Here there be Tygers

Work Title: Here there be Tygers
Medium: Novel
Episode Title:
Year: 1951
Writer(s): Ray Bradbury
"Original" Writer: Yes Own work?: No
Summary:

"Here There Be Tygers" is a short story originally published in New Tales of Space and Time in 1951. It was later collected in Bradbury's short story collections: R is for Rocket and The Golden Apples of the Sun. The story deals with a rocket expedition sent to a planet to see whether or not its natural resources can be harvested for the human race. They discover a paradise which seems to provide for them whatever they desire as they come to think of it. They ultimately decide to leave the planet and report that it is hostile and of no benefit to humans.

Era/Year of Portrayal: distant_future
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

Positive and negative thoughts materialize into objects and actions. One character will run and jump into the air flying, while another character, with cynicism and distrust, feels the trembling of an earthquake underfoot.

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: Planet 7 of star system 84--repeatedly refered to by crew members as a woman: She...
  • Description of the technology: The planet is an extended allegorical meta-space that invites full immersion with suspension of disbelief. It is doubt and skepticism in the planet's intentions that leads one character: Chatterton the researcher, to his imminent death.
  • Nature of task or activity: Landing on planet and negotiating its landscape initiates presence-evoking mechanism.
  • Performance of the Technology: stunning
  • Description of creator(s): The Planet is repeatedly personified as a woman.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): It is understood that She, the planet, has always been waiting for "someone"-in this case the crew- to acknowledge her and stay, accepting the bounty of her offering: the fulfillment of their every desire for ever and ever.
  • Description of users of technology: the crew of a rocket expedition
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: spatial_presence
  • Description of presence experience: As the characters begin to explore and negotiate the landscape, thoughts and memories of their lives on earth serve as concept triggers for the planet.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: Psychological and emotional responses elicited from the fulfillment of character's thoughts and fears.
  • Valence of experience: Most of the crew members find the experience ultimately seductive and are torn over whether or not to stay and abandon their mission forever.
  • Specific responses: Thirst results in a creek flowing with rare wine; hunger generates baked fish lolling in a hot spring. Thoughts, fantasies and memories are animated to evoke sense of fully immersible presence. As fear and anxiety of the unknown begin to surface, the sound of tigers are heard off in the distance.
Long-term consequences:

As the crew finally decide to abandon the planet for theri boundless expedition, they notice that the planet's landscape had transformed. Swirling hurricanes and erupting volcanoes replaced the idyllic pasture of green meadow that the crew had been met with.

Other:

A teleplay of this story was written by Bradbury for possible use on the television program The Twilight Zone, but Rod Serling and the producers of the show deemed it too expensive to film on the show's rather tight budget. This led to the end of Ray Bradbury's rather brief association with the show, which resulted in just one of his stories ("I Sing the Body Electric") being used.

Coder name: Katya Gorker
Coder email: katya.gorker@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple University, MFA