This is the third of four parts of my notes after I finished reading Roadside Picnic. In this third part (see parts one and two), I classify my notes as “Meaning”: What the roadside picnic really means.
The title Roadside Picnic sounds almost pleasant, but its meaning is anything but comforting.
One character (Dr Valentine Pilman) suggests that the alien Visit might have been like travellers stopping beside a road for a picnic. They eat, rest and leave behind bottles, wrappers, oil stains and discarded objects.
Later, animals emerge from hiding and inspect what remains. They cannot understand who the travellers were or why those objects were left there. A piece of rubbish might appear miraculous, useful or deadly. The animals may not even realise that the picnic had nothing to do with them.
That may be humanity’s position after the Visit.
People assume that the aliens came to Earth for a reason. Perhaps they wanted to communicate with us, study us or leave us gifts. Even fear gives humanity a significant role: if the visitors meant to harm us, at least they noticed us.
The roadside-picnic theory removes that comfort.
The aliens may have stopped here briefly and continued on their way. The mysterious artifacts in the Zones may not be messages or gifts. They may simply be litter.
Humanity could be no more important to the visitors than insects crawling through the remains of our lunch. This – this is the idea that finally made the novel fall into place for me.
The silence of the aliens is not a missing part of the story. It is the point. We want their visit to mean something because… we want ourselves to mean something.
Meanwhile, people transform the abandoned objects into scientific discoveries, weapons, sources of wealth and objects of faith. We give them meaning because we cannot live comfortably with their indifference.
The Zone never explains itself. It simply exists.
Everyone who enters it brings along their own hunger, fear and hope. The Zone may reveal nothing about the aliens, but it reveals a great deal about human beings.
Next in the series: Ending – SPOILER ALERT – Redrick Schuhart finally reaches the Golden Sphere, but the wish he makes leaves one last troubling question: does he still know what he truly wants?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do share! 🖤