Violence as a Tool in The Ministry For the Future

At its core, the plot of The Ministry for the Future is mainly driven through violence and loss. There is a sort of tacit approval of violent, even terrorist, acts by Robinson in the novel. This is demonstrated through the character arc of Frank, and the Children of Kali. Frank is driven to violence due to his exposure to the deadly Indian heat wave, being the only person to survive in the town he is in (12). Experiencing that utter tragedy causes him to justify committing violent acts, to people who he feels are responsible, going so far as to kidnap Mary Murphy. Ultimately Frank goes to jail, but the book doesn’t attack Frank for committing the acts, because he did what he felt was right. The Children of Kali, likely responsible for most if not all of the large scale terror attacks, are seen as basically a force of nature. Robinson, in the novel, asks the reader not to demonize the people carrying out the terrorist attacks, but understand why they feel they need to be committing terror attacks anyways. The same is true for Badim. Badim, who is the head of the Ministry’s black wing, never comes under attack for the potential terrorist attacks they committed, instead getting promoted to the Secretary General of the Ministry. The point of the novel is to demonstrate that violence is necessary to carry out immediate drastic change in times of crisis. 

After the horrible heat wave that killed millions of Indians, the nation of India began “leading the way on so many issues” (125). The nation got rid of the traditional parties due to corruption and inefficacy, and instead socialized. They came together and took drastic action, including the attempted double Pinatubo, where they released tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, attempting to cool global temperatures for a short period of time. The fact that India didn’t crumble, and instead reformed into something greater displays Robinson’s stance on violence and loss. Ultimately, he feels that short term losses, such as terrorist attacks or the massive heat wave, are the impetus for the changes that need to be made. By having the black wings and the Children of Kali run free in the novel, there is legitimate action taken by the central banks, approving CQE and carbon coin.