The Interlinked Concepts Of Time, Memory And History Feature In Garry Kilworth’S Let’S Go To Golgotha!
Time, memory and history are three very important concepts that are not entirely independent of each other. This premise follows on from the observation that history seems to be perceived by most individuals as the recorded narrative of experiences or events as remembered by those who write history. If one continues to follow this logic, it appears to be common belief that the past is fixed and that history, and even time itself, is dictated by a sequential flow of events. Let’s Go to Golgotha! is a story by Garry Kilworth that explores this notion and goes a step further by daring to defy this common perception. The author does so by introducing a distortion in the relativity of time-flow, and in so doing, he opens the reader to the suggestion that what is believed to be common perception or history could really be misconception or the incorrect recollection of events. The suggestion that common perception could really be misconception regarding the relation of time, memory and history is the central theme that will be explored in this essay.
Let’s Go to Golgotha! ‘teleports’ the reader into the future in its opening lines with the use of the words “Time-Travel Agency” (1975). Garry Kilworth’s story portrays the future as an overpopulated and overcrowded time: “Earth was a solid block of brick and concrete flourishing with Banyan buildings, ” (1975). One can also infer that Simon and his family are a representation of the typical middleclass families that populate what Kilworth envisions as Earth in the future. Much like other families, Simon and Mandy are faced with a rather common dilemma- where, or rather when, to take their children on vacation. Since Earth is overcrowded and the children would become sick if they went out to sea on a cruise, time-travel seems to be the only affordable alternative for the family- a rather ordinary alterative in Kilworth’s future.
The disagreement between Simon and Mandy over “when” to take the children is almost immediately resolved when their closest friends, Harry and Sarah Tolbutt, pay them a visit. The Tolbutts have made the decision to take their children to witness The Crucifixion of Christ in the hope that seeing it will “have a profound effect on them”. They want their children to understand the importance of religion and feel as though the best way to do so is to show their children The Crucifixion of Christ. Much to Simon’s disbelief, Mandy is delighted with the idea even though she has not been to church in ten years. Mandy, it seems, is concerned only with the way their children have been brought up, therefore Harry and Sarah’s reasoning seems to resonate with her. As such, Simon and Mandy decide that their family will accompany Harry’s to The Crucifixion of Christ.
As per the requirements of the trip, the group sets out to attend the pre-lecture tour at Pan Time-Tours. They learn that what is of vital importance on their time tour is that they conceal their identities as citizens of the future: “We do not lay down any rules, but it is important you should know how to act because on this tour, as on many other, you will be mixing with the locals. You must be inconspicuous- this is the primary rule”. It is also made apparent that the tour agency has gone to great lengths to ensure that the tourists remain indistinguishable from the locals. Everyone is to be dressed appropriately, but over and above that, their appearances are to be altered and they will be taught Hebrew by “the knowledge injection principle”. They are also advised to follow along with the sequence of events as they occur at The Crucifixion for their personal safety. At this point it is clear to the reader that these precautions place more emphasis on the safety of the tourists rather than any cause for concern they should have that their presence may alter history as they know it. Here, Kilworth makes it clear that their perception is that time flows onwards inexorably and that the past is therefore fixed- that history cannot be changed or affected in anyway.
As the story progresses towards its climax, Kilworth gives the reader more insight into what the characters of his imagined future know and understand about The Crucifixion based on how history depicts this event. Simon’s daughter, Julie, is unable to fathom how Christ’s own people could crucify him even if it was for the emancipation of their sins. It should be noted that Julie’s sentiments about the matter are somewhat ironical in the context of the story and the turn of events at its climax. Nonetheless, Simon is pleased that Julie is reflecting over the incident, in an attempt to understand what had transpired, because it was for this reason that Simon and his wife had chosen to take the children to The Crucifixion- in the hope that they would come to understand the role religion plays in life.
Kilworth again emphasises how ordinary and trivial of a matter time travel is to the characters of his imagined future. It is a quick, painless and delightful journey requiring no preparation or effort at all. The family undertakes the trip with a sense of enthusiasm, happy that they blend in with the crowd so well. We are told that there is “a general atmosphere of excitement pervading the adults”. They have no idea that the series of events that are about to unfold before them could very well change their perspective on life forever. It is almost pitiful that they do not yet realise their own naivety in relation to what they are about to witness.
“Barabbas!”. James’ cry signals the unfolding of the events at The Crucifixion and gives way for the climax to unravel a rather dark and terrifying revelation. The crowd then begins to yell the very same thing and the family remains at the scene for about an hour until Julie feels ill. As a result, Mandy searches for an empty house for the family to rest in and realises that all the houses are occupied by fearful people engaged in prayer- a rather strange occurrence considering the fact that the crucifixion had not yet drawn to a close. It is then that the couple dawns upon the realisation that things were not as they had assumed them to be. If everyone from the past was inside their homes, then all those who were outside were from the future. “Harry, Harry. Look at the crowd! Look around you! There are no Jews here. No natives. The only ones here are us. The holiday-makers. Do you realise the enormity of what we have done?”. The reality of the series of events that had transpired was distorted by the presence of the tourists from the future. The history of The Crucifixion had not been made by the natives of ancient Jerusalem. It had been made by people of the future- people like Simon and his family. The people of Jerusalem had not killed Christ. They had. And those still to come from the future on tours would continue to do so because they had come from the belief that that was the manner in which things were supposed to and, therefore, expected to happen.
While the tragedy of the truth of what happened at Golgotha is evidently clear to Simon’s family and his friends, the rest of humanity’s remains oblivious regarding the impact their actions have made on history or memory and time itself. While Simon’s family and his friends begin to realise the true weight and extent of their actions, and while they are processing the grief that they should feel over it, it should be noted that the rest of humanity’s future will forever remain naïve in their views and perceptions of history, as a whole, because they will continue to conform to it. And while Simon tries to stop The Crucifixion once he realises this, he is stopped by Harry with these words: “Can’t do it, Simon. It’s got to happen, you know. This is the way it is, but, my God, I wish we had never come”. These words truly emphasise the horror of the reality that has befallen them.
As Kilworth’s story draws to a close, the reader is left with the feeling that things could have turned out very differently if time travel was considered by those from the future as something that could consequently impact on time and, as a result, on memory and history. In retrospect the characters in Let’s Go to Golgotha! can be considered to have been naïve in their belief and faith in common perception or history as a fixed, sequential series of event. It is this very notion that led to the apparently irrevocable death of Christ, not by the hands of the ancient Jewish natives, but rather at the hands of narrow-minded holiday makers from Kilworth’s imagined future. Kilworth’s message here is clear to the reader: things might have turned out very differently if humanity were open to the suggestion that what they know and understand as common belief or perception could really be misconception. As such, they might have realised that time does not flow onwards inexorably as is the common misconception, but rather can be distorted such that the true memory of what results from tampering with time is lost in the annals of history.
