Journal of Academic Research for Humanities (JARH) is a double-blind peer-review, Open Free Access, online Multidisciplinary Research Journal
Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Vol. 3 No. 4 (2023)
The International "Journal of Academic Research for Humanities"

Research Articles

Projection of Mass Extermination in Dan Brown’s Inferno: An Apocalyptic Study

Published 21-12-2023

  • Muhammad Ismail
    • ,
  • Shahzeb Shafi

Muhammad Ismail
Lecturer, Higher Education Department, Punjab, Pakistan

Shahzeb Shafi
MS. Scholar, NUML, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

There has been a wave of renewed interest in overpopulation and its solution originating in movies like Soylent Green (1973), Logan's Run (1976), and novels like "Make Room! Make Room!" by Harry Harrison (1966), "The Wanting Seed" by Anthony Burgess (1962), and "The Children of Men" by P.D. James (1992), the concept has exploded as the central theme of multiple modern forms of literature like movies Kingsman: Secret Service (2014),  Avengers; Infinity War (2018), to Novels like Inferno and even famous video games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011) and Bioshock Infinite (2013). It is a pressing concern for both the press as well as electronic media; with every paper and news channel having a column or show about it, proposing solutions like increasing production, more efficient use of resources, and birth control to extreme measures like genocide and mass murder. This study aims to analyse the projection of Mass Extermination in Dan Brown’s Inferno as “The Final Solution” and the viability of the solution presented therein through the lens of Apocalyptic Theory in general and Malthusian Theory in specific. Analytical, qualitative analysis has been taken up as the research methodology, for gaining a deeper understanding of the nuances, cultural contexts, and meanings embedded in literary works, allowing a more holistic view of the overpopulation treated within the novel. The study's findings show that Dan Brown’s Inferno projects mass extermination as a solution to overpopulation and scarcity of resources; such a solution is illogical and ineffective.

Keywords

Mass Extermination, Overpopulation, Apocalyptic Theory, Malthusian Theory, brown, apocalyptic, inferno, Malthus

PDF

References

  1. Ashraf, Quamrul & Galor, Oded. (2008). Dynamics and Stagnation in the Malthusian Epoch: Theory and Evidence.
  2. Ashraf, Quamrul & Galor, Oded. (2008). Malthusian Population Dynamics: Theory and Evidence.
  3. Black, P. (2003). The Holocaust Encyclopedia. Edited by Walter Laqueur and Judith Tydor Baumel. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2001. Pp. xxxix + 766. $60.00. ISBN 0-300-08432-3. Central European History, 36(2), 307–312. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008938900006877
  4. Brown, Dan. (2013). “Inferno.” Random House Large Print.
  5. Bull, Malcolm. (1996). “Apocalypse Theory and the Ends of the World.”
  6. Calhoun, John. (1973). “Death Squared: The Explosive Growth and Demise of a Mouse Population.”
  7. Garrard, Greg. (2007). Ecocriticism. Routledge.
  8. John Joseph Collins, McGinn, B., & Stein, S. J. (2000). Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism. Continuum.
  9. Malthus, T. R. (1826). An Essay on the Principle of Population. (Vol. 2).
  10. Malthus, T. R. (1926). First essay on population, 1798. Macmillan & Company Limited.
  11. Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd edition). (2012). Reference Reviews, 26(7), 38–40. https://doi.org/10.1108/09504121211271004
  12. Peura, P. (2013). “From Malthus to sustainable energy—Theoretical orientations to reforming the energy sector. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 19, 309-327.”
  13. Rutherford, D. (2007). “Malthus and Three Approaches to Solving the Population Problem.” I.N.E.D. ISBN: 9782733230794.
  14. Sagan, Dorion and Lynn Margulis. (1993). “God, Gaia and Biophilia.” The Biophilia Hypothesis, edited by Stephen R. Keller and Edward O Wilson, Island Press, pp. 345-364.
  15. Sanjuán, R., & Domingo-Calap, P. (2016). Mechanisms of viral mutation. Cellular and molecular life sciences: CMLS, 73(23), 4433–4448. doi:10.1007/s00018-016-2299-6
  16. Simon, J. L. (1977). The economics of population growth. Princeton University Press.
  17. Slotow, Rob & Whyte, I & Hofmeyr, M & Kerley, Graham & Conway, T & Scholes, Robert. (2008). “Lethal management of elephants. Elephant Management: A Scientific Assessment for South Africa.” 370-405.
  18. Thomas, C. E., Ehrhardt, A., & Kay, M. A. (2003). Progress and problems with the use of viral vectors for gene therapy. Nature Reviews Genetics, 4(5), 346.
  19. United Nations. (2019). https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/un-climate-summit-2019.shtml
  20. Üzümcü, A. (2018). İktisadi büyüme. (3rd Ed.). Istanbul: Beta Yayınevi
  21. Vaughn, M. (Director). (2014). Kingsman: The Secret Service [Film]. Marv Films.
  22. Wallace, R. (1753). A dissertation on the numbers of mankind in ancient and modern times: in which the superior populousness of antiquity is maintained. Edinburgh: G. Hamilton and J, Balbour.
  23. Zwart, H. (2015). “Viral pandemics, transhumanism, and bio-art gadgets: a Lacanian reading of Dan Brown's inferno.”