The Last Curiosity, By Lucy Tan

In "The Last Curiosity," a short story by Lucy Tan, the Woken are described as beings with artificial intelligence that change into humans to see what life is like on Earth. This story shows the aftermath of the destruction of mankind and emphasizes how humans were the cause of their own deaths. They watched over humans for a long time and were curious about what it meant to experience life as humans. While on Earth, the Woken experienced struggle, fear, selfishness, and power. In their new human bodies, they started off exploring the senses and were doing just fine until they encountered difficulty. They had trouble understanding the idea of communication because they thought it was hard and pointless. They weren’t used to talking to each

“We were not the same after that day. It’s hard to spot destruction on a planet that’s already been destroyed, but you could see it if you looked hard: violent scratchings in the dirt, raised voices here and there, and sometimes, the skin of an arm gaping over in the wind. We did not think we would be capable of turning against each other, and yet we did. We fought over food, even if we knew more was being prepared for us. Waiting was no longer sufficient” (Tan 16). Patience really ties into the lives of the Woken. They didn’t want to share anything with each other. Instead, they wanted to have everything for themselves. This explains the human life we live today, where patience and sharing are very hard for people. The abuse of power also plays a part in this story as they discover they have power over each other. “They shouted at each other until finally, Subject 45 tightened a fist and swung it at Subject 889’s jaw. We saw 45’s face change, the way it registered satisfaction and then glee. The way it felt power. And it wasn’t until then that we truly understood the benefit of having a physical body. How some could overpower others.” (Tan 15) They came across violence when one wanted to be better than the other. They were fighting over attention when shouting turned into fighting. This relates to our lives because when we get angry with each other, we act out in