The narrative alternates between the points of view of the time traveling twelve year old Jerry Parker and Pithecanthropus. Do we read the pov of one representative Pith or do they have some sort of collective consciousness? Or did that distinction even exist back then?
We read telegrammic phrases expressing immediate sensory experiences:
"First light. Wind cold over skin...
"Lion smell!" (pp. 146-147)
Next, we have a memory without, as yet, a tense for the verb:
"Last night lion prowl outside thorn wall." (p. 147)
The Pith have constructed a shelter of thorns, enclosing a tree which mothers can climb with cubs if the lion penetrates the thorn wall. Males, "Hes" (p. 147), have spears. The lion is known to be "Helion" (ibid.) by its mane. On first reading, I misread "Helion" not as "He-lion" but as "Hel-ion," thus as a name, like that of the Greek god, Helios. The lion is big but limping which is why it might hunt man.
Hes preserve Old Father's skull on a pole, howl, dance and ask him for help. They form a defensive circle, hes enclosing half-cubs enclosing shes and cubs, spears outward, when a pride of lions approaches but the pride passes sleepily. The man band must wait until a mastodon has left the water hole before it can drink, then, guided by the sight of descending vultures, goes with sharpstones to investigate the lions' kill but must retreat as hyenas approach. The band eats insects and seeks small game but remains hungry.
Everything changes. Attacked by the lion, they see the lion itself attacked and forced to retreat by the stranger with fire brands and a fire-hardened spear. The stranger has gone (thirty hours have elapsed) but the ashes of his fire remain warm and can be blown back to life. The fire can be fed and used to harden spears - they saw him do it. Now they can fight lions and hyenas and kill big game. Old Father sent stranger and stranger was Old Father? - who gave holy fire which they will never let die.
Jerry does not know that he has caused a revolution and Pithecanthropus have almost created Christianity.
10 comments:
Hi, Paul!
Been reading your "Little Monster" pieces with interest. Yes, the Pithecanthropus hominids were already HUMAN both because they were able to think and also because they could ponder, however primitively, ultimate questions. I've thought of Old Father's skull as a relic reverently kept by his "clan" because Old Father might have been the one who thought of building a thorn wall and inventing crude spears.
In short, Old Father was either God or a saint to these Pithecanthropines. And Jerry Parker came to be thought of as Old Father himself. Hmmmm, was Jerry the unwitting origin of the Prometheus legends? He not only saved these Pithecanthropines from the attacking lion but also brought them fire.
Yes, "The Little Monster" belongs with stories like "Sister Planet" and "The Season of Forgiveness" in how Poul Anderson makes you think very hard.
Sean
Sean,
Jerry is "Prometheus" in the sense of the bringer of fire but is way too early to have influenced Greek myth!
I went into overdrive with PA yesterday but must restrain myself because other activities are planned for the next few days. Still rereading though.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
Of course Jerry Parker could not possibly have influenced what later became the Greek myths. But might he have unwittingly been the origin of the IDEA of a kindly and helpful bringer of fire who was much, much later named "Prometheus" by the Greeks?
Understood, about the need to take care of other matters!
Sean
Hi, Paul!
I forgot to include another thought in my previouse note. You noted how the narrative POV in "The Little Monster" switches back and forth from Jerry Parker to the Pithecanthropine. Altho it was not as sharply defined as some might have wished, my belief is we were seeing the thoughts of the leader of the Pithecanthropines. To me, we saw the mind and thoughts of only one of those early hominids.
Sean
Jerry is proto-Prometheus.
The Pith leader. That makes sense.
Hi, Paul!
Possibly the grandson or great grandson of Old Father?
Sean
Sean,
That also makes sense - although, was there patrilineal descent that far back? Was the male role in reproduction recognized yet? My understanding of the earliest homo sapiens communities is that, before the development of incest tabus, there was unrestricted sexuality within the tribe and matrilineal descent.
Of course, the very fact that these Pith use the term and concept "Father" means that, within the story, they do recognize patrilineal descent.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
Yes, that makes sense, how merely the use of the word and concept of "Father" means these Pithecanthropine hominids already understood the male role in reproduction.
Sean
Dear Paul,
As to the real world, we can speculate, but we don't know what taboos, rules of descent, etc., the earliest homo sapiens communities had. Within the story, you could certainly be right; on the other hand, "Father" might mean "pater and male clan leader" rather than "genitor". We don't know how much Anderson's Piths understand about sex, reproduction, and fatherhood.
Among modern homo sapiens, there are, for example, South American Indio cultures where a child can have several "fathers"; if a woman has sex with several men during pregnancy, they are all regarded as having contributed to the formation of the baby, and seen as having paternal responsibilities. There was an article in Science News a while ago, reporting on a study showing that in those societies, children with several fathers did better, and were more likely to live to adulthood, than children with only one father.
Best Regards,
Nicholas
Hi, Nicholas!
I grant you that some clans and tribes, very ancient, ancient, or even still now existing may have had a looser concept of "fatherhood" than was or is the norm (including what we see in "The Little Monster"). However, I have my doubts that the situation described by you among some South American Indians was WIDESPREAD. Else, we would see much more evidence of it occurring. No, what you mentioned should most likely be understood simply as a small, obscure variation which never spread widely.
Sean
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