"America" is a science fiction short story by American writer

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

, originally published in the January 1987 issue of ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...

'' magazine. It was reprinted in Card's short story collection ''

The Folk of the Fringe ''The Folk of the Fringe'' (1989) is a collection of post-apocalyptic stories by American writer Orson Scott Card. These stories are set sometime in the near future, when World War III has left America in ruins. The stories are about how a few ...

''.

Plot summary

This story begins before the war that destroys

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In it, a teenage boy named Sam Monson travels to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

with his father. While there, he begins dreaming about a woman who lives in a nearby

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

village named Anamari. When he goes to the village, he finds the woman and begins helping her take care of the villagers. While there, he learns that she also has dreams that come true and that she is dreaming about giving birth to a boy who will become the future leader of an America that is controlled by American Indians. On his last night in Brazil, Sam sleeps with Anamari and she gets pregnant with that boy. Years after the war when Sam is the governor of the

state of Deseret The State of Deseret (modern pronunciation , contemporaneously ) was a proposed state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Salt Lake City. The provisional state ...

, Amamari comes to meet with him to negotiate a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...

on behalf of their son, Quetzalcoatl (named after

Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl (, ; Spanish: ''Quetzalcóatl'' ; nci-IPA, Quetzalcōātl, ket͡saɬˈkoːaːt͡ɬ (Modern Nahuatl pronunciation), in honorific form: ''Quetzalcōātzin'') is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahu ...

, a Mesoamerican deity). Sam goes, and takes with him a man named Carpenter, to whom he later tells his story.

Connection to the other stories

At the end of the story "

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

" by Orson Scott Card, Deaver Teague and the group he is traveling with meet with Sam Monson, the governor of Deseret. In the short story " The Fringe" the main character is a teacher named Mr. Carpenter who discovers that some of the men in town are stealing from the rest of the people and reports it to the authorities.

Influences

As with much of Card's other literature, a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

influence is present in this story.

Characters

*Mr. Carpenter - narrator *Sam Monson - becomes governor of Deseret *Anamari Boagente - Indian from Brazil *Baniwa villagers - unnamed *little girl with palsy - unnamed *Sam’s father - unnamed *Sam’s mother - unnamed *Baniwa hunter - unnamed *oil company employees - unnamed *chopper pilot - unnamed *two American Indian men - unnamed *Quetzalcoatl - Sam and Anamari's son

References

*"America" by Orson Scott Card *"West" by Orson Scott Card *"The Fringe" by Orson Scott Card

External links

*
The official Orson Scott Card website
1987 short stories Short stories by Orson Scott Card Post-apocalyptic short stories Mormonism in fiction Works originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction {{1980s-story-stub