BP 2- by Isaiah.S

For my paper I ask question number “14. What symbols or imagery are used to convey the mood, atmosphere, or thematic elements of the text?” because there isn’t enough collateral and widespread damage of some kind that makes the world of “The beyond” necessarily dystopian, moreso the story revolves around an isolated incident that was avoided as being a catastrophe thanks to the protagonist and another unseen character with a name that ensured the piece through violence.

To elaborate further on why I chose this question is because the description of “the beyond” within the story is an almost infinite void like space setting full of star figures and multiple trans-materialistic creatures that don’t obey the realistic laws of physics. In comparison to “The Machine”, the main plot of the story that carries the setting is the machine Dr. Crawford built in order to heighten the senses of humans and discover beings with that ability whereas for The Machine the purpose of the large integral system of machine operations have the sole purpose of maintaining the human senses to be calm and nurtured despite the end of the world just outdoors similar to the dystopian setting of “Their Will Come Soft Rains” whereas the technological advancement of the nuke built to end ww2 and further research into nuclear energy has been used to decimate everything leaving yet another uninhabited world. 

The symbolism as described in the Beyond is told as a void space that swallows everything as in sight by the human eye, the same machine generating the beyond can flash this existence in and out via the power switch yet in the dimension of unnatural laws and ultra violent seeable light there are allows black pillars that rise indefinitely and the space is inhabited by tentacle and jellyfish like creatures alike who unlike the unseen danger described by the doctor don’t disintegrate humans. All of this corresponds to the idea that there may be incomprehensible beings out there just parallel to earth’s plane of existence and whether it’s an ecosystem or a hostile environment we will never know thanks to the destruction of the machine and the madman who made it.