Why is Jessica 6 years old but the feral youth boy is 15?
In Logan's Run (1976), I'm confused about how people age.
The opening scene to the movie shows Logan 5 at a nursery where he is curious about his firstborn son named Logan 6. So this indicates that people are born naturally from women, and start life as babies. At the time of their birth, they have their "life-clock" installed in their hand.
This is the only time young people are shown inside the sealed city (with the exception of the feral children).
Later on, when Logan 5 first meets Jessica (by way of teleporting her to his apartment). They have a discussion about the ethics of killing by the sandman, where Logan pulls out a gun and asks her if she is thinking of running. She replies with something like this "I'm only 6 and won't even turn green for another year". I can't remember the line exactly, but I don't understand how she could be only 6 years old?
Later, when Logan and Jessica chase a runner into an abandoned part of the city where there are feral children. Logan explains to one of the youths that he (the child) will soon turn 16, and that children who turn 16 are killed by the other children.
So I'm confused as to what Jessica meant when she said she was only 6, and why the feral children appeared to be aging normally while everyone in the city were adults.
Best Answer
Her age is not 6...it's her designation..or just her name.
Logan is Logan-5, Francis is Francis-7 and she is Jessica-6.
Since Logan's newborn son is Logan-6 it seems likely that names are inherited. They clearly have nothing to do with age.
The script makes this clear
LOGAN (interrupting; turning over her palm)
Are you a 5 or a 6?
(we see a green crystal)
JESSICA
Six. I go red next year.
Their crystal color is age related though...yellow for a child, green at 16, and red a few years later.
As for aging...everyone ages normally. It seems that children are raised apart from their parents until they age out at approximately 16. Some go to "Academy" whereas the unruly/angry/feral ones are sent to or find their way to "Cathedral".
Even there, they are ejected at 16 by the younger "cubs"
LOGAN
No cubs over fifteen, Billy! Ever heard of a cub with a green flower?
You'll leave Cathedral then, Billy, when you're on green, because they won't let a green stay here. If you try to stay the young ones will gut-rip you apart!
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Answer 2
Here's how I understood it:
- 0 - 8 White
- 8 - 16 Yellow
- 16 - 23 Green
- 23 - 29 Red
- 29 - 30 Renewal (Red/Black)
From: http://forums.segwaychat.org/archive/index.php/t-17959.html
So the script mentioned above by Paulie_D, this means she is a "Green 6" - meaning she's somewhere around 22 (16+6), as she goes red next year. While her name is Jessica 6, this is an annotation of her generation. So she's "Jessica 6" and she's a "Green 6".
It sounds like sometimes the citizens refer to their age using both real years, and color years. Since the feral kids didn't live in the city, they may have been ignorant of the color coding - so Logan just used regular solar years.
Also, I do not believe the city had been domed for thousands of years, as mentioned in a comment. The movie was set in the 23rd century, and there were obviously references to the 20th century in the outside world (such as the weedy paved road).
The book reportedly varies from the movie, with death day being at 21.
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