Paper-6 : Popular Literature Unit-3a

NIGHTFALL
ISAAC ASIMOV
Piyush B. Chaudhary

1. Introduction
In the genre of Science Fiction, the name of Isaac Asimov finds a prominent place. His short
story Nightfall (1941) has garnered much critical acclaim and has been considered a classic
work of fiction in this genre. The story has proved instrumental in raising Isaac Asimov's
status as a science fiction writer of repute. Such was its importance in Asimov's career as a
professional writer of science fiction that he once wrote in his collection of short stories in
1969 that: “The writing of 'Nightfall' was a watershed in my professional career… I was
suddenly taken seriously and the world of science fiction became aware that I existed. As the
years passed, in fact, it became evident that I had written a 'classic'.” That also explains why
this short story is one of the most highly anthologised stories by Asimov.
The story was first published in September’ 1941 edition of Astounding Science Fiction,
and even further enlarged and carried forward by Robert Silverberg in 1990 in the form of a
full-length novel. The full-length novel differs in several aspects but takes forward the story.
Asimov was motivated to do this looking at the stellar success of Nightfall.
The story has for its genesis the famous beginning from the essay ‘Nature’ by Ralph
Waldo Emerson: “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men
believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God!”.
The editor of Astounding Science Fiction, John W. Campbell discussed this quotation with
Asimov and asked him to write a story about a civilisation which remains in perpetual
sunlight, with the arrival of night once in a thousand years, with nothing in sight except a
dozen stars in the sky. Emerson’s response to the night in the above quote is one of awe and
wonder; for him it is a revelation of the city of God. Campbell however thought that such a
night would simply “make everyone mad”. Asimov built his narrative upon this theme and
produced one of the most famous science fiction stories ever written by any science fiction
writer.
2. Learning Objectives
This lesson will enable you to:
● Understand the genesis of the narrative Nightfall
● Critically analyse the story.
● Identify the major themes in the story
● Identify the elements of science fiction, fantasy and spiritual myths in Nightfall.

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3. Detailed Summary
'Nightfall' tells the story of planet Lagash which remains in perpetual sunlight and is about to
experience its first night in 2,049 years. The story begins a few hours before pitch darkness
engulfs the entire planet. The story inter-twines scientific facts with myth and fantasy and
presents the terrifying prospect of the world coming to an end because of darkness. The time
frame of the story is four hours and has a single setting, which is the Observatory at Saro
University. Lagash is a distant civilisation which has six suns across its sky which constantly
spreads light to the planet. The world as Lagash knows will come to an end in four hours.
Five suns have already set and the sixth Beta is about to set in four hours. This event will
occur not because of any catastrophic event, but because the people will go mad and self-
destruct themselves. There is a scientific explanation, and also a mythological explanation
from the Cultists’ Book of Revelation offered in the narrative for this madness.
The scientific explanation – Aton and the group of scientists in the Observatory have, after
painstaking research found that nine previous civilizations of Lagash were destroyed by fire
at the height of their culture and no one could tell why. This destruction begins with an
eclipse, “The eclipse that results, with the moon seven times the apparent diameter of Beta,
covers all of Lagash and lasts well over half a day, so that no spot on the planet escapes the
effects” (p.7 ) Lagash will find itself in centre of a giant cluster of thirty thousand mighty
stars despite which there will be complete darkness. The human brain when faced with
something inconceivable will go mad, and cities will burn because people will light fires to
dispel the darkness. Sheerin, the psychologist raises fundamental questions and issues related
to conception of truth and the brain's capacity to understand it. When Sheerin says: “A
fraction of the reality upsets you, and when the real thing comes, your brain is going to be
presented with the phenomenon outside its limits of comprehension. You will go mad,
completely and permanently! There is no question of it!” (p.9), the statement holds a general
amount of philosophical truth and the author seems to understand the way human society
works and also seems to understand the limits of the brain.
The Cultists’ explanation – This is based on the myth of “Stars” in the Book of Revelation.
It states that in every 2,050 years Lagash enters a huge cave, then mysterious stars appear
which rob the people of their souls and leave them as brutes and a heavenly flame from the
Stars will destroy Lagash .
In the city of Saro itself which is representative of all other cities on the planet Lagash,
there are three groups- the ordinary citizens, scientists and cultists – all trying to come to
terms with this phenomena. The scientists and cultists are few in number. The voice of the
citizens who are in a majority is found in Theremon, the journalist. He, like the rest of the
citizens thinks that the scientists are crack-pots with bizarre theories; he does not believe in
the Book of Revelation either and dismisses it as mumbo-jumbo. He is like the proverbial
ostrich refusing to accept the truth facing him. After all five of the six suns have set! The
scientists in anticipation of the impending doom have put three hundred people (3/4 th of
which are women and children) with all the data collected in a hideout so that the next cycle
will “know” and the three hundred saved can repopulate the planet and start a new cycle.

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 The Cultists are however waiting with elation for the end of the world. Of the three
groups only they are not interested in averting this occurrence. They believe that the ‘Stars’,
when they rob them of their souls, will provide them with immortality. The fifth chapter of
the Book of Revelation, which Latimer recites as the end nears, gives the reader an idea of
the terrifying things about to happen. The title of the Book, language and style of the fifth
chapter also makes the reader connect it to the Book of Revelation in the Bible, and the
Apocalypse.
“And it came to pass that in those days the sun, Beta, held lone vigil…it alone, shrunken
and cold, shone down upon Lagash… And men did assemble in the public squares and in the
highways, there to debate and to marvel at the sight, for a strange depression had seized them.
Their minds were troubled and their speech confused, for the souls of men awaited the
coming of the Stars…It came to pass that the Darkness of the Cave fell upon Lagash, and
there was no light on all the surface of Lagash. Men were even as blinded, nor could one man
see his neighbour, though he felt his breath upon his face…And in this blackness there
appeared the Stars, in countless numbers, and to the strains of music of such beauty that the
very leaves of the trees cried out in wonder. And in that moment the souls of men departed
from them, and their abandoned bodies became even as beasts… From the Stars there then
reached down the Heavenly Flame, and where it touched, the cities of Lagash flamed to utter
destruction, so that of man and of the works of man nought remained.” (p.13)
The Book of Revelation is in the language of the second cycle of civilisation and how the
Book survived despite seven more cycles being destroyed is in itself a mystery and lends
credence to the cultists’ belief in the miraculous power of God. The interesting part of the
narrative is that science is not being seen in opposition to the predictions in the Book of
Revelation. We find the scientists agreeing with them. Aton when he reaches a dead end in
the research approaches Sor, the head of the Cultists for the data only Sor could give. Aton, a
little later in the story tells Latimer that he had promised Sor that his intention was to prove
the “essential truth of the creed of the cult” (p.11). He claims to have found scientific backing
to the creed’s beliefs.
Despite the fact that the scientists are in agreement with the cultists, Latimer has come to
destroy the Observatory, because the Cultists believe that Aton has removed the spiritual
significance of the prediction and made ‘Darkness’ and ‘Stars’ a natural phenomenon. This is
the bone of contention between them. In this accusation, Latimer is only partially correct.
‘Darkness’ according to the scientists is created due to an eclipse and the duration of this
eclipse would be of half a day, whereas the Cultists believe that the darkness is caused when
Lagash will enter a huge cave of darkness, because this is preordained in the Book of
Revelation and is of divine dispensation.
‘Stars’ in the Lagash sky are not the stars we conceive them to be; for the Cultists the
stars are mysterious and do not provide any light, but appear in the sky with the sole purpose
of robbing people off their souls and turning them into beasts. The divine flame from the
Stars will burn down the civilization. The scientists have no explanation for the stars and are
inclined to accept their mystery. “Imagine Darkness - everywhere. No light, as far as you can
see. The houses, the trees, the fields, the earth, the sky – black! And Stars thrown in, for all I

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know – whatever they are. Can you conceive it?” (p.9) Shireen’s words indicate a fear of the
unknown, unknown because they do not know what these stars are. The two younger
scientists Yimot and Faro conduct an experiment to simulate the darkness and its appearance
before it could happen in reality. They simulate night and create complete darkness and make
holes in the roof to give the effect of the stars, but this experiment fails. Yimot reports to the
other scientists, “Well, nothing. That was the whacky part of it. Nothing happened. It was just
a roof with holes in it and that’s just what it looked like.” The narrative ends with the arrival
of Stars as predicted in the Book of Revelation: “the awful splendour of the indifferent Stars
leaped nearer to them. The long night had come again.” (p.19)
Check your progress
1. What is the context of the story Nightfall?
2. What explanation is offered by the scientists and the cultists for the phenomena that is
to occur?
4. Critical Analysis
4.1 Religion and Science
Nightfall is a complex thought provoking story where elements of SF, spiritual myth, mystery
and fantasy are all interwoven. The story does not set up a binary between science and
religion; instead tries to amalgamate scientific principles to the myths and prophecies made in
the religious texts. Aton accepts the truth of the prophecy/ prediction in the Book of
Revelation, and his entire mission is to find scientific explanation for the end of the world
prediction. To this end he is able to offer the theory of universal gravitation and the eclipse
caused by the moon, replacing the dark cave explanation in the Book of Revelation.
The eclipse however is only for half a day. Lagash would be enveloped in complete
darkness only for that duration. It is somehow inconceivable for the reader how darkness for
such a short period of time would make people mad enough to self-destruct the entire planet,
even if one allows for the fact that darkness as a concept and as an experience is unknown to
people of Lagash. Sheerin tells us that darkness even for duration of fifteen minutes as in the
tunnel ride, would bring on madness due to lack of light and claustrophobia. But we also
know that the people know how to light fires which can dispel darkness. Perhaps what
Sheerin is referring to is the way in which the human mind works, when it has to contend
with something which is inconceivable; the shock and the fear of the unknown, will rob it of
all rationality and make it irrational and mad. “First the eclipse …which will start in three
quarters of an hour …then universal Darkness, and maybe, these mysterious Stars -- then
madness, and end of the cycle.” (p.7) More than the darkness it is the Stars that the scientists
fear, probably because they know what causes the darkness but have no clue about the Stars.
The cultists also believe that the divine Stars will cause madness and subsequent destruction.
The narrative itself does not lead us to believe one way or the other. That the world will come
to an end in a huge fire is certain, but how this huge fire will happen and what causes it -
divine wrath or human madness - is ambiguous. This ambiguity is further reinforced by the
ending.

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 The ending of the narrative is inconclusive and is deliberately so; we simply do not know
how events unfold once darkness takes over. The enigma regarding the cause of madness
which will ultimately destroy Lagash remains unresolved. Is it the mysterious Stars or the
limits of the human mind? The only conclusion that one can draw is that myths, which have
survived over thousands of years, and science ,both aim towards an understanding of the
universe we live in, but do it in different ways; myths are symbolic and poetic in nature
whereas science deals with facts and empirical evidence. For instance, the myth describes
Lagash as entering a giant cave. All of us who have at one time or another watched an eclipse
would wholeheartedly agree with this description, but we also know that science explains the
same thing differently. Both descriptions are valid, one poetic the other scientific.
4.2 Nightfall and the Bible
The crux of the story Nightfall is that of the world coming to an end. This idea is borrowed
from the Book of Revelation in the Bible, and the sacred book of Cultists in the story goes by
the same name. The Book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible and deals with the
Second Coming of Christ, also known as Apocalypse/ Doomsday/ Day of Judgement. It
reveals God’s plans for the righteous and the sinners. Chapter 6-16 of the Book in the Bible
consists of three cycles of seven judgements and has seven trumpets and seven bowls.
Chapter 6 deals with opening of the sixth seal and chapter 8 with opening of seventh seal.
The prophetic insert between the sixth and seven seals describes the sealing of 1,44,000
children of Israel. You will notice the similarity between this protective sealing and the three
hundred people in hideout in Saro. The Biblical prediction of apocalypse must have seemed
very real to Asimov’s readers in the 1940’s, experiencing the darkness, destruction and
brutality of the second world war. The images of the sun “black as a sackcloth of hair” and
Stars “falling from the heaven burning like a torch”, from chapter 6 and 8 of the Book of
Revelation in the Bible will make it clear that the prophecy in Nightfall has a direct relation
to the prophecy in the Bible.
Chapter-6
“Behold there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and
the moon became like blood.
And the stars of heaven fall to earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a
mighty wind.
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island was
moved out of its place.
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, every slave and every free man
hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
And said to the mountains and rocks ‘fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who
sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
For the great day of this wrath has come and who is able to stand? ”

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Chapter-8
After the seventh seal is opened all the seven angels sound the trumpets one after the
other raining “fire and brimstone on earth, with stars falling from heaven burning like a
torch.”
4.3 Symbolism
The overall mood of the story is one of gloom and impending doom. The red room where
Shireen and Theremon talk acts as a symbol of blood and horror and death. The final sun in
the sky Beta with its bricky light, the maroon carpet and red curtains, and the red liquor
bottle–all represent a gloomy, scary atmosphere and hint at a mood of death and danger.
The red room very soon becomes the dark room with the curtains drawn by Theremon.
This episode allows the author to comment on what darkness does to humans. It makes them
aimless, mad brutes. The darkness without is also a symbol of the darkness within and is the
recurrent symbol which appears at multiple junctures in the story and represents the evil in
human actions.
Check your progress
1. Asimov presents us with two widely differing ways of looking at the universe we live
in– science and myth. Do you think Asimov takes a side or is his position ambivalent?
Comment with reference to the text.
2. What is the myth of the ‘Stars’ in Nightfall?
3. Do you think the second world war and the allusion to the Apocalypse in the Bible has a
significant bearing on our understanding of the story?
4. Comment on the ending of the story.

Bibliography
Asimov, Isaac. “A Conversation with Isaac Asimov.” Interview by Gregory Fitz Gerald, Jack
Wolf, Joshua Duberman and Robert Philmus. Science Fiction Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Mar.,
1987), pp. 68-77.
Asimov, I. Nightfall and Other Stories. Grafton Books. 1969. Edition 1991.
The Open Bible, New King James Version. New York: Thomas Nelson Publisher,1985.