George Saunders – Civilwarland in Bad Decline
There are many themes expressed in Saunder’s story, Civilwarland in Bad Decline including discontent, war, and consequent effects of war, family, ethical struggles, and capitalism (Saunders, 1992). Of these themes, it is clear that Saunder’s main interest was to critique capitalism and illustrate the effect of capitalism in disregarding human well-being. To begin with, the story has showcased high disparities of power and wealth, an aspect that facilitates the creation of perfect grounds for capitalism.
Characters
- Owing to his profit-oriented interests, Mr. Alsuga coerces his employees to engage in unethical actions in a bid to protect their jobs. The dwindling profits cause him to hire Samuel, a psychotic ex-soldier to eliminate gang members in the park.
- Samuel’s desire to protect his job causes him to kill both gang and non-gang attendees in the park. He shoots children during a Halloween event, after which the cases are covered up by the park.
- Although the protagonist is aware that Samuel’s acts are unethical, he does not protest since he needs his job to support his family.
Point of View
The story is told by an unnamed narrator who gets killed in the end by Samuel and concludes as a ghost. The point of view is a first-person narrative that is employed in a bid to make the reader feel the cruelty of selfishness and profit-oriented aspects of other people. The death of the silent narrator shows the cruelty of a capitalistic system on the weak at the expense of the wealthy in society.
Setting
The setting is a theme park which is also a civilwarland. The conflicts that often occurred in civilwarland are experienced in this place with death, cover-up, loss, and gains being apparent. The conflicts between the gang members and the park owners is a representation of the conflicts between the poor people struggling to make it and the cruelty they receive from those in power. The theme park can be considered a recreation of America in the 19th century where wars, insecurity, and death were apparent.
Symbolism
Theme parks provide an accurate juxtaposition where, while people enjoy the amusement of rides, the park is hidden in worker extortion, trash, and pollution. While the park provides superficial joy, it represents a place of corporate structure and desire to make exorbitant profit margins at the expense of other people.
As such, one can conclude that Saunder’s made a successful attempt to portray the corporate culture and its dehumanizing effects from a capitalistic perspective. In a bid to portray the theme of capitalism, he has used aspects that are inherent in the current society including crime, unemployment, the high disparity between the rich and poor, gender-based issues, and self-realization.
References
Saunders, G. (1992). Civilwarland in Bad Decline. The Kenyon Review, 14(4), 142-155.