Ideas and Themes
The book contrasts the apparent reality of the computer game with Johnny's difficult home life and the television coverage of the Gulf War which, from Johnny's viewpoint, is just as displaced from reality as the ScreeWee Empire. It plays with the effects of perception. For instance, since Kirsty refuses to see the ScreeWee as anything other than alien monsters who exist to be shot, as they are much less human-like in her presence than when only dealing with Johnny.
Wobbler writes a computer game entitled "Journey to Alpha Centauri". The game is meant to be played in real-time, meaning it would take three thousand years to finish the journey. If the game were actually played for three thousand years, the player would be rewarded with a message saying "Welcome to Alpha Centauri. Now go home". This inspired an interactive fiction game, Journey to Alpha Centauri (In Real Time).
Read more about this topic: Only You Can Save Mankind
Famous quotes containing the words ideas and, ideas and/or themes:
“A philistine is a full-grown person whose interests are of a material and commonplace nature, and whose mentality is formed of the stock ideas and conventional ideals of his or her group and time.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Let ideas establish their legitimate sway again in society, let life be fair and poetic, and the scholars will gladly be lovers, citizens, and philanthropists.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“In economics, we borrowed from the Bourbons; in foreign policy, we drew on themes fashioned by the nomad warriors of the Eurasian steppes. In spiritual matters, we emulated the braying intolerance of our archenemies, the Shi’ite fundamentalists.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)