Memories of the Space Age by J. G. Ballard
"Memories of the Space Age" by J. G. Ballard is a science fiction narrative that explores profound themes of memory, loss, and the psychological impact of space exploration. The story is centered around Dr. Edward Mallory and his wife, Anne, who return to the deserted Cape Canaveral amidst a backdrop of a decaying space program affected by a mysterious "space sickness." This illness leaves its victims in a trance-like state, suggesting a deep psychological and existential crisis stemming from humanity's venture into space.
As the couple grapples with their deteriorating mental health, they encounter Gale Shepley, the daughter of an astronaut murdered in space by a man named Hinton, who has escaped from prison. The narrative weaves together their complex relationships and shared history, revealing themes of guilt, accountability, and the haunting consequences of technological advancement. Mallory's fascination with flight and time is paralleled by Hinton's philosophical musings, which hint at the interconnectedness of these concepts.
The climax centers on Hinton's destructive actions at the space center, culminating in a fiery event that raises questions about survival and the boundaries of time. Ultimately, the story leaves readers contemplating the fragility of human experience against the vastness of space and the indelible impact of memory.
On this Page
Memories of the Space Age by J. G. Ballard
First published: 1982
Type of plot: Apocalyptic and catastrophe, science fiction
Time of work: The future
Locale: Cape Canaveral, Florida
Principal Characters:
Dr. Edward Mallory , a former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) doctorAnne Mallory , his wife, also a former NASA employeeHinton , an astronaut imprisoned for murdering a colleague in spaceGale Shepley , daughter of the astronaut Hinton murdered
The Story
"Memories of the Space Age" is presented through the consciousness of Dr. Edward Mallory. Most of the story is narrated in the third person, although a few passages, ostensibly taped by Mallory, present events in the first person and illustrate his increasingly troubled mental state.
Once employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Mallory and his wife, Anne, have returned to a deserted Cape Canaveral for the most ambiguous of reasons. Both Florida and the space program have been abandoned, casualties of a spreading "space sickness" brought on by a "psychic fissure" in time and space apparently resulting from space flight itself. Both Mallory and his wife are suffering from the sickness, which seems ultimately to leave its victims in a timeless trance. As a result, their journey from Vancouver, British Columbia, took them two months and their drive down the Florida coast several more weeks. However, while Anne, the sicker of the two, wants to flee, Mallory insists on remaining. Behind their ambivalent behavior looms the mysterious figure of Hinton, a one-time astronaut responsible for the first murder in space.
Mallory and Anne are staying in a deserted hotel near Cape Canaveral, and it is from there that Mallory watches a pilot flying antique aircraft over the empty space center day after day. Mallory comes to suspect that the pilot is Hinton, who has recently escaped from prison. Subsequent events seem to confirm his suspicions, for when he ventures out in a police car to scavenge food from an abandoned supermarket, he is first buzzed by a glider and then strafed by a triplane.
Suffering a return of the space sickness, Mallory wanders through an abandoned theme park into a small zoo containing a tiger and other animals. This is the home of Gale Shepley, who identifies herself as the pilot of the glider. She is also the daughter of Alan Shepley, the astronaut Hinton murdered. It was Mallory who had teamed Shepley with the unbalanced Hinton on the fateful flight; therefore, he bears some of the responsibility for the crime. Now Gale is waiting in Florida, hoping that the decaying orbit of the capsule bearing her dead father will cause it to crash nearby. She has even forged a peculiar pact with Hinton, who she now believes may not have killed her father after all.
After Mallory leaves Gale's compound, Hinton catches up with him and flies him to the heart of the deserted space center. Leading Mallory to an upper deck of the last remaining launch platform, Hinton apologizes for shooting at Mallory, who he had assumed was a police officer. More abstractly, he explains that flight and time are connected and that "to get out of time we first need to learn to fly." When Hinton fails to throw Mallory off the deck, he instead kidnaps Anne, the one person who seemed attracted to him in their years at NASA. Soon afterward the center is destroyed in a spectacular fire, presumably set by Hinton, and he and Anne leap into the flames. Do they perish? Victims of the space sickness, they may be locked forever in fiery flight.
As the story ends, time is slipping away from Mallory. He waits in Gale's compound while the young woman patrols the beaches for the long-awaited capsule. Once it crashes, he anticipates that he and Gale will go away together. However, his thoughts are on the tiger cage, whose keys he holds in his hand. He envisions opening the cage and embracing the flames of the tiger's pelt "in a world beyond time."