Nightfall

In article <cddtgu$nrn$1@possum.melbpc.org.au>,
TetsuWan Atom <tetsuwanatom.TakeThisOut@jpopmusic.com> wrote:
 > Hi all

 > I just read the short story Nightfall on the weekend.
 > I enjoyed the story, although the ending was unclear to me.

 > Why did everyone go crazy even though the darkness never came?

 > Thanks

Spoiler for the few people who have never read Nightfall ...















I think you need to re-read. The darkness did come, although the stars
alleviated some of the darkness. Like most Asimov writing you have the
opportunity to decide certain things yourself. Did they go mad because:

* The darkness did not come in its entirety
* The stars appeared
* The religious fervour took over
* ...

--
Greg Toland
mailto: greg.TakeThisOut@gctsmt.demon.co.uk<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Nightfall 

Why did everyone go crazy even though the darkness never came?

Thanks

The Stars!!! The stars!! THE STARS!!!!!! The number of stars were so
overwhelming it made for mass insanity.
Dang, I hope I'm right here. I haven't read the story in years but I do
like my internet name.
Rande....
 >> Stay informed about: Nightfall 

In article <cddtgu$nrn$1@possum.melbpc.org.au>, TetsuWan Atom <tetsuwanatom DeleteThis @jpopmusic.com> wrote:

: I just read the short story Nightfall on the weekend.
: I enjoyed the story, although the ending was unclear to me.
:
: Why did everyone go crazy even though the darkness never came?

[spoilers for anyone who hasn't read the story]



As other people have noted, the darkness did come -- the last line is
something along the lines of "The long night had come again." What
drove them crazy was that their minds were incapable of comprehending
the darkness, and that they were in fact not at the center of the universe.

What Asimov does *not* explain, however, is why the two characters who
built their own "sky show" didn't go crazy. The explanation offered in
the story by the psychologist -- that the stars are the products of the
madness, not its cause -- is shown to be wrong when the stars actually appear.
So why don't they go crazy when they build their little sky dome with the
holes in the roof?

-----
Richard Schultz schultr DeleteThis @mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Opinions expressed are mine alone, and not those of Bar-Ilan University
-----
"an optimist is a guy/ that has never had/ much experience"
 >> Stay informed about: Nightfall 

Richard Schultz wrote:
 > What Asimov does *not* explain, however, is why the two characters who
 > built their own "sky show" didn't go crazy. The explanation offered in
 > the story by the psychologist -- that the stars are the products of the
 > madness, not its cause -- is shown to be wrong when the stars actually
 > appear.
 >
 > So why don't they go crazy when they build their little sky dome with the
 > holes in the roof?

It seemed clear to me when I read it that they simply didn't put enough
stars on the dome. I think that what drives them crazy is not simply
the mere fact of darkness, but the abrupt and vast increase in the scale
of the universe, and the correspondingly abrupt and vast decrease in the
scale of their own existence. It might have inspired Douglas Adams's
Total Perspective thingie.

I remember that one of the characters, at the end of the story when night
falls, babbles on that they didn't know there were so many stars. I also
remember that Asimov makes a point of saying that the two fellows put as
many as a couple of dozen stars on the dome, and nothing happened.

Brian Tung <brian.TakeThisOut@isi.edu>
The Astronomy Corner at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://astro.isi.edu/" target="_blank">http://astro.isi.edu/</a>
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 >> Stay informed about: Nightfall 

In article <cde402$e1p$1@news.iucc.ac.il>, Richard Schultz
<schultr RemoveThis @mail.biu.ack.il> wrote:
 > In article <cddtgu$nrn$1@possum.melbpc.org.au>, TetsuWan Atom
 > <tetsuwanatom RemoveThis @jpopmusic.com> wrote:

 > : I just read the short story Nightfall on the weekend. I enjoyed the
 > : story, although the ending was unclear to me.
 > :
 > : Why did everyone go crazy even though the darkness never came?

 > [spoilers for anyone who hasn't read the story]



 > As other people have noted, the darkness did come -- the last line is
 > something along the lines of "The long night had come again." What
 > drove them crazy was that their minds were incapable of comprehending
 > the darkness, and that they were in fact not at the center of the
 > universe.

 > What Asimov does *not* explain, however, is why the two characters who
 > built their own "sky show" didn't go crazy. The explanation offered in
 > the story by the psychologist -- that the stars are the products of the
 > madness, not its cause -- is shown to be wrong when the stars actually
 > appear. So why don't they go crazy when they build their little sky
 > dome with the holes in the roof?

Possibly because they knew what was causing the pinpoints of light
whereas when the darkness actually came they did not know, nor could they
anticipate the number of stars that there would be

--
Greg Toland
mailto: greg RemoveThis @gctsmt.demon.co.uk<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Nightfall 

On Sun, 18 Jul 2004, Greg Toland wrote:
 > Possibly because they knew what was causing the pinpoints of light
 > whereas when the darkness actually came they did not know, nor could they
 > anticipate the number of stars that there would be

I'd say knew what caused the pinpoints and were in contol of the light,
but basically I think you are correct. Remember too people went crazy on
some carnaval ride that featured darkness and no stars. And part of the
point was they had never seen darkness, the symbol of the unkown, so fear
of the unknown is a theme.

3ch<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Nightfall 

Along the line of my thinking although I read the story 20+ yrs ago.

Nobody believed the stars and the darkness existed. It was impossible
that such a thing could exist. Then it was cast upon them. The
people in the story thought the world was coming to an end. There was
also the underlying belief that the light from the suns would not
return. Also if I remember correctly the people with the torches in
the observatory? did not go mad. They were attacked by the people who
went crazy. They were spared because they believed the astronomer who
predicted the sky would go dark.

On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:19:46 +0000, colonel_hack DeleteThis @yahoo.com wrote:

 >On Sun, 18 Jul 2004, Greg Toland wrote:
  >> Possibly because they knew what was causing the pinpoints of light
  >> whereas when the darkness actually came they did not know, nor could they
  >> anticipate the number of stars that there would be
 >
 >I'd say knew what caused the pinpoints and were in contol of the light,
 >but basically I think you are correct. Remember too people went crazy on
 >some carnaval ride that featured darkness and no stars. And part of the
 >point was they had never seen darkness, the symbol of the unkown, so fear
 >of the unknown is a theme.
 >
 > 3ch<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Nightfall