Wool

Built around a society where a small group of people has a monopoly on information, transmitting only one vision of the world, where history is being constantly revised to hide the nature of uncomfortable events, where certain gestures and thoughts are subject to severe punishment, and where a violent and authoritarian government doesn’t hesitate to suppress opposing manifestations, the universe of Wool, a science fiction novel written by Hugh Howey, can clearly be considered both dystopian and important to current times. Working with elements of the genre with consistent prose, full of symbolism, the book’s faults are related only to its prolonged and anticlimactic last act.

The protagonist of Wool is Juliette, an efficient mechanic who is suddenly, and against her will, indicated to a political position inside the silo she lives in. Accepting the job, however, brings much more trouble to Juliette than she had anticipated: her frequent questions, which are the result of a pragmatic worldview, are not viewed favorably by particular sections of her society.

The highlight of the story is its unique society, formed entirely within a silo. In the same way that Snowpiercer traces social hierarchy through the countless wagons of its train, Wool structures its city vertically, with each floor of the building representing a social class. While mechanics work in the depths of the silo, keeping it running, the main problem of those at the top is the visibility of the sensors that reveal the outside world. Yet the rich are as alienated as the poor, with the real government being exercised by those who control the flow of information, develop technology, and hide in an apolitical mask. The alienation in the silo is total. Whilst the workers are busy with their own survival, those of high income are distracted by what the post-apocalyptic vision of their world represents: a daily reminder that they are at the best place they could possibly be.

The panels that show the silo’s exterior make the first point of conflict in the novel, with its prologue centered around the character of Sheriff Holston. Beautifully constructed, these early chapters of Wool introduce the reader to its universe through a melancholy and fatalistic point of view. Holston has been plunged into depression since his wife’s suicide, a person who was obsessed with what might exist outside the silo and had expressed the desire to leave: a crime punished by expulsion from the silo, with the person being left out to die of radiation, after fulfilling the obligation to clean some external sensors. Disturbed by his wife’s questions about the reason all the condemned always cleaned up the sensors after they left, when they could very well refuse after being outside with no fear of retaliation, the sheriff decides to look into the situation himself.

It is no wonder that the desire to leave is the worst transgression that can be committed in that society: the feeling of dissatisfaction and the idea that your life is not improving because of how society is built can both serve as the germ of revolt. Therefore, the penalty imposed on those that express these disruptive ideas is an ironical symbol: while cleaning a sensor means opening the eyes of those inside the silo for what there is out there, what is shown ends up serving the contrary purpose of the act, reinforcing, in fact, the fear that keeps all of them in their proper places.

The novel’s original title, Wool, is directly related to the idea of perception, as wool is the material used to clean the sensors. Expanding the metaphor, it also appears in the knitting done by the mayor in the second act, representing the fragile tangle of relationships that sustain that society.

The narrative in Wool is constructed in such a way as to accompany the process of enlightenment of the inhabitants of the silo, who gradually start to grasp the problems of the situation they are in. As is the case of most dystopias, the individuals don’t initially recognize that they live in one, only gradually perceiving what is happening around them: first, they notice the lies and contradictions and don’t shove them away; then they become increasingly outraged about the suppression of certain rights; realize that the prohibition of verbalizing certain words and ideas invites submission; and finally they understand that they cannot peacefully change anything anymore, since every protest is responded with strong police violence.

The silo, therefore, appears as a claustrophobic setting, described as a pressure cooker ready to burst at any moment (“The enormous pent-up pressure of the place was now hissing through the seams in whispers”). The book works with the thesis that revolts have a cyclical nature, even being part of the mythology of the silo, which has its own myths and legends about ancient uprisings. This confers a tragic tone to the events, which seem doomed to repeat forever with no real change (“There had been a march like this. Similar boots on the same treads. Maybe some of the same boots, just with new soles”).

The author also excels at character development: Holston’s helplessness and lack of emotional support are perfectly represented in just a few words at the beginning of the book, when the character finishes climbing the great staircase of the silo and his hand accompanying the handrail becomes suddenly suspended in the air. Now, with Juliette, Howey inserts several mechanical metaphors, reflecting the woman’s pragmatic worldview: “She had come to believe that there was no fastener she couldn’t unstick, had learned to attack them with grease and with fire, with penetrating oil and wit brute strength. With enough planning and persistence, they always gave”.

However, it is undeniable that the author disappoints when it comes to the climax. First, the pacing of the narrative is slowed down in the last act, which prolongs itself with unnecessary scenes, such as a character’s attempt to activate submerged bombs. Second, it starts to appear some sentences full of unnecessary exposition (“I thought we had the silo on strict rations, at least until the resistance was over”). And, finally, the solution found by the eventual revolution is anticlimactic, coming from a random character. It all seems too easy and it lacks dramatic impact.

Except for some problems at the end, Wool sets itself as a fine example of dystopian science fiction, delivering a mature story on the subject and a well-constructed narrative.

December 05, 2018.

Originally published in Portuguese on January 14, 2017.