The Oracle's Limits in For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by cgervasi, May 6, 2021.

  1. cgervasi

    cgervasi Commander Red Shirt

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    Madison, WI
    What knowledge did the Oracle forbid to the people of Yonada? At the beginning, we see it it kill the old man for saying he was on a space ship. Yet Natira talks about arriving at the New World of the Promise “soon”. There are no lines to indicate that this is knowledge only allowed to the High Priestess and her husband. The Oracle doesn’t make an issue of the fact that Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are from space. So it’s fine to admit space exists and it may contain aliens. It’s fine for those aliens to talk around the asteroid ship. They’re from outside, so they’ll know Yonada is ship. That’s fine with the Oracle. You can go right up to the line, but you can’t say aloud that Yonada is a ship.

    This seemed like such a fine line in show. We see the Oracle painfully kill the old man. Some emergency workers come and remove the body. Less than five minutes later they’re having a drink and toasting to the people of Yonada. They don’t address why the Oracle killed the man but considers Kirk’s party to be honored guests.

    I wonder how all this is handled in education. The people of Yonada had taken to living underground before the exodus. So maybe they’re comfortable spending most of their time underground. Natira says she sees the stars at night, but maybe that’s rare because people learned to avoid the surface because the environmental changes due to the dying sun. Maybe the Oracle has them downplay geography in school curricula, so kids don’t want to see the other side of the world. I wonder how many underground cities there are how big their population is. The smaller it is, the harder it would be for the Oracle to maintain the illusion they lived on a world.
     
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  2. johnnybear

    johnnybear Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Sep 7, 2014
    The world of Yonada is clearly heard throughout the episode so the Oracle is okay with visiting aliens to it's land but it's people must not know that they are on a spaceship!!! Even if the new world is close by soon enough! Also the mechanism is faulty and the Oracle itself might be affected too! Damn those bees! :vulcan:
    JB
     
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  3. Scott Kellogg

    Scott Kellogg Commander Red Shirt

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    I think the point was that Tyrannical governments like the Oracle
    are arbitrary in the laws they create
    and arbitrary in the laws they choose to enforce.

    Climbing a mountain was forbidden, but the man got away with it.
    Talking about climbing the mountain, might bring dissention, so Death.

    Arbitrary Tyrannies are very dangerous.
    They always need someone to make an example of.

    Scott
     
  4. Doug Otte

    Doug Otte Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Jan 6, 2003
    I think it was to keep the populace safe. They could know their world was traveling through space to the New World. But, the outer surface of Yonada apparently had no atmosphere, so they didn't want people to breach the surface, die, and corrupt the inside of Yonada.
     
  5. johnnybear

    johnnybear Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Sep 7, 2014
    It's not only governments that are like that but also high powered businesses! I can speak of that from my own experiences! :confused:
    JB