Topic analysisMany science fiction stories feature aliens as protagonists, in particular the interaction between humans and extraterrestrials. These interactions range from one-on-one encounters to simply experiencing the alien culture from afar. No matter the nature of that encounter, the human almost always leaves changed in some way. Usually this change occurs in the way humans perceive the world and alters their personal paradigms. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The short stories “Out of All Them Bright Stars,” “Arena,” and “The Star” all feature a narrator who encounters an alien or alien race and leaves forever changed. This change due to such an otherworldly experience dramatizes how encountering something new and different can drastically alter the way someone sees the world and their personal morals and beliefs. “Out of All Them Bright Stars” by Nancy Kress offers an extremely straightforward encounter between the narrator, Sally, and a visiting alien named John. When John arrives at the restaurant where Sally works, his presence disturbs the environment and the other workers. Yet, Sally immediately approaches "this one" and treats him like any other customer (Kress). As he does so, his boss, Charlie, approaches and harasses John, telling Sally, "Get him out of here... The government says I have to serve the slaves and the niggers, but it doesn't say I have to serve him!" (Kress) Soon after, several government officials enter the restaurant and take John away, who, as he leaves, says: “I'm sorry, Sally Gourley…I rarely have the chance to show our friendliness to an ordinary person on earth. I make so little difference!" (Kress). The entire encounter shakes Sally, who spends the rest of the night reflecting on the events and questioning her perception of the world and other people. Before meeting John, Sally's worldview is a simplistic one, where she labeled someone as one thing, as a "bully" to Charlie, and that was their only characteristic. However, her contact with John and the events that occur broaden her perception and she recognizes the complexity of people before John calls her an "ordinary Earth person" Sally "has never thought of herself as an ordinary Earth person" before, meaning that his worldview was predominantly self-focused, where he saw himself as an individual rather than part of a collective, or, ordinary (Kress). Once he begins to recognize how similar he is to others, he begins to see everyone as people with lives and personalities as dynamic as his own. Sally notices that Charlie subconsciously refers to John as "he" rather than "it" - something that takes Sally (Kress) some time. Through this small gesture, Sally realizes that in some ways Charlie is better than her: despite her prejudices, she still recognized and referred to the alien as a person rather than an asexual animal or object. Sally can no longer see Charlie simply as a bully and a person to be disliked, because she recognizes that he is not defined entirely by his bully label: “He's a bully, but I want to look at him and see nothing but a bully. Nothing but that. That's all I want to see in Charlie” (Kress). This revelation of life's complexities and shades of gray makes Sally angry, “I'm furious… as furious, as mad as I've ever been in my life,” how can she not return to her simpler, easier-to-understand paradigm (Kress ). He directs this anger at John, because their meeting is what triggers this sudden change in 1985.