Walter M. Miller portrays an idea of how he thinks technology will affect society
many years in the future. This is not necessarily how we think technology will affect
society. The role technology has on human existence and the consequence that change
has on humanity are outlined and developed throughout the three separate parts of the
novel: Fiat Homo, Fiat Lux and Fiat Voluntas Tua
A Canticle for Leibowitz. is set many years in the future, after the devastation of
the Nuclear Holocaust and the Flame Deluge. The Holocaust has destroyed any
technology known to man and forced society to start over. The survivors of the holocaust
rid society of any intelligence including doctors, scientists, and any who are educated.
The survivors do this because they feel threatened by the knowledge people have and
become simpletons. They also see the educated as the cause of the holocaust in the
first place, they feel that because scientists invented nuclear weapons, it's their fault they
were used to destroy the world. In the beginning of the novel the scientists use the
church as a place of comfort and wisdom. The monks transcribe all the remains of the
book print, into illuminated manuscripts. These illuminated manuscripts are essential to
society because they are the only source of knowledge from the past and can be used to
predict what the future will hold. There are many themes presented in the first part of the
novel that are developed throughout the novel; technologies role on human existence and
the consequences that change has on humanity.
Nearly 600 years later is when the second part of the novel, Fiat Lux, takes place.
Miller shows how alluring the power of technology has become to society. It also shows
the many consequences that the advancement of technology can cause. A character in
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