hsut@ecn-ee.UUCP (11/06/84)
I enjoy a fair amount of Ellison's work, and also detest
a lot of it. Ellison is more subtle than many people think (though
he has also written stories that are gimmicky and less than
inspiring). What no one has pointed out yet about "I Have No
Mouth and I Must Scream" is the POINT of VIEW of the narrator, which
changes the tone of the story entirely.
In an essay Ellison wrote about "I Have No Mouth..." (I
don't remember where it was published --- should be easily
available) the author stressed that the narrator used to be a
compassionate and generous person. It is this compassionate nature
that the computer warped and distorted, just as it had mutilated
the other human survivors in more obvious ways. The story is
cold, cruel and morbid because WE SEE IT THROUGH THE NARRATOR'S
DISTORTED VIEWPOINT. It is an expression of the cynical and cruel
personality generated by the computer in the narrator.
There is more to Ellison than unrelieved gloom and
pessimism. Try "Jefty Is Five" and "Paingod" for beautiful, human
stories.
Bill Hsu
pur-ee!hsut