response to question 1

                I disagree with the argument that the animals and insects were strategically chosen simply because of their abundant reproduction abilities or because the Ph.D.’s wanted to test them. I think they were chosen to restart evolution, but this time on Venus instead of Earth. Sexton parallels the destruction of earth as a result of man with life flourishing on Venus. The speaker explains that the world ended after “rival nations, angry and oily, fired up their best atom blast”, emphasizing the human role in the annihilation of Earth. The Ph.D.’s understood the dystopia man created, and realized that if they were to start life on Venus, it would have to be done without humans, who would inevitably create another dystopia.  As the Ph.D.’s walk away, their goal becomes apparent as it is said they say, “This is the end. This is the last of a man like me.” Animals with less evolutionary development were chosen in hopes of that new species would evolve, different from those that evolved on earth, and adapt to the new environment. It is then that the “new fruit” can “drop”, symbolizing the hope for the type of utopia impossible for humans.