Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Aye and Gomorrah by Samuel Delaney


This short story does a wonderful job at captivating its audience right away. It is shown through a very interesting viewpoint, that of a spacer.  “He” is a spacer, a genitally mutilated astronaut of sorts. I like that this story didn’t out right explain anything to the reader. It just starts off and through the events the narrator goes through we are able to understand the world he lives in, to an extent. I was thoroughly surprised at the subject matter in the work but that is also why it was so fascinating.  The characters, no matter how briefly they are mentioned, all seem unique and interesting. The interaction between the girl” Frelk”, in Istanbul is a very interesting interaction because it really allows us to see how our narrator thinks and understand a little more about him.  This is definitely a look at the development of humans both mentally and sexually. Body modification is a casual subject matter here as well as our protagonist seems at peace with his becoming essentially an androgynous a-sexual character. The issue of population control also arises for a moment in the story to help justify what has happened to parts of society.  By the end of it nothing is resolved but it definitely gives the reader something to think about.

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