Analysis Of Arena By Fredric Brown

The story Arena by Fredric Brown written in 1944 shows the conflicts and ideas circulating in the United States in the 1940’s under the influence of World War II. The reader follows Carson’s journey and has the opportunity to analyze the consequences of the ritual battle in this science fiction stage and connect it to conflicts back home. Furthermore, the hate between Carson and the Roller is center staged, and outsiders are characterized as evil beings and enemies. During an era of moral absolutism where there are two options: black or white, good or bad and thus evil must be defeated. This battle carried in outer space resembles WWII in the warfare the participants were involved in and the hate nations of the world had against each other. This story alludes to how every war intends to resolve a conflict; however, this often leads more violence in a showcase of superiority. “I see from your mind that in your early history of nationalism …show more content…
Carson and the Roller both showed the fear of the Other in this battle that originated with sporadic combats and increased to this final magnitude; Brown explains this by saying “isolated battles between earth patrols and small groups of Outsider spaceships; battles sometimes won and sometimes lost…” (39). Carson killed the Roller out of fear and under the pressure of the entity, but perhaps, both parties could have reached an agreement. At the beginning Carson intended to make peace with the alien, but then he realized it was in vain, as shown on page 45 when he says “peace doesn’t appeal to you” , and “to the death”(45) . The author also adds in page 58 “Farther apart than god and devil, there could never be even a balance between them”. The story reflects that avoiding the fears of the unknown could banish many conflicts as well as protect people’s