Use of Connotations in We'll Never Conquer Space by Arthur C. Clarke

We’ll Never Conquer Space In “We’ll Never Conquer Space,” Arthur C. Clarke explains his feelings about the idea of man ever entirely conquering space. In doing so, he makes use of connotations and technical terms. In addition, he uses key words to help get his point across. Connotations are used mainly in a negative way in this essay of Clarke’s. For example, when he states, “Man will never conquer space. Such a statement may sound ludicrous, now that our rockets are already 100 million miles beyond the moon,” Clarke uses ludicrous in a negative way; many people will say he’s crazy or being ridiculous when he says humans will never be able to conquer all of space, seeing as how we’ve already gone so far. When he says, “Psychologically as well as physically, there are no longer any remote places on earth. When a friend leaves for what was once a far country, even if he has no intention of returning, we cannot feel that same sense of irrevocable separation that saddened out forefathers. We know that he is only hours away by jet liner, and that we have merely to reach for the telephone to hear his voice,” Clarke further explains that, because of technology and its incredible progression, we never have to really feel separated from anyone—whether he’s left town, moved to another state, or even gone to another country…….With telephones and the internet, we’re able to talk to friends and loved ones whenever or wherever we like, using our phones or a computer. Earlier in the 1800s, when there was no such thing as a phone, people prepared to rarely, if ever, hear from or see someone who left town. Clarke describes this “marvelous telephone and television network that will soon enmesh the whole world, making all men neighbors,” but adds that it “cannot be extended into space.” In this way, he clarifies that, although telephones and televisions are great and powerful, their reach may never extend into space; it won’t be possible to talk to someone on Mars as easily or