Sphere

A motif relating to the theme of Human Perception Coupled with Fear of the Unknown, the sphere represents the unknown. The characters’ reactions to the sphere represent the limitations of human perception when restricted by fear of the unknown. The characters struggle to understand what the sphere is and to decide how to proceed in dealing with it. Harry jumps the gun when he figures out how to open the sphere’s door and decides to enter it without consulting the others. This act forces the team to deal with the repercussions of his choice. Only Norman realizes a part of the truth about the sphere, but even at the novel’s end, the survivors still don’t understand the sphere’s purpose or origins.

Additionally, the sphere symbolizes the advanced technologies that represent a divide between humans and alien life forms. Early in the novel, Norman and several others discuss the problem of humans coming into contact with an alien life form that might be so far advanced beyond human comprehension that no common ground would exist on which the two species could find equality. Ted explains this as analogous to a modern man attempting to explain the television to Isaac Newton. Based on the markings on the outside of the sphere, the team immediately assumes that it’s an alien technology that the unmanned spacecraft discovered. However, as Norman realizes the power that the sphere has given to Harry and Beth, he begins to hypothesize that it was built by the same future humans who built the spacecraft. Through this hypothesis, Norman offers an explanation that separates the humans of his time from those of the future, symbolically separating technology between members of the same race and thus emphasizing how advances in technology can separate and create conflict not only between species but between generations as well.