Reading Environmental Apocalypse in J.-H. Rosny Aîné
227
nian step that would infringe the civil rights of the individual in any
developed society, the full extent of the measures put in place as a response to further seismic activity and the consequent loss of reservoirs
is even more shocking:
À mesure que s’épuisaient les provisions, chaque oasis désignait les habitants qui
devaient périr. On sacrifia d’abord les vieillards, puis les enfants, sauf un petit
nombre qui furent réservés dans l’hypothèse d’un revirement possible de la planète,
puis tous ceux dont la structure était vicieuse ou chétive. L’euthanasie était d’une extrême douceur. (p. 172)
Implementing the most extreme eugenic measures, including
not only a strict and near complete prohibition on procreation, but also
deliberate population reduction by means of compulsory euthanasia,
Rosny’s embattled communities seek to prolong the existence of their
kind by restricting their numbers in order to limit consumption of the
ever scarcer resources. Yet while the misery of their condition pushes
many to end their lives before they have been required by the law to
do so, environmental conditions deteriorate even more rapidly. Finally, Targ, finding himself to be the last human being alive, disdains
euthanasia and sets off instead to offer himself up as prey to other life
forms, better adapted than he to the new conditions of planet earth.
Comprising a full development of the eschatological themes evoked in
Les Xipéhuz and Les Navigateurs de l’infini, La Mort de la Terre
represents the logical progression of Rosny’s thought. The portents of
mankind’s final disappearance may be seen to emerge in the text
through evolutionary narratives of the earth that are not, however, exclusively Darwinian in character.
Lamarck and Rosny
Although Darwin’s theories exercised a considerable influence over
Rosny, they were not the only evolutionary model to inform his ideas,
for, as Roger Bozzetto points out: “Pour Rosny, l’‘évangile évolutionniste’ de Lamarck est le cadre et le moteur de l’histoire de la biosphère.”
19 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s transformiste model of evolution,
___________________________
19 Roger Bozzetto, “Wells et Rosny, le sens d’un parallèle, les formes d’un duo”,
Europe, no 681-682, jan-fév 1986, 3-11, p. 8.
227
nian step that would infringe the civil rights of the individual in any
developed society, the full extent of the measures put in place as a response to further seismic activity and the consequent loss of reservoirs
is even more shocking:
À mesure que s’épuisaient les provisions, chaque oasis désignait les habitants qui
devaient périr. On sacrifia d’abord les vieillards, puis les enfants, sauf un petit
nombre qui furent réservés dans l’hypothèse d’un revirement possible de la planète,
puis tous ceux dont la structure était vicieuse ou chétive. L’euthanasie était d’une extrême douceur. (p. 172)
Implementing the most extreme eugenic measures, including
not only a strict and near complete prohibition on procreation, but also
deliberate population reduction by means of compulsory euthanasia,
Rosny’s embattled communities seek to prolong the existence of their
kind by restricting their numbers in order to limit consumption of the
ever scarcer resources. Yet while the misery of their condition pushes
many to end their lives before they have been required by the law to
do so, environmental conditions deteriorate even more rapidly. Finally, Targ, finding himself to be the last human being alive, disdains
euthanasia and sets off instead to offer himself up as prey to other life
forms, better adapted than he to the new conditions of planet earth.
Comprising a full development of the eschatological themes evoked in
Les Xipéhuz and Les Navigateurs de l’infini, La Mort de la Terre
represents the logical progression of Rosny’s thought. The portents of
mankind’s final disappearance may be seen to emerge in the text
through evolutionary narratives of the earth that are not, however, exclusively Darwinian in character.
Lamarck and Rosny
Although Darwin’s theories exercised a considerable influence over
Rosny, they were not the only evolutionary model to inform his ideas,
for, as Roger Bozzetto points out: “Pour Rosny, l’‘évangile évolutionniste’ de Lamarck est le cadre et le moteur de l’histoire de la biosphère.”
19 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s transformiste model of evolution,
___________________________
19 Roger Bozzetto, “Wells et Rosny, le sens d’un parallèle, les formes d’un duo”,
Europe, no 681-682, jan-fév 1986, 3-11, p. 8.