A Misled Paradise

2 Pages 608 Words

A Misled Paradise
J.G. Ballard’s novel, Rushing to Paradise, provides its readers with humorous, insightful, and often disturbing views of some of today’s environmentalists. Although his characters are fictional, their thoughts and experiences are often those of today’s actual environmentalists. Ballard’s novel asks its readers to question peoples’ motives because as it portrays, people are not always out to do the “right thing”.
Pages 48 and 49 clearly exemplify Ballard’s understated theme. On page 48 beginning with paragraph 7 through paragraph 3 on page 49, Neil, Dr. Barbara, and Irving Boyd are discussing the future mission to Saint Esprit. Although Dr. Barbara and Irving claim to be worried about the albatross, it is clear that the only worry on their minds is the recognition that the mission’s show, “The Sanctuary Island Project”, will receive. Irving intently tries to pursuade Neil to join the project because he sees Neil as an image his viewers will like. For example, Ballard writes, “Boyd’s eyes were fixed on Neil with all the humility of a film producer discovering a face of a Christ-like pathos” (Ballard 48). Boyd is most definitely funding the project for the money and fame he will receive in return rather than the threat upon the albatross.
The true intentions of both Dr. Barbara and Irving Boyd are quite misleading. They claim that the only reason they are doing the show is to help the albatross; but the underlying reasons for the show are that Dr. Barbara is out to regain a good name and Boyd has joined the project for the potential earnings the show will receive. Such intentions are often too common in today’s culture. People are often quite willing to do almost anything for fame or fortune. For example, we have seen a rise in reality based TV shows in today’s media, and these shows tend to exploit the people they are filming. For example, the film series “Girls Gone Wil...