior, but we'll never know what might have lived in our place.'

"'A bit too late for that sort of speculation,' said Orna.

"'Yes,' Danivar shivered. 'I think I would like to go back inside now.'" (ibid.)

And there ends the text. What might have lived in their place is our descendants (if any) because we did not have the Final War in the twentieth century!