Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
"Stand on Zanzibar" is a science fiction novel by John Brunner that explores the themes of overpopulation, social engineering, and the consequences of technological advancement. Set in a future world marked by societal chaos and resource scarcity, the narrative follows Norman House, an executive at General Technics, who is tasked with a project aimed at revitalizing the struggling nation of Beninia. As he navigates the complexities of the project, the company’s supercomputer, Shalmaneser, begins to predict its failure.
The story also features Donald Hogan, Norman's roommate, who is transformed into a government assassin for a mission in the Yatakang region. This dual narrative intertwines their fates with sociologist Chad Mulligan, whose insights become crucial for understanding the unique behavior of the Beninian people. The novel delves into the implications of genetic manipulation, particularly the discovery of a gene that suppresses aggression among the Beninians, raising ethical questions about humanity's capacity for change and the potential for madness in the pursuit of knowledge. Through these characters and their experiences, "Stand on Zanzibar" presents a thought-provoking commentary on human nature and societal challenges in an increasingly complex world.
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Subject Terms
Stand on Zanzibar
First published: 1968
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—dystopia
Time of work: The early twenty-first century, after 2010
Locale: Various places in the United States, especially in and around New York City and Los Angeles, California; and the imaginary nations of Yatakang and Beninia
The Plot
Norman House, an African American executive with the massive General Technics corporation (GT), becomes manager of the Beninia project, through which GT plans to salvage its investment in the Mid-Atlantic Mining Project by turning the sleepy capital of Beninia, Port Mey, into a deepwater port and ore-processing complex. As the project develops, however, GT’s supercomputer Shalmaneser begins to predict failure.
Meanwhile, Norman’s roommate, Donald Hogan, previously on the government payroll as an independent researcher and a student of the Yatakang language, is suddenly “activated.” Military authorities take him to a base in California, where intensive training turns him into a lethal killer. He is then sent to Yatakang to determine the truth of claims by that country’s government that its scientists have achieved a breakthrough in genetic technology.
Before Donald departs, the two roommates attend a party where they meet legendary sociologist Chad Mulligan, a banned author of subversive books and currently a homeless alcoholic even though he is a millionaire. Impressed by the great man’s analytic skills, they invite him back to their apartment, and he ends up taking over Donald’s room. He has already helped Donald figure out what his assignment is likely to be; henceforth he will prove invaluable to Norman and GT.
Donald’s mission to Yatakang is a technical success and a moral failure. Given cover as a newsman, he makes his way to Dedication University. When a crazed killer attacks a crowd, Donald’s training enables him to eliminate the assailant, inadvertently saving the life of molecular biologist Dr. Sugaiguntung, the man he is inves-tigating. The Yatakangi belief in a permanent debt to anyone who saves a person’s life provides Donald with invaluable leverage with Sugaiguntung. He finds out that the Yatakangi government’s claims are exaggerated, and he encourages the scientist to defect. Sugaiguntung, however, changes his mind while they await their rendezvous at a rebel base in the jungle. When he attempts to prevent their pickup by an American submarine, Donald accidentally kills him. The death causes Donald to become insane.
Also apparently insane is the GT supercomputer Shalmaneser, which rejects the data on the people of Beninia as impossible. The computer cannot accept that those people completely lack aggression. Shalmaneser’s refusal to approve the Beninia project threatens its acceptability to the GT accountants and shareholders, but Mulligan agrees to slug it out mentally with the computer. He wants to help Norman, of course, but he mostly desires to show that a human being can outsmart even a nearly sentient machine.
Mulligan persuades Shalmaneser to accept the hypothesis that some unknown factor is making the people of Beninia behave in a manner unlike any other human population. At this point Shalmaneser approves the project and begins forecasting an excellent return for GT. Mulligan, however, bullies his way onto the payroll as director of a team of social scientists who search for the hypothetical factor. The factor is located, but it proves useless as a means of improving the behavior of the human species.
The Beninians, it turns out, have all inherited a gene conferring the ability to secrete a pheromone that suppresses aggressive behavior. Mulligan enthusiastically envisions the remolding of humanity through genetic surgery. At this point, however, he learns of Donald Hogan’s accidental killing of Sugaiguntung, the one scientist who might have developed the necessary technique, and he succumbs to blubbering insanity.