Fuzzy Mud

A serious real-life environmental crisis is a causal factor in Sachar’s fictional disaster at Heath Cliff. Sachar uses Fuzzy Mud to call attention to the problem of humanity’s rapidly increasing population and its negative impact on the environment. Simultaneously, Sachar illustrates the dangers of experimental science as a solution to overpopulation. Scientists face a non-choice, weighing the potential risks and benefits of scientific solutions against inaction and eventual human crisis. Fuzzy Mud inspires consideration of one’s own impact on the environment and contemplate viable solutions.

Sachar shows that science is a good servant but a bad master. The benefits of helpful scientific discoveries are innumerable, from penicillin to the internal combustion engine to atomic structure. When used wisely, scientific inventions improve lives. When misused or misunderstood, scientific discoveries can be deadly. Fitzman, like Dr. Frankenstein, pushes the boundaries of science and creates a new life form that escapes his control. Overconfident, Fitzman proudly touts his authority over the ergonyms, which he claims are incapable of existing in the presence of oxygen. Fitzman shows, however, that he’s not an all-powerful creator but a fallible one: He can’t control natural mutations. Like Dr. Frankenstein, Fitzman is a pure scientist: He tells Tamaya that he loves science and likes “figuring things out” (164).