Henry Savage – World Science Fiction – 2/28/20

Information Dependent Society

If you were given the ability to know everything in the world, would you take it? Every mathematical equation, every piece of art you came across, you would know. However, with this comes an unforeseen price. You would know if you should or shouldn’t try learning the guitar, everyone you meet you would already know, everything you would do would lack the excitement and fear you get from stepping outside your comfort zone. In Codemus, by Tor Åge Bringsværd, this concept is explored through the main character Codemus and his all-knowing, efficiency driven companion, Little Brother. The main plot behind the short story is that little brother “malfunctions” one day and Codemus spends the day being “inefficient” as he is led around by Little Brother. What this story reveals is that society has become entirely dependent on their little brothers and sisters to tell them how to best live their lives. In this essay, I look to examine the connections between Codemus, Little Brother, and society and how it can be translated to our reality.

The theme for the story is introduced to the reader immediately as Bringsværd describes the city as a machine (Bringsværd 770). Bringsværd writes in his opening paragraph, “The city is a machine, smooth and harmonious…Every gear knows its function” (Bringsværd 770). The description of the city in which Codemus resides paints an image of a world without creativity, without free thought. Everyone knows exactly what to do and is told exactly how to do it via their little brothers. Beyond the imagery that this kind of writing puts into one’s head, Bringsværd does an excellent job of making the reader feel cold, empty and machine like if they were to be dropped into this dystopia. He uses colors like grey, white and black to instill this feeling into his readers (Bringsværd 770). This concept of the machine-like city arguably can be felt in our own reality. At times, people are forced to almost mindlessly walk through life, being guided by applications on their phones and computers to make sure they are most efficiently using their time. This connection between people and being instructed what to do is where our society and this dystopian one really begin to collide.

In Codemus, the relationship between Codemus and Little Brother gives rise to similarities in our own reality. Bringsværd does a good job of humanizing Codemus to the reader in the beginning of his story. Beyond the basic description of him, one of the first characteristics Codemus conveys to us is frustration. On page 771, Codemus asks Little Brother multiple times for the time, but is unable to trigger a response. Frustrated, he sweeps the box onto the floor. This further humanizes Codemus as when he realizes what he has done, he feels bad and goes to pick Little Brother up and says, “I didn’t know what I was doing. Little Brother…” (Bringsværd 772). The ability for Codemus to be humanized allows the reader to connect with him and better understand what it would like to live in this society. Further, based upon the series of events Codemus has when not being told the time, it is evident just how dependent this society is on their little brothers, as without them, they don’t even know the time of day. After that, Codemus picks Little Brother up and says, “Well, at least you’re not dead” (Bringsværd 772). This prompts a very important question; is a machine alive? At times in our society, it may feel that some of our technology, specifically our phones, are “alive” because of everything they do for you. When one drops their phone, it could be viewed that the reason they get so nervous about it being broken is because they care about it and all the things that the phone does for them. In this society, where their lives are essentially determined by these machines, this reaction seems justified and understandable.

Beyond the initial relationship we see between Codemus and Little Brother, we further learn about the dependence that this society has on their little brothers through the main adventure that takes place. The adventure that takes place is when Codemus and Little Brother travel to a park that they normally only visit on Sundays. Here, after Little Brother convinces him to relax and lay down, it says, “he didn’t have a guilty conscience. Codemus didn’t have any conscience at all” (Bringsværd 775). This statement is striking, as in our society, it would seem that everyone has a conscience and knows what is right and what is wrong. However, in this one, where every decision is made for them, it would seem that each person’s little brother is essentially their conscience. This can be seen shortly after, as when a young woman appears, Little Brother ends up telling Codemus to marry her. In our society, this is a big decision and people usually take years before they are ready to take that step because it takes time to know if that is what you want to do. However, since Codemus doesn’t have a conscience and Little Brother essentially acts like his, when he is told to marry her he does not really give it much thought and is not nervous about the decision. Codemus evens blurts out, “Wait! I only want to marry you!” (Bringsværd 777). This may be an extreme exaggeration of our own society, however, with the access to things like Google that seems to have the answer to any question, one may eventually find themselves typing in the question: when should I get married?

            Codemus contains many resemblances of our own society, even if they are exaggerated. When this story was written in 1967, people weren’t sure what the future of technology would hold. The idea that technology could entirely control our lives by the 2040s was still very possible and arguably has come true. While now the prospect of a society like the one in Codemus seems far-fetched, the ideas Bringsværd had do relate to things we see in our modern society. People now seem dependent on their phones for information and to stay in the know. Google can answer any random question you may have and give advice. Computers and internet seem like they are in all homes in developed countries. This story reveals some scary truths about our society and it is not out of the realm of possibility that our society evolves into the one in Codemus or one like it.

Works Cited

Bringsværd, Tor Åge. “Codemus.” Translated by Steven T. Murray. The World Treasury of Science Fiction, edited by David G. Hartwell, Little Brown and Company, pp. 769-81.