Literary Analysis Essay on Repent Harlequin Said the Ticktockman

Introduction

Repent Harlequin Said the Ticktockman is a short story written by Harlan Ellison printed in 1965. The story featured characters such the Harlequin and his wife, Pretty Alice. Also featured is the Ticktockman. The play merely uses science fiction in bringing out the ideas. Being a nonlinear narrative, the unfolding of events starts in the middle, then to the beginning, and finally to the end. The story talks about a very tight schedule where people have to do things within the timeline. Being late is a severe crime. Lateness invites time deduction in the life of an individual, and finally, one runs out of time, leading to being turned off. Removing time from one's life is the duty of the Master Timekeeper, the Ticktockman. He remained masked and hence anonymous. This paper will check the role of the two main characters and come up with a decisive conclusion.

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The Harlequin can is termed as a rebel. To the low class, he can be called a hero, but the high-class rebel suits him best. The small level called him an "a Robin Hood," which translated to a Jesus. In most scenarios, he goes against the wish of the Timekeeper that is making sure people waste time. There are several incidents where the Harlequin contradicts the law. He makes sure that people must spend time in the wrong manner. In the first incident, he flies his plane high and monitors the movement, which he refers to as "the metronomic left-right-left" heading to and from work. To distract these busy laborers, he drops jelly beans worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. As a result, people stop what they are doing and scrambles for the beans. Workers wasted some time here as they were collecting and putting "little jelly bean eggs of childish color into their mouths."

Additionally, in another scene, he tended to be late to his wife. Alice feels frustrated by the behavior of her husband. She fumes and says, "for God's sake, can't you stay home just one night!" after the argument, he leaves and goes to continues hurting the authorities. He pulls another act of rebellion by announcing that he will be attending the International Medical Association Invocation. Due to his character being late, police expected him to be late, but this did not happen. He showed up much earlier than expected, and this confused the police. The Harlequin displays peaceful demonstration by "blowing a large bullhorn," which frightened the cops. Another act of deviance occurs when the Harlequin goes to disturb activities in a sophisticated shopping center. He says, "why let them order you about? Why let them tell you to hurry and scurry like ants or maggots?" Tells people to take their time in shopping and let life take them at their own pace.

He says people are being carried as slaves by the Timekeeper. The incident also caused a delay in the system hence causing a malfunction in the chain of production. Even after being captured by the Ticktockman and being requested to repent, he does not give in. He tells the Timekeeper," scare someone else. I'd rather be dead than live in a dumb world with a bogeyman like you." Finally, the Harlequin is detained and forced to repent. Many viewed him as a hero due to the things he accomplished in resisting the tight schedule. He fought a fight to make sure that the low class leaves a comfortable life. On the other hand, Ticktockman can is evil. His actions were against the will of the people. Causing pain to people, but to the authorities, he was right.

People feared him so much, and, in some incidences, we see his evil deeds. He administered the inhuman penalties. These made people term him as evil. For example, Ticktockman sent a death letter to Marsh. His wife received the message, and she became frightened upon receiving the news, and she wished it did not belong to her. She says," let it be for Marsh...or one of the kids, but not for me, please, dear God, not for me." After opening the mail, she notices that it belonged to her husband. Meanwhile, Marsh received the news and went to hide in the Canadian forest, and this did not stop the Master Timekeeper from pulling the trigger. Finally, he administered punishment and killed Marsh, leaving the kids without a father.

In another case, Ticktockman looked for the Harlequin after he dropped jelly beans to give the punishment. The punishment meant nothing less than death and carried out harshly. Here the evil character of the Master Timekeeper continues to come out clearly. When the Harlequin made his final move at the invocation, things did not turn well for him. The Master Timekeeper hunted him and arrested him. Although the Harlequin resisted repenting, he had to repent after being put under torture. It also shows how inhuman and evil the Ticktockman displayed himself to the subject. Turning off people's life is a clear indication of the harm in the leader. The whole society was against the things done by the self-proclaimed Timekeeper hence making him evil. The powerless do not have any say in the rules made even if the lawmakers are not affected by the instructions they make.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Harlequin emerged as a hero and also a rebel. People who received harsh treatment from the authorities found someone who they could depend on. People were very pleased with his actions, which would cost his life. The government found it challenging to deal with this hero. He acted as the biggest threat to daily activities. The authority kept on hurting him down to ensure the excellent running of its function and the no wasting time project. Finally, the Timekeeper emerges as an evil being who did not value the lives of the citizens. Through his inhuman behavior and actions, he threatens people, and they feared him so much. Even though no one knew his identity, the lower class did not want to be associated with him.