Synopsis: On the way to bring Nog to Earth to attend Starfleet Academy, Quark’s new vessel is caught in a time warp and ends up on Earth, but in 1947.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of James Hillman’s concept, the acorn theory. That just as every acorn has all the information inside it to become a tree, humans are born with an inner daimon that has all the information inside them as to who they are meant to be – if we honor it and follow its guidance.
In “Little Green Men” on the eve of Quark’s nephew, Nog, leaving for Starfleet Academy, a shuttle that his cousin promised to send him arrives. So, Quark, Nog, and his father Rom, set out to take Nog to Earth. Also on the vessel is kemacite, a dangerously explosive substance that turns out to come in handy when sabotage is discovered aboard the ship and Rom uses it to stop the engines. Unfortunately, this causes a temporal surge in the subspace continuum and the shuttle crash lands on Earth in the year 1947. Quark believes that he can manipulate the twentieth century humans and wants to stay in 1947 so he can sell them stuff. But then they discover that Odo had stowed away on the craft and he loads them back aboard the shuttle and they are able to recreate the temporal surge and return to their century.
That Quark is Quark no matter what century he may find himself in can be compared to each of us having an inner daimon to be true to. Ironically, the political leaders of the Ferengi are also called Daimons. But Quark is not the only one being true to himself. Odo, in stowing aboard the shuttle because he thought Quark might try to smuggle something to Earth, was also acting in support of his inner daimon. Rom for his part is mechanically inclined and was able to save his family aboard the shuttle from death. But perhaps the most obvious illustration of following one’s inner daimon is found in the character of Nog. While no Ferengi has ever been accepted to Starfleet Academy, he knew that this was what he wanted to do and over the past couple years has worked hard to make it a reality. Hillman’s theory goes as far as to posit that our daimon even knows what obstacles we need to have put in our way to overcome so that we can be who we are meant to be, and provides them for us as well. This is certainly the case for Nog.
mydailysoultrek 