Point of View

Voltaire's point of view in "Micromegas" is one of the most interesting and original in the collection. Though written in the 18th century, the story contains many elements of science fiction, a genre which would not really develop for several decades. The narrator is very precise and scientific. He reduces the characters and settings, whenever possible, to quantities. He measures exactly the sizes of the different creatures—Micromegas, for example, is 120,000 feet tall while the Saturnian is a "mere" 6,000 feet tall. While certainly an exercise in creativity, Voltaire creates this imaginative universe in order to prove a point. In perspective, human affairs seem ridiculous and trivial: it seems absurd that thousands of men should die fighting over a spot of land that is only a fraction of the size of Micromegas' toe. Especially absurd is the Christian notion that the universe was created entirely for...