58 pages • 1 hour read
Arthur C. ClarkeThe Nine Billion Names of God
Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1967A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Humor and Irony
Clarke deftly uses humor in many of his short stories. He relies on satire, irony, and wordplay to create comedic prose. “No Morning After” satirizes the human condition through the character of Bill. “Patent Pending” and “I Remember Babylon” both satirize the ease with which humans can be manipulated through sex. “Who’s There” builds suspense only to offer a funny, lighthearted plot twist at the end. “The Enchanted Orchid” and “Patent Pending” both rely on the comically outrageous subject matter of Harry Purvis. Overall, Clarke takes care to weave something funny into most of his stories, maintaining a sense of perspective and creating a persistent motif of social satire.
The Star of Bethlehem
As a biblical symbol, the star of Bethlehem represents the birth of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that a star appeared over the location of baby Jesus, which led the three wise men to him on Christmas Day. Scientists have posited that there may indeed have been a new, bright star in the sky caused by the explosion of a supernova on that date. Clarke’s story, “The Star of Bethlehem” imagines a scenario in which the explosion of that supernova caused the destruction of an Earthlike planet and its human civilization. The narrator, a Jesuit priest and scientist, experiences a crisis of faith when he is confronted with the evidence that his God was merciless enough to destroy one civilization in order to mark the birth of his son, Jesus. The outrageous nature of this evidence makes him question the validity of God altogether. He wonders if the cynical scientific perspective that the Universe is completely random might be right after all. The star of Bethlehem thus symbolizes the philosophical divide between science and religion which are often pitted against one another, particularly in creation stories.
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By Arthur C. Clarke
