Literature- extraterrestrial life debate

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date Literature- Extraterrestrial Life Debate on Novella Somnium by Johannes Kepler and Lucian Answer 2 Somnium is one of the most famous science fiction novels, and it was published posthumously in 1634. The novel revolves around a story of a dream to explore astronomical concepts, predominantly the moon’s movements and observations. The writer introduces the narrator, i-e. Duracotus is a young yet energetic boy (Kepler 03). Having been blessed with knowledge about herbs and their applications, Duracotus’s mother, Fiolxhilda, is also of prime important character to be highlighted by the writer (Kepler 06). Fiolxhilda’s character presents the blending of ancient and contemporary theories through her magically convincing knowledge. By revolving around scripts of justice, dare, and truthfulness, this novel presents a beautiful blending of characters leading and directing the others, just like Duracotus was sent away by his mother for indulging in a misdeed. Duracotus then faced stiff resistance from the environment and had to bear several rigid circumstances when his mother sent him away. He was then taken aboard a Danish sailor’s ship, where he found a prestigious Danish scholar named Tycho Brahe, who was Kepler’s mentor and a celebrated historian (Kepler 08). During the timeframe that Duracotus spent under the supervision of Tycho, he learned about astronomy and scientific observation. The novella then changes the discussion’s narrative by presenting Duracotus as falling into a deep sleep and entering the journey of a dream to go to the moon. Kepler has tried to show this phase of dreams in astronomical theories framework through a fictional lens. In the dream, Duracotus sees his mother, who reveals a book to him. The book, though mystical in genre, is filled with ancient and contemporary scientific stories (Kepler 22). Pursuing the story, a daemon appears in Duracotus’ dream and talks about the journey to the moon and the factors and requirements associated with this travel. The daemon also reveals that this journey would require guidance and assistance from spirits. It includes celestial alignments and geographical locations, predominantly a region called Iceland, which may be the gateway to this journey (Kepler 48). Kepler’s perceptions and understanding regarding the relative positions of the Earth and the moon have been presented efficiently in this part of the novella. After reaching the moon, Duracotus observes the residents of the moon in his dream. Daemon had also described these inhabitants in detail to Doracotus. The moon’s harsh conditions influence the environment and weather conditions for people here (Kepler 51). Based on these harsh conditions, they have developed their homes and transformed their lifestyles based on the foreign environment (Kepler 62). Kepler has described the moon’s geography by talking about the mountains, valleys, lunar eclipse, and the relative motions of celestial bodies through daemon. These descriptions are fruitful for the reader to comprehend the geography of the moon and to learn about its environment (Kepler 87). The dream ends when Duracotus returns to Earth and awakens with a profound sense of curiosity and a thorough understanding of his surroundings (Kepler 108). The novella concludes by highlighting the nature of dreams and their linkage with reality. Somnium is not just a dream jour...