Understanding the Monster : Challenging Negative Images of Spiders with Adrian Tchaikovsky's 'Children of Time'

Abstract

Spiders are frequently depicted as malicious and scary creatures in modern media; however, spiders have a rich literary history of both positive and negative traits. Adrian Tchaikovsky’s science fiction novel Children of Time (2015) challenges fears about spiders and presents spider characters as empathetic. This thesis analyzes the ways in which the novel portrays spiders positively without removing all of their spider characteristics. Animal studies are utilized to examine how Tchaikovsky expands upon themes found in big bug films, the ways in which he retains their spider traits, and how he chooses to anthropomorphize them. Furthermore, the thesis identifies how human fear towards spiders is depicted within the text, and how Tchaikovsky alleviates these fears. This thesis compares the way human and spider narrators depict spiders. The study also examines parallels between the spider and human societies in the novel and what these parallels reveal about human prejudices.

The thesis posits that Tchaikovsky builds familiarity with spider behavior by presenting it frequently within the text instead of hiding the spiders’ bodies. Furthermore, the novel anthropomorphizes behaviors in the spiders that deviate too drastically from human behavior, such as the cannibalistic nature of spider mating. By presenting the spider perspective as simultaneously relatable and alien, and contrasting it with the human perspective, Tchaikovsky is able to comment upon human behaviors such as sexism and prejudice towards the unknown. In addition, Tchaikovsky is able to bridge the gap between the monstrous image that spiders have and a more realistic depiction of their behavior through an imagined reality in which spiders are able to express themselves to a human perspective.