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.
Stories 13-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Story 13 Summary: “Death and the Senator”
Senator Steelman looks out at the beautiful spring weather in Washington, DC. He is depressed about his heart condition, which will lead to an early death. He wonders if there is anyone who will mourn his death; he spent most of his life in pursuit of power and has neglected his personal relationships. He calls his daughter, Irene, and asks to see his grandchildren so he can spend the afternoon taking them to the Smithsonian Museum. Once there, the lively children keep the Senator very busy, running from one animal exhibit to the next. Being in the museum calms him and helps put his problems in perspective. He thinks about his ambition to become President and lets it go, knowing it won’t be possible now. He thinks to himself, “Each day, each hour could be a universe of experience, if one used it properly. In the last weeks of his life, he would begin to live” (138).
The Senator keeps his illness a secret for many weeks because he doesn’t want any false sympathy from his political enemies. When the secret is finally out, the Senator is surprised by how well people treat him: “For overnight, indeed, he had no enemies […] ancient quarrels evaporated, or turned out to be founded on misunderstandings” (139). He begins to put his affairs in order in preparation for his death. He spends time with his grandchildren every day. He decides it is time to travel to South Africa to finally visit the grave of his deceased son. As he makes these plans, he is shocked by the appearance at his office of Dr. Harkness. They haven’t seen each other in seven years. They are former adversaries, having worked against each other politically when Senator Steelman served on the Senate Committee on Aeronautics. Dr. Harkness tells him that with recent scientific advances made by Russian scientists, it may be possible to cure his heart.
The narrative shifts into a flashback. It is 1970, and Harkness and Steelman are arguing over expenditures on the Senate floor. Steelman wants to know what “return we can expect” (143) from the billions of dollars NASA is spending each year. He reminds Dr. Harkness that they have lost many men through the “Man-in-Space program” (143) as well as billions of dollars for seemingly no reason. Harkness, an esteemed scientist but a poor public speaker, attempts to explain the importance of building a research station in space for the development of astrobiology. With a permanent station, scientists can experiment on live animals as well as humans. They may be able to develop life-extending technologies. Steelman mocks Harkness by asking if he intends to build “a zoo in space” (144). The reporters present enjoy the spectacle Steelman makes of Harkness and dubs him “Hapless Harkness” (144).
Steelman returns to the present moment and asks Harkness why he has come to tell him this rather than letting him “die in peace” (145). Harkness assures him that if Steelman will come to Astrograd, “the space capital of the USSR” (146), he has a very good chance of being cured. Steelman feels so excited at the new prospect of hope that he worries he is having a heart attack. The next morning, he takes a flight to Russia to be examined by the doctors at Astrograd.
The Russian doctors are confident that they can cure Steelman. He will need to remain in space for treatment for six months. News reporters want to know all about the experience and if this means Steelman will run for president after all. He won’t be well enough to run in 1976, but he may be ready in 1980. He begins to imagine his campaign and the slogans he might use. Then his wife and grandchildren rush into the room and he notices that his wife is wary, worried that he will return to his old self. His grandchildren hug him, and he begins to cry.
On a video conference call with Professor Stanyukovitch and Dr. Harkness, Steelman questions the motives of these two men. He asks how many patients can they treat and how they choose them. Steelman knows that Harkness has an ulterior motive: If a presidential candidate receives life-saving treatment in a Russian hospital, the American government will no longer deny funding for their own astrobiology research station. Steelman tells the two men that he cannot accept treatment. He explains that, given his record of denying funding for an American research center that could have potentially saved countless lives, he cannot in good conscience take advantage of this treatment. After he makes his decision clear and apologizes to the men, he feels a sense of peace.
In the summer, Steelman and his family take a drive to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s former plantation. He wants his grandchildren to remember the history of America and their time with their grandfather. After touring the grounds, he stops to rest. He thinks about George Washington and what it would have been like had he visited these grounds as the 38th president of the United States. But he has no regrets, for he has finally experienced contentment in life. He understands that power and happiness cannot coexist in his life.
Story 14 Summary: “Who’s There?”
In an Observation Bubble, a Station Supervisor receives a call from Satellite Control. He is told that there is an object floating near them in space. He takes a look and guesses that it’s an American test satellite left over from the 1960s. They decide that leaving it where it is makes navigation difficult, so they will retrieve it and bring it on board.
The Station Supervisor realizes he is the one who will have to go out and retrieve it. He is excited to do the job because it has been two weeks since he’s been outside, and he’s itching for a change of scenery. He passes the station’s pet cat, Tommy, on his way. The Supervisor gets suited up to go outside. He checks his gauges and sees that everything is in working order. He then sets out toward the metallic object floating in space. However, he is terrified when he hears a strange thudding sound in his suit. He cannot account for the noise, and all of his gauges still read as though the suit is functioning properly. He knows that there can be no other life-form inside the suit, yet the scratching sound is distinctly that of something alive. He says this experience must be what insanity feels like. He begins to wonder if he is hearing the sound of a ghost.
The Station Supervisor remembers Bernie Summers, who died by freak accident in a suit just like his. He then reasons that it is possible that he may be wearing a repaired version of Bernie’s suit. He is about to go insane from the thought that Bernie’s soul is trapped in the suit with him when he radios the station. Before he gets to finish his message, something bats him on the back of his head, which causes him to yell so loud that he breaks the microphone and smashes his head into the windshield, rendering him unconscious. It isn’t until he wakes up, back on the station, in the medical unit, that he learns what caused the trouble: “three cute little kittens our badly misnamed Tommy had been rearing in the seclusion of my space suit’s Number Five Storage Locker” (159).
Story 15 Summary: “Before Eden”
This story begins with a note from the author explaining that it is meant as a cautionary tale. He worries that space exploration may lead to contamination of other planets and potential disruption of their unique ecosystems.
Jerry Garfield, Dr. Hutchins, and Coleman are searching the cliffs of Venus when they are surprised to find dried up rivers and waterfalls. Dr. Hutchins explains that “where there is water, there may be life” (161). The scientists aren’t sure how anything can survive in boiling water, so they decide to investigate further up the cliffs. They need to explore on foot in their thermosuits. The temperatures in the lowlands of Venus are about a “hundred degrees hotter than Death Valley in midsummer” (162).
While Coleman stays behind to watch the ship, Dr. Hutchins and Jerry climb over 2000 feet carrying heavy equipment. Jerry wonders if they will have time to escape should a boiling hot water storm strike. The two men follow what appears to be a dry riverbed and record the lowest temperature ever found on Venus. Dr. Hutchins notices an increased level of oxygen. He is sure that this increase is caused by plant life. To their surprise, they come upon a lake unlike any they have seen on Earth. It is dark water with vapor rising off the surface.
Hutchins takes a sample of the water to study later on the ship. Moments later, they notice a strange tide approaching them. They realize they are looking at a plant. Jerry describes its texture as black velvet. It slowly inches toward them but retreats when it gets too close to the heat produced by their suits. Hutchins describes this automatic response as “thermophobia” (167). They want to know how the organism will respond to white light, which does not occur on Venus. When they shine their light on the black organism, it becomes “a blazing pattern of glorious, vivid reds, laced with streaks of gold” (168). Dr. Hutchins marvels at the fact that 50 years earlier, a Russian scientist correctly hypothesized that any plant life on Venus would be red.
Before they return to their ship, the scientists bury their waste in the ground and cover it with rocks. After their departure, the narrator describes the plant slithering over the refuse and ingesting the foreign objects, bacteria, and viruses from Earth. The presence of these foreign objects contaminates the plant, which in turn contaminates all of Venus. The story ends with the bitterly ironic fact that the scientist’s discovery would result in the destruction of life on Venus: “the films and photographs […] were more precious even than he knew. They were the only record that would ever exist of life’s third attempt to gain a foothold in the Solar System” (170).
Stories 13-15 Analysis
“Death and the Senator” is less science fiction and more a portrait of hubris. Senator Steelman is a man of ambition. He hopes to become president, sacrificing his health and family connections in pursuit of power. As an ambitious senator, he derailed a younger scientist’s efforts in order to make himself look financially conservative and to set himself up for a presidential campaign. Ironically, the funding he denied would have provided an American cure for the heart disease that will later kill him. It is only in the face of impending death that the senator can see how much he has neglected his wife and daughter. He also recognizes that he cannot accept treatment from the Russian space research hospital without looking like a hypocrite. So great is his pride that he would rather deny himself treatment just to avoid admitting he was wrong. He chooses death in a last attempt to maintain his ego. He realizes in the end that “some men could achieve both power and happiness, but that gift was not for him” (154). The story is an indictment of American politicians and the political games that influence matters which are important to all citizens. It is the Senator’s words that say it best: “[I]f it had not been for him, by this time his own country might have had a space hospital circling beyond the atmosphere…how many American lives were upon his conscience?” (152). This fictional story serves as a reminder of the importance of investing in scientific research at the national level, an argument American politicians were having during the 1950s as much as they are today.
“Who’s There” is a simple story told with masterful prose. It showcases Clarke’s linguistic dexterity, particularly his ability to create suspense. Similarly, it exemplifies the form of the short story genre. In just a few short pages Clarke creates a character, setting, and action that keep the reader on the edge of their seat until the cause of suspense is humorously revealed: kittens unknowingly living in a space suit. Having expected a deadly, catastrophic end to the tale, the use of kittens is a surprising plot twist.
“Before Eden” begins with a note from the author explaining that his story is meant as a cautionary tale. He is concerned that the boom in space exploration may have unexpected negative results such as contamination. The story slowly builds suspense as it describes two scientists making the most fantastic discovery of their lives: life on Venus. The men believe they are witnessing the earliest stages of planetary transformation: “[B]efore there were plants on Earth, our atmosphere was just like this one” (164). Their discovery of plant life on Venus makes them think that one day Venus will produce enough oxygen to become an Earth-like planet. As they explore and record their findings, they think solely of the magnitude of their discovery and their own physical safety: “it was a miracle—the first free water that men had ever found on Venus. Hutchins was already on his knees, almost in an attitude of prayer” (165). This attitude of prayer, however, doesn’t translate into treating the planet as though it were sacred. After the scientists bury their trash under rocks on the surface of Venus, the narrator takes over. The third person omniscient narrator makes it clear that leaving human waste on Venus is a catastrophic mistake: “Beneath the clouds of Venus, the story of Creation was ended” (171). The story reminds humanity of its tendency to negatively impact fragile ecosystems in its constant quest for exploration and discovery.
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