![]() ![]() "He skimmed over a slidewalk, purposely dropping a few feet to crease the tassels of the ladies of fashion, and- inserting thumbs in large ears- he stuck out his tongue, rolled his eyes and went wugga-wugga-wugga. The Harlequin's first reported activity is directed explicitly at women: about solidly acceptable idea regimentation is bad." I was also struck by the sexism of the story. ![]() However, the story's classic status cannot disguise the fact that it has not aged all that well in the end, the Harlequin isn't challenging anything very much, and his means remain somewhat unexplained - where do you get $150,000 worth of jelly beans? Algis Budrys commented when it was first published that it is s "primitive statement. The good bit is the writing, which is intense stream-of-consciousness and conveys vivid images. One dissident calling himself the Harlequin becomes a chaos agent, playing pranks on both the rulers and the ruled he is pursued, captured and re-educated a` la Winston Smith (this parallel is explicitly made), but at the end the Ticktockman himself is starting to slack. ![]() It's a very Sixties piece, about a future dystopic society where life is regimented to the last second, the sinister Ticktockman being in charge. ![]()
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