The Back of the Turtle

Eternal recurrence is the philosophical concept that all events within a single universe happen in infinitely repeating cycles. The Back of the Turtle explores the idea of “life as a circle” (472), in which certain patterns repeat over and over. The main example is the recurrent devastating, human-made ecological tragedies like the GreenSweep incident and the Athabasca River spill. In these tragedies’ immediate aftermaths, there is always a brief outcry that soon wanes as public interest dies off, and then the affected communities are left alone to rebuild. Disasters recur ad infinitum, both within and without the scope of the narrative. Yet just as inevitable as these tragedies is the indomitable power of the natural world and the resilience of the human spirit. Life in all its forms finds a way back, offering hope amid the bleak cycle of destruction.

The enigmatic Crisp believes in eternal recurrence. If the man is immortal (as the narrative strongly implies), then Crisp has seen centuries of history play out, and thus he knows that no ending is permanent. Even after The Ruin, Crisp remains certain that everything lost will return to Samaritan Bay in time. The cyclical nature of the universe means that the place where everything ends is also where it all begins anew, the place “we all comes home” to (108). Crisp knows that Gabriel will return to the ruins of his family’s old home in time for the promised new beginning.

Crisp’s optimism is validated by the return of Gabriel and, later, Samaritan Bay’s land and sea creatures. The Smoke River runs clear once more, plants grow, animals return, and nature surges back. Time completes another loop. Undoubtedly, the next human-made disaster is not far off, waiting to devastate yet another community. But while humans may temporarily destroy parts of the natural world, King reassures readers that no ending is permanent. Like the sea turtles on the shore, everything will eventually find its way back to where it belongs.

In Chapter 54, Winter repeats a famous law of propaganda attributed to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels: “If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth” (306). This technique, known as a “big lie,” is used to great effect by the novel’s corporate villains. King draws inspiration from the real world as he explores how modern news media leaves the public vulnerable to manipulative propaganda. Domidion’s PR team uses press coverage in a calculated manner, spreading a narrative that minimizes their real and overwhelming culpability in ecological disasters. Their strategy relies on cherry-picking the data that reach the public while waiting for the fast-moving news cycle to redirect public attention onto the next story. By gaming the media, Domidion rewrites the truth and escapes consequences.

Notably, Winter omits part of the quote. Goebbels goes on to say that big lies can be maintained only for as long as the liar can shield the public from the lie’s consequences. For some people, like the residents of Samaritan Bay, the consequences of Domidion’s lies are already felt. For everyone else, it is only a matter of time. In The Back of the Turtle, King cautions readers to critically engage the news media and uncover the big lies before consequences arrive on everyone’s doorstep.

Dorian’s pet strategy for dealing with Domidion’s frequent public relations disasters is to manipulate the narrative; the company minimizes culpability while playing up good press. After the dam breach at the Athabasca River, Dorian and his PR team release footage of their cleanup crews working on the river. Dorian knows that the cleanup effort is useless, as the toxic chemicals have already sunk to the bottom of the river, but this doesn’t matter. All that matters is that Domidion puts on “a good show” (410) for the media, convincing the public that they are springing into action to contain the spill.

Dorian also exploits the general public’s inability to maintain outrage over what doesn’t directly affect them. He knows that “North American Norm [doesn’t] give a damn about the environment” (422), so all must to do to placate the public is appear on TV and say the correct buzzwords until the next big story sweeps Domidion’s sins off the news; an example is how the Fukushima meltdown wipes the Kali Creek incident from public memory, allowing Domidion to get away with killing over 100 people.

The final tenet of Domidion’s PR strategy is to blame-shift and obfuscate: Dorian ultimately blames the Athabasca River spill on domestic eco-terrorism, advising his PR team to “park the mess on the doorstep of a couple of the more annoying environmental groups” (440).

Despite its amorality, Domidion’s PR strategy works exceedingly well. Again and again, the company’s sins are forgotten. As the novel ends, both the GreenSweep and Athabasca incidents have been wiped from the news by newer and more exciting disasters, causing Dorian to proclaim, “God bless the media” (506). Even Manisha Khan, who acts as the voice of reason amid the Athabasca controversy and confronts Dorian about Kali Creek, moves on quickly from the story when it is no longer of interest to her target market. Her willingness to discard the issue emphasizes that even someone who appears to represent the public’s best interests can still have their own agenda.