"In the Throes" by Mathias B. Freese

In In the Throes, author Mathias Freese imagines a prehistoric creature called a Gruff, who by dint of sheer intelligence and will breaks through the constraints of pure instinct and finds the fraught gift of awareness. And by ‘awareness’ we mean the full array of reflection and consciousness that we humans function with day to day. It’s an amazing trick for the animal, and after the initial thrill of discovery, the Gruff finds other new thoughts, which you only get when you have the gift of consciousness, like  shock, regret, introspection, and the surprise of guilt.

Freese has carved out for himself a unique challenge. He must establish in a large but nebulously described animal (who shares the landscape with humans) the ability not only to achieve a reflective consciousness, but to understand it and describe it. For that, it needs language. The author finesses the issue somewhat; the protagonist creature can communicate with others of his kind through sophisticated telepathy. So he gives Gruff words to work with, but it is Gruff alone who transcends the base instincts of the others of his species.

And Gruff’s language and depth of thinking rapidly increase and deepen: very soon he is cogitating on such issues as the nature of reality, the self, and the unity of oneself with the landscape and the magenta sky. He even finds enough logic and insight to rebut the existence of the “Image Giver,” which is the term used in this epoch for the purported almighty creator.

Freese sets himself the task of using language to describe a consciousness brand new to this deep and circumspect way of thinking. After a slightly jarring effect at the outset of the book, I found he does a creditable job of it: as the narrative progresses, the question of where this ability comes from ceases to matter. That’s because the author sets out in this book to expound on human consciousness, and uses Gruff to illustrate it. In the Throes is a parable of human thought and endeavor, of the problems which come under consideration when humans start to philosophize.

An interesting exercise in writing and reading, this is. The last quarter of the book is replete with observations on human psychology, and considered statements of philosophy. The novelty of the “graduation” of a prehistoric animal—who befriends a band of humans and protects them and learns enough to teach them—fades and the disguise falls away to reveal a set of aphoristic philosophical tenets, which for me vary in the amount of persuasiveness they carry.

The plot (straightforward) and the level of diction (surprisingly high) both serve the author’s purpose of observing and elucidating human psychology. It’s a highly inventive route for such a discussion, and no less effective for being so. It’s a specialty piece, and those with an interest in this area and an appreciation of human philosophical problems will find cogent argument gracefully presented.