Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example

From Old to New Miller’s The Darfstellar tells the story of Thornier, an actor whose job has become replaced by the phenomenon of “autodrama.” This futuristic form of theater utilizes a cast of mannequins instead of humans to tell a play’s story. Throughout the beginning of the tale, Miller sets a tone harshly criticizing the society of The Darfstellar world for popularizing the art. Only a few references are given that might indicate acceptance of technological enhancements in man’s artistic endeavors. However, as things progress the author’s tone becomes more and more understanding of the need to embrace change, rather than fear or abhor it. This becomes even more clear in the last few paragraphs where Miller indicates that man’s ultimate power lies in the ability to not only create new technologies to enhance his art, but to adapt to them. The purpose of Miller’s presentation of these conflicting morals is to show that ultimately the ‘human element’ and technology cannot survive without one another as man advances throughout the millennia. Setting: One of the ways Miller establishes the linkage between humanity and technology is through the use of a science fiction setting. Why is this type of setting so effective? It is mainly because The Darfstellar’s environment shows how things have rapidly changed. Ten years earlier, theater was more like it is in today’s time, with human actors playing the roles. However, now actors are only needed behind the scenes; if they’re not being ‘molded’ into a dolled version of themselves, they either have to consider obtaining jobs “making the little black boxes, |the Maestros|” (255) or working as a janitor like Thornier. Theater buffs who knew how to play the game adhered to the changes; those that didn’t would become “an old ghost in coveralls” (291). Indeed, with any other setting, it would’ve been more difficult for the reader to obtain a clear view of these changes. What other environment would really make sense for this type of story? Machines taking over the jobs once dominated by humans is an idea firmly grounded in the sci-fi genre. Another important aspect of the setting lies in Miller’s selection of theater as the main arena where the characters interact. Theater is chosen because it is one of the most human forms of art mankind engages in, at least as those in contemporary times know of it. According to Miller, “theater was a condition of the human heart and soul” (266). It doesn’t seem like it could be replaced by “packaged theater” (260). In fact, even as more actors molded their images into Smithfield mannequins, there were some that “were not “cybergenic” --- could not be adequately sculptured into electronic-robot analogies” (270). Yet, in the process autodrama created by revolutionizing theater, did it really delete the human element or simply change how it was expressed? Autodrama, unlike regular theater was “predictable, duplicatable and flexible” (260). It could be seen in the theater or in people’s homes. It could do pretty much everything ‘real’ actors did, only without the added financial and personality burdens. Also, actors were still necessary; even in The Darfstellar universe, people seemed to be interested in seeing a form of human personality in the theater. However, instead of the actor being on stage they are immortalized in a doll. Their ‘essence’ was still there able to entertain people; it just got a new face. Actors who were able to accept it generally received more success than those like Thornier who kept holding onto something society wasn’t willing to provide. The final factor present in the setting is the actual time of day Thornier goes to work. From the passages “he came to work an hour early on Wednesday morning…” and “he finished his work before one o’clock…” (95), it can be easily surmised that the story starts at noon in the middle of the week. Since Thornier asks his boss for a day off at the beginning of the story, Thornier seems to be very tired of working in the theater because it is only a few days after the weekend. From this information, readers begin to see Thornier does not like his work. Later, as the reader delves deeper into the story they will recognize that it is actually Thornier’s ‘fault’ for his job woes, the fault being not learning how to recognize the importance of technology in his craft. For now though, such a tidbit establishes a certain type of mood within the story. Human Characters: Another way one can analyze The Darfstellar’s theme of the importance of intertwining humanity and technology is through studying the story’s central human characters. These characters’ viewpoints can be categorized in the following groups: 1) those who became failures because of an inability to embrace to society’s autodrama trend, 2) those who embraced autodrama and other elements of technology because of capitalistic greed and 3) those who evolved to a higher level of personal and social success because of a genuine love for the ‘new’ art. The most prevalent character viewpoint the reader comes in contact with during the first half of the story is definitely Thornier, the central protagonist who rejects the idea that a mannequin can deliver legitimate theater. Instead of learning how to perfect his craft with the new trend, he blames it for all of his failures as an actor. His only connection to theater is his janitorial job, which he works very hard at but fervently hates. Ironically, despite his criticisms of other actors renting their souls to Smithfield (270), he failed to see how he himself was a token to D’Uccia. Indeed, his tokenization by his boss was worse than anything he perceived of other actors simply because at least the actors were still contributing to their craft. Thornier was being used simply to make D’Uccia richer because to him “people are machines” (257) . Thornier was going nowhere with his job, a fact he was reminded of everyday but couldn’t do anything about. Thornier was still enveloped with rage over what he viewed as society putting a doll over him, a human being. The next character viewpoint seen throughout all of The Darfstellar is D’Uccia, Thornier’s overweight, selfish and greedy boss who could care less about humanity in anything because his main motivation is money. In the beginning of the story, since Thornier’s original standpoint is encouraged more in Miller’s overall tone, D’Uccia’s personality serves as a hindrance for the development of any objective thought towards autodrama from the reader. D’Uccia represented the capitalist side of the industry; the big-wig who wanted to exploit the technology for all it was worth. Humans had their place only because “he |couldn’t| get his satisfaction yelling at a machine” (257). Him offering Thornier a job was only to have a person he could look down on to make himself feel better. But if buying the new technology seemed to be more affordable and less troublesome than dealing with a human, then he would be able to sacrifice the need for having an employee to be condescending with. This is exactly what he does when he purchases a swip-op machine. Of course, before this point he does remind Thornier how ‘replaceable’ he is. Thornier is susceptible to this because he truly feels there was no way out. The final character viewpoint present in The Darfstellar is the one which embraces the technology; viewing the art as simply a change of venue rather than a replacement of skill, no different than acting on the movie screen or a television set. Rick, an technician at New Empire Theater possessed the healthiest and most genuine form of this viewpoint. He felt that autodrama was just an electronic version of real theater, and there was no reason not to embrace it. For example, to him the Maestro was “the stage, an electronic analog of it” (258). Mannequins were just a virtual expression of the actor. Neither were the enemy of the actor, in fact they could be his friends. The mannequin could do stunts an actor could not do without dying, (which is evident later in the story when Thornier gets shot on stage). The mannequin could also save time and energy for the actor, allowing them to pursue different forms of their craft. The mannequin could make them become “great actors immortalized” (269). This is because the mannequin could not age. It could capture all of an actor’s essence years and years even after the actor died. Rick realizing all of these advantages, was able to transform his thinking towards autodrama, in turn making him more successful in the long run at least in terms of inner-peace. The other actors in the story who later work with Thornier (Lela and Jade), those whom he castigates for being mature enough to go with the flow of the new trend, obtain inner-peace, financial and social success for their perspectives. Towards the end of the story, after putting on a bad performance and getting shot, Thornier becomes more understanding of his comrade’s views. He realizes that in all actuality technology was an aide, one that still embodies the essence of humanity’s greatness. If he was to succeed, he would have to become adaptable to Maestro and its futuristic puppets. The Maestro The Maestro, a non-human element in the story, provides another powerful ‘characterization’ device used by Miller to displaying the connectivity of humanity and technology. How does a machine display humanity when it in itself is not human? It is because without a human the machine could not have been created, nor could it function. The Maestro, like any other machine, was simply a reflection of human brilliance, not a replacement of it. In fact, the Maestro even had limitations. If something happened to the script tape that the Maestro required to operate properly, then it could not function at all. Thornier, being somewhat jealous of The Maestro, wanted to show the audience and New Empire Theater how weak the machine was by not putting in the appropriate script tape it needed. However, as the story progresses and Thornier is thrust out onto the stage, forced to work with the very objects he despised, he realized that as technology grows and a population embraces it, a society can’t have things be just ‘human’ anymore. Thornier did mean well… he had agreed to take the mannequin’s role because he sabotaged the performance, but he was trying to do something that the Maestro couldn’t recognize. As innovative as the Maestro was, it could not properly interpret the presence of a human being on stage simply because it was limited to its programming. And since The Darfstellar world had now grown accustomed to the autodrama art form, the Maestro’s programmers would have created it to recognize just the mannequins on stage, not any humans. Thornier was interfering with a system that, when going by the rules, was perfectly implemented. He realizes this even more when, despite his acting ability, he gives an awkward performance on stage, one that displeases the audience and further ‘confuses’ the Maestro. Thornier also puts New Empire Theater’s credibility at risk since he had to ad-lib on some of the lines. The ultimate mishap due to Thornier’s tampering with the Maestro occurs when he gets shot. It becomes apparent to him and the reader that “mannequins don’t bleed” (264). This is of course a statement with both a direct and metaphorical interpretation. The direct interpretation is obviously when Thornier bleeds onto the stage floor. The metaphorical interpretation is the idea that a mannequin offers more flexibility than its human counterpart. Miller’s Style Literature based on a moral usually presents a clear-cut thought or idea, meant to enlighten the reader. It is obvious where the author stands on the issue. Miller presents a very unique approach because his ‘morale’ is ambiguous. There are elements in the beginning of the story that may cause the reader to associate autodrama with ‘bad’ and human theater with ‘good.’ Even the first paragraph denotes the idea that technology produces a “wretched mockery of dramaturgical art” (249). However, upon closer scrutiny, Miller gives subtle yet important clues that shows overall he feels both are of equal merit. For example, the all-human play Thornier had been saving up to see, “Judas, Judas” possessed a name that should cause suspicion for the more analytical reader. In Westernized culture, the term “Judas” instantly conjures up an image of betrayal. It is possible Miller discreetly was trying to show that the troupe giving the play were in a sense betrayers. Granted, before Thornier’s evolution, he viewed the autodrama actors as the true betrayers, but in a sense they weren’t. Why? It is because society had changed. The general public didn’t see the human form of theater in the same way as it did autodrama. Autodrama had become a part of the general culture. And since it is the job of the actor to entertain his or her audience, giving them a performance they weren’t expecting or even wanted is a type of betrayal. From this perspective the “Judas, Judas” troupe weren’t doing anything revolutionary, at least not for the general public simply because that’s not what the majority wanted to see. So, if one was to think about Miller’s choice of wording on this level, then obviously “The Anarchist,” the play New Empire Theater put on, might cause some confusion. Is Miller now contradicting himself, since anarchy, like Judas, also conjures up a negative image in the average reader’s mind? On the surface it does, but deeper analysis could point to a discreet criticism of those who are like Thornier, whose unrealistic pursuit of keeping things old-fashioned destroys the artistic balance of what has already been implemented. How can this be? Well, the main character in “The Anarchist” is Thornier who is deserving of such a title. He creates disorder by interfering with the Maestro’s script-tape and thinks he can fix it by putting himself in the same position as the mannequin. Thornier goes against the convention of most of the characters in the story who have learned to accept autodrama for what it is: a transformation, not substitute of human theater. There is also on example in the very beginning of the story that shows even Thornier embracing the natural with the artificial. This is seen when he paints the lilies a golden color. Miller says he paints them “ until the flowers glistened like the work of Midas hands in the sunlight” (252). The words “glistened” and “Midas” are generally positive in nature, and they are Thornier’s thoughts. So even Thornier could appreciate the integration of art and technology; he just didn’t like it when such a concept was applied to the world of theater because he would be forced to change. Yet, The Darfstellar teaches that you can’t pick and choose what you want and don’t want in a technological advanced culture. Society determines how technology will express itself in art, not individual mindsets. Indeed, if Thornier could find beauty in painting a lily gold, why not find appreciation for the autodrama? In the last set of paragraphs, Miller concludes his story with a style similar to how he began it: strongly concentrating on a ‘morale’, but this time it is the thought of Rick instead of Thornier. He tells Thornier that in a technological world that will only advance not regress, no one is immune to having to adapt. This is because “whatever you specialize in, another specialty will either gobble you up or find a way to replace you” (315). He further adds that the ‘safest’ specialty is “the specialty of creating new specialties,” (315) . This is the “definition of man” (315). Thornier, now seeing the error of his ways takes Rick’s ideas to heart and wants to learn more about the job Rick was speaking of. In the very last paragraph the reader is presented with a starkly contrasting Thornier, who thinks, “you start considerably above the lemur, the chimpanzee, the orangutan, the Maestro -- if you ever start at all..” This ultimately means that those who are in the position to create will create regardless. And since society is more likely to embrace technology, (since it allows people to do things faster, easier and with more efficiency), it is best to keep ahead of it instead of fighting it. These are indeed the points that Miller wants the reader to leave with; the morale that is the strongest is persistent throughout the story. Conclusion In conclusion, The Darfstellar’s ultimate message is simply that in the modern- day age, humans will best excel if they learn how to incorporate their humanity with technological advancement, particularly if it changes how people formerly did things. Miller wants the reader to realize that technology is not the enemy; in fact it is through its creation that humanity can express even more of itself in its art. For example, with the advent of computers, digitized art has become popular. The painter or illustrator can upload their scanned pictures and colorize it in a way to make it appear even more beautiful before…. just like the lilies Thornier painted gold. It is true the art in its original state was a “pure” form of human spiritual expression. With no enhancement, it was something still beautiful and worthy of cherishing. But with the technology, it becomes an even more fascinating work that can be made in half the time. Indeed, technology serves only as an extension to our humanity. Autodrama for The Darfstellar society was an extension of the actors, producers and script-writers who were also pertinent in human theater. For us in the present day, our autodrama equivalent is really any technology we use to help aide in the creation of whatever form of art interests us, but especially those with an “autodrama” component. With the recent craze towards animated films and T.V. shows geared even for adult audience, whose to say that we haven’t already experienced some of the issues experienced in The Darfstellar? How could we be quick to judge the Ricks, Meals and Lelas of the world when we have become like them? We may not “see” it because we’ve grown so accustomed to that type of media, but the similarities are still there. So, if anything else, The Darfstellar’s point needs to be remembered because while it is a story of fiction today, it is not unlikely that it will become a tale of non-fiction tomorrow, in a very, very near future. Works Cited Miller, W.M. Jr. "The Darfstellar." The Science Fiction Stories of W.M. Jr. Ed. Greg Pr., 1978.       Read More