Geneforge as an alegory of parenthood[G5]

[DokEnkephalin]

Discuss.

[ĐªгŦĦ Єяŋϊε]

huh

[Mea Tulpa]

Dok, this thread is headed in a very bad direction right now, so you might want to elaborate on your question if you want it to have a happy life.

[DokEnkephalin]

Life is what happens when you let it. If you think this is a very bad direction, then you

 

1. Haven't raised children.

 

2. Didn't make the most of being a child.

 

EDIT: Alright, I'll elaborate: consider the Shaper perspectives as those raising children. Consider rebel perspectives as those reacting to that.

 

This is probably easier with Geneforge 5 where the Shapers various viewpoints were better articulated and clearly delineated.

[Acky]

Is this a thread to post ones nostalgic stories about Geneforge? Well, I'll try to save it anyway.

 

My little brother found that Drakon canister in G4 in Gasslin Freehold after about an hour of searching on my part. He found it in maybe five minutes. He was six.

 

The Last Archon

[Alorael at Large]

Not a good analogy. Not a good allegory, either. Parents have investment in their children, usually. Their parents are the same species always, and are usually assumed to have similar mental and physical capacities. Children are not mass produced, nor is parenthood restricted to a small, elite portion of the population.

 

—Alorael, who could build a better case for Geneforge as an allegory about weapons proliferation or even gun control. The independence and intelligence parts don't fit well, but hey, it's fantasy.

[Zylox]

Originally Posted By: Evil Killer Death Spybot 5000

Not a good analogy. Not a good allegory, either. Parents have investment in their children, usually. Their parents are the same species always, and are usually assumed to have similar mental and physical capacities. Children are not mass produced, nor is parenthood restricted to a small, elite portion of the population.

—Alorael, who could build a better case for Geneforge as an allegory about weapons proliferation or even gun control. The independence and intelligence parts don't fit well, but hey, it's fantasy.

You mean we can't reabsorb our kids when we get tired of them and use the energy to create new, more powerful ones?

[Ouroboros]

Originally Posted By: Zylox

Originally Posted By: Evil Killer Death Spybot 5000

Not a good analogy. Not a good allegory, either. Parents have investment in their children, usually. Their parents are the same species always, and are usually assumed to have similar mental and physical capacities. Children are not mass produced, nor is parenthood restricted to a small, elite portion of the population.

—Alorael, who could build a better case for Geneforge as an allegory about weapons proliferation or even gun control. The independence and intelligence parts don't fit well, but hey, it's fantasy.

You mean we can't reabsorb our kids when we get tired of them and use the energy to create new, more powerful ones?

That would be cruel...

[Nioca]

Actually, I think it might be a pretty good allegory for parenting. After all, you do create new life from yourself, you take care of them, protect them, act as their guide, and so forth. Shaper Quothe even states this outright:

Quote:

(Response to "Why do you oppose this? Don't the Shapers claim total dominion over their creation?")

You do not understand us at all. Our creations are our children. We control them. We discipline them. But we love them.

Granted, your kids don't breathe fire (hopefully), and they have better rights, but the connections are still there.

[Spidweb]

While Geneforge is not an allegory for parenthood, it is an analogy frequently used by Shapers throughout the series to justify their actions.

 

- Jeff Vogel

[Student of Trinity]

The analogy is quite close, really. Small children have the inherent magical power of shaping raw adults into Parents. While adults in their raw state are essentially just formless goo, incoherent and purposeless, Parents are animate and deliberate; yet they are entirely under the control of the children who shaped them. The children are weak and puny, but they are able to use their mighty creation Parents to gain security and comfort.

 

As the Parents gain experience, they slowly become more powerful; but the children always level up faster. In many cases the children eventually become powerful enough to reabsorb their Parents and continue as solo adventurers. Returned to the unfocused state of raw adulthood, the former Parents lie in a vat somewhere until eventually they subside into nothingness.

 

Meanwhile, as their children gain power, they also gradually go mad. While the eventual degeneration of canister-mad self-shaped mutants into blobs of raw essence is not shown in any of the Geneforge games, it's a logical endpoint that is frequently reflected in real life. The highly levelled children become incoherent and purposeless adults in their turn, until some low-level children appear to shape them into Parents.

[Dikiyoba]

At least, that was the case until some arrogant child gave lapdogs the power to shape...

 

Dikiyoba.