I love short stories, so the assignment this week was fun
for me. There weren’t any stories that I didn’t enjoy, though I will admit that
“If There Were No Benny Cemoli” truly threw me for a loop. I wasn’t really sure
where the story was coming from – or the exact points PKD wanted me to take
away from it.
Out of all the stories, I would have to say that “Roog” and “The
Golden Man” were my favorites. I was truly curious as to how much to delve into
“Roog” because there seemed to be so many layers attached to the story. The dog
seemed rational and paranoid all at the same time – while the humans seemed clear
minded and oblivious.
“The Golden Man” really made me think about how we treat
people who are different. If we always viewed other intelligent life as “threatening,”
I think we would always be trying to take get rid of other beings. The story
really made me analyze why we turn our fears into paranoia.
I enjoyed those to stories as well I also liked Paycheck! I really loved what you said about "The Golden Man" I did not think about it as how we tried people who are different. This was a great way of looking at this story. I enjoyed the chase throughout the story. I did find it odd that they woman Anita was so attached to him right as she saw Chris. It did not cross my mind that he had a attraction shield to get what he wants from women as a means to survive. They were both great shorty stories, and you did a great job. Thank you for you input! :)
ReplyDeleteI think that “If There Were No Benny Cemoli” was attempting to address some of the inherent flaws in the ways that humanity perceives itself. That is, we cannot experience everything everywhere that everyone is living, so we rely on outmoded textual and digital artifacts to convey the "news" or "history" to us. Through some excellent Cold-War era analogies, I think PKD is winking at us, letting us know the power of the text, and the extent through which we can be manipulated by it.
ReplyDelete"Roog" was my favorite. I had not thought of the dog as being paranoid, but that makes perfect sense. I agree there are many layers of interpretation to the story. I found it to be the most humorous one. Others, particularly, Benny Cemoli, were a hard read for me. I felt like there was too much going on with the motives and unknowns. I became disinterested in understanding it, so probably did not try as hard as with some of the others.
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