An Essay on Black Moon Society
After two whole days before the due date of internal battling with my own insanity of the idea; this was a paper I wrote last year for my Sociology class, and if you weren’t sure how much of a massive Black Moon fangirl freak I was, there’s some more proof for ya. Haha
Sociological Imagination from an Overhyper Imagination
The human imagination is perhaps one of the most wonderful and frightful thing that people possess. People make up stories of fantastical words or create that ugly monster that made a bump under their bed. But it is odd to even think about pairing up such a word with something like Sociology, the study of human behavior, even stranger considering that that is what has happened. So as in any oddity that needs making sense, one needs to understand what is “sociological imagination,” an illustration, and the distinction between two similar but different terms.
What is this phenomenon called “sociological imagination?” Sociological Imagination is a term coined by C. Wright Mills. Mills describes this as the ability to acknowledge and become interested in the interaction between man, history, society, and self. (Conroy, 348) But it is Conroy who points out a clearer way to view the basis of sociological imagination as he describes a situation where an author is addressing other aspiring writers. The author speaks about how when normally creating a story the first three things that a writer would start with in their mind are plot, setting, and a character. Conroy expands on this deeper: that it is when those three things stop being three separate entities, but built upon as the setting gains a society, the character becomes shaped by the setting as well as the plot, up until this fictional person, as well as his struggles, in this fictional universe becomes something tangible for the reader to engross themselves into. (Conroy, 348) In other words: everyone and everything that surrounds a person, even events that have occurred many years into the past, effects how that person will turn out or at least the mindset of the society as a whole.
As a writer and cartoonist, I can resonate very deeply with the example that Conroy works with in his clarification on grasping the concept of sociological imagination. There is so much to take into account when writing or trying to understand a society as a whole, one that comes to mind right from the get go is a race that I write about referred to as “Nemesimians” or the “Nemesiman Clan.” Bear with me as there is much backstory to this particular group, as Mills points out “neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.” (Reeves, 317)
Sometime in the far future, a powerful ruler stepped forward on Earth that promised eternal life and eternal joy if every country dropped their governments and accepted this person as their only leader. Naturally, a great war occurred that affected the entire world, in the end those who rejected the ruler were cast out to the darkest and furthest reaches of the Solar System. The group of rebels were left on a planet known as Nemesis with only their families and whatever possession they could transport with them. Because of the harshness of the planet such as a borderline never ending night, scarcity of natural resources, and the strange energy in the atmosphere; those who could not adapt to the planet’s powerful energy did not survive. Over a third of the thousands of millions died within the first year. Those who survived eventually were able to discover the source of the planet’s odd atmosphere, a powerful crystal that sucks in all the energy around it in order to produce magic. The main crystal was far too dangerous to control, but the smaller shards were more than enough for the outcasts to figure out a way to use the power to assist them. With obsessive use, contact of this crystal, and exposure of the planet’s energy, by the second or third generation their decedents gained the ability of individual magic without the necessity of relying on a crystal shard. Thus, the creation of Nemesimians.
Every child’s power is awakened around the time they turn ten, no two Nemesimians share the exact same abilities, nor are abilities passed down from parent to child. But, the parent’s magic levels are a huge factor in how strong the child’s own power will be. With that in mind as well as the unwavering want for revenge towards the eternal ruler that had cursed them to this planet of eternal night, there is this huge emphasis on power. A Nemesimian’s entire self-worth and worth to the Clan is based almost entirely how strong one is in will, magically, and physically. Power is what determines your status in the Clan, the head of each household, and even how members within the group marry. Also because of those three factors majority of Nemesimians are prone to fighting, victim-shaming, and being unsympathetic in general.
Using this race as a model, I will refer to a case within this Clan: Granite.
Reiterating the fact that the setting and situation, at this time majority of the Clan members are about 33rd to 35th generation decedents of the original rebels, thus born into exile on a dying black planet with a near impossible probability of ever getting out in their lifetime unless they want to take their chances with declaring war on Earth. Those who lack one or more of the three “necessities of worth” (magically, in will, and physically), will have a harder time proving themselves or even surviving Nemesis. Understandably that means that the mortality and suicide rate is considerably high. Granite is someone who is lacking in will, thus it is to no one’s surprise that this particular Nemesmian has suffered from several bouts of suicidal tendencies since he was in his early-mid teens. His attempts thwarted more or less by a close friend of his, the current Prince of the group. When the young Prince went around asking his personal doctor how he should try helping his friend out of those thoughts. In which the doctor directly responded to the sheltered twelve-year-old: let him die, he’s no longer worth anything to the group. Not everybody can handle living under an artificially lit world, with artificial gardens, and artificial weather, and that was Nemesis now living less [completely] dependent on imports from other worlds. This is as good it will ever get here, if someone can’t handle that and they just want to give up. It is better that they die instead of becoming a liability to the rest of the Clan.
Whereas there is much help, support, and centers for those suffering from depression, alcohol/drug abuse, and suicidal thoughts in our world; that is almost nonexistent in the Nemesimian community as they believe it’s only a case of ‘the weak weeding themselves out’ than an actual problem for the general Clan. Luckily, because of his close connections and the Prince’s overall stubbornness, Granite was able to find some form of help to cope with his emotional issues. It is very unlikely that anyone else struggling with the same would ever get any form of positive help within the group.
But in Granite’s case is what is known as a personal problem. In which personal problems/trouble is something that affects an individual within a society but not exactly the society as a whole. Whether or not Granite gets past his own demons, the majority of the Nemesimian Clan will go along with their lives. Now, if the suicide rate reaches levels even 20 percent higher; than this personal problem becomes a social issue because of the drastic effect on the population. There would be a decrease on the stability of the entire group because of the general lack of moral taking over a good chunk of the group that would be needed for certain jobs or to maintain the Clan’s population in decent levels. This would also decrease an overall feeling of the need to improve living since a good portion would believe that there is no real point in living anyways.
An actual social problem/issue within the group would be Nemesis itself. The planet needs a lot of accommodating in order to make any society even barely self-sustaining. Before the rapid and strong emphasis on technology, large gemstone deposits that were available on the planet would be traded for majority of the population’s needs. Conditions have improved substantially with fast technological advancement and their powers aiding in slicing construction times in half, but it does not mean that the scarcity issue does not pop it’s ugly head from time to time. This issue is addressed and softened with the continued use of importing goods with what is now grown within the planet, as well as monitoring the average household’s resource intake. With the overall size of the Clan being equivalent of a small country like Lithuania (2 million), this feat is manageable but there are always those periods in which rations must be taken.
The importance of understanding the idea of sociological imagination is not only crucial for someone who is a writer that needs to address the many interworking’s of the world that they are writing to make said world tangible to the reader.(Ossewaarde,134) It is also for those trying to understand our own physical world and physical populace. This forces even the most overactive of imaginations to look deeper into making a richer fictional world.
Conroy, Stephen S. "Sinclair Lewis's Sociological Imagination." American Literature 42.3 (1970): 348. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Ossewaarde, Marinus. "The New Welfare-Warfare State: Challenges To The Sociological Imagination." Irish Journal Of Sociology 19.1 (2011): 132-149. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Reeves, Scott. "Using The Sociological Imagination In The Interprofessional Field." Journal Of Interprofessional Care 25.5 (2011): 317-318. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
