The Many Roles of Time Travel in Science Fiction ESSAY

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The Many Roles of Time Travel in Science Fiction The idea of time travelling explores the possibility of moving between different points in time, comparable to space travel, and can be found in phil... osophical writing, physics and works of fiction. Time travel is a prominent theme in science fiction and appears in a variety of books, television and movies. In some instances it is the focus of the story or the setting and many times it is used as a tool to move the plot forward or generate interesting plot twists. Time travel has evolved from the simple concept of the flashback and the classic Rip van Winkle journey to traveling through time in dreams or under the influence of drugs to the construction of a time machine and faster-than-light travel. Although there are a variety of literary devices, time travel is a popular choice for science fiction writers because it can appear as both as a narrative device, allowing the writer to exercise a certain level of control over the general tempo of the story and the sequence of events, or as a central theme, in order to spark an adventure or create a social commentary. First consider narration itself as a function of temporality with the ability to move the viewpoint of a narrative forwards or backwards in time, giving the author power to manipulate the pacing of the text or alter the normal chronological sequence of events. All works of fiction share one common goal: to tell a story. In some works of fiction the story and the action take place at the same time, but in other pieces of literature they occur at different points in time. [Show More]

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