Wreckers

[Tatiana]

Who do you think Wreckers were and what they did to Saba's land?

[Kyle]

My assumptions are that the Wreckers are us, however I'm not sure how we got society to become the wasteland that it is in BRR.

[Grace]

Kyle wrote: "My assumptions are that the Wreckers are us, however I'm not sure how we got society to become the wasteland that it is in BRR."

I agree with you that we are the Wreckers referred to in the book. As for how our society could evolve into the society described in BRR - I find it very easy to imagine.

We're burning up all the available oil as fast as we can. We're also working on alternatives but those require a high level of technology. If there's a devastating war or a quick acting plague or some other catastrophe, it won't take much to lose our hold on the technology needed to reach whatever oil is left, or to manufacture solar cells, computers and all the other high tech gadgets that support our current life style. When that technology is lost we'll revert to the pre-industrial age. All that will be left of our society will be our waste dumps and the abandoned - and decaying - cities.

Take a look at A Canticle for Leibowitz for one possible scenario. Lucifer's Hammer speculates on what might cause a collapse and what happens immediately after the catastrophe.

In Blood Red Road, the collapse has happened in the distant past. No one remembers the Wrecker society - they only remember what the Wreckers left behind.

[Tatiana]

I wonder if the condition of Saba's land - dust, sands, dune - was caused by Wreckers too. It's easy to imagine some environmental crisis that could have led to this.

[Grace]

Tatiana wrote: "I wonder if the condition of Saba's land - dust, sands, dune - was caused by Wreckers too. It's easy to imagine some environmental crisis that could have led to this."

...like global warming, perhaps?

[Tatiana]

Yes, and maybe if they cut and use the majority of forests.

[Grace]

Tatiana wrote: "Yes, and maybe if they cut and use the majority of forests."

Right. And that could happen if there were no other sources of energy. In fact, wood was the primary source of energy for heating and cooking before the discovery of oil.

[Randie]

I concur with many of the ideas shared here. I definitely feel like our current state of society are the wreckers...we used up all the resources and wrecked the environment/world.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

We are for sure the wreckers. Just reading about the description of the roads and when they walked past the skyscrapers we knew it then. Though I have read a few books that does a better job at describing the remains of a destroyed world.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

This was the comment from Ms. Young about this:

I do know how Saba's world came to be as it is, but the story is told from her point of view. I like to think that it's as if she's a camera and we're seeing the world through her eyes, listening to her voice in our head. This means that we can only know what she knows. As she discovers and encounters new things, places, people and expands her understanding of the world, we discover with her.

[Theo]

The idea of "wreckers" reminded me of the "rusties" in the Uglies universe. While there are completely different outlooks in the two worlds, the idea that one day our way of life will end and all that we'll leave behind are skyscraper skeletons and a bunch of iron junk is interesting to think about.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

I always wonder what it will be like for people 1000 years from now, or aliens to come and find the remnants of our generation. We thought the pyramids were impressive what will aliens think is impressive or odd?

[Theo]

Yes, exactly. And what kinds of stories will they invent to understand our world? Think about all the crazy Egyptian theories and Mayan theories there are. Like, the way that Pinch emulated Louis XIV, even though he had no cultural understanding of him (like the XIV stands for 14).

[Grace]

Theo wrote: "Yes, exactly. And what kinds of stories will they invent to understand our world?"

For a really humorous look at what future archaeologists might think of our society, take a look at Motel of the Mysteries by David McCaulay. Of course, it's missing some of the more iconic elements of the world we know (such as cell phones, computers, iDevices) since it was written in the 70's.