Comparing The Book Of Martha And Model For The Monument To The Third International

In order to create a utopia, people must first think about themselves, those who surround them and the world as a whole in a new light. The concepts of utopia are both explored in Octavia Butler's The Book of Martha and Vladimir Tatlin's Model For The Monument To The Third International, albeit they do so in distinct means. Butler's short story offers the premise of several conceivable utopias, all true and beneficial in their own way, coexisting at once, whereas Tatlin's monument was meant to be the single embodiment of a new socialist order.

On one hand, Tatlin's Tower intended to serve as a representation of the populace's collective efforts to establish a new social order. The individual was perceived as only a small piece of a bigger picture

Mainly, it emphasizes the importance of the individual in determining the course of history and rejects the notion of a single, ideal utopia. Instead, the text encourages the idea that there can be several, legitimate methods to create a better society. The titular character, Martha, encounters God who requests her help to change the world in a way that would help remove the issues that afflict the current one. Martha quickly understands, though, as all of her ideas to make an ideal world have unwelcome repercussions, that a universal solution to humankind's troubles is

There is an odd feeling of uncertainty and uneasiness throughout the entire narrative that doesn't leave the reader, especially at the end, when Martha chooses to forget and immediately fails to know what she has forgotten. This adds to the uncertainty of the leap of faith that Martha is asked to perform as she is put in an impossible situation, in an attempt to change humanity for the better. The audience themselves cannot help but wonder what they would do if given Martha’s task.

Therefore, the way The Book of Martha presents the beholder's share in written form works greatly to its advantage. The text itself requires its reader to imagine. One must envision that which is described to them through Martha’s perspective, but most importantly, they must imagine that which is not directly described through words. The story is intentionally open-ended, this way it creates a successful utopia because it exists only in our