The short stories “Arena” by Fredric Brown and “Second Variety” by Philip K. Dick consist of two, very similar, protagonists. Bob Carson, in “Arena,” turns out to be a hero, for killing the red menace by means of his courage and ingenuity. However, Major Joseph Hendricks, in “Second Variety”, ends up not succeeding in saving humanity despite similar bravery and experience. The circumstances of which they are both faced are, on the surface, very clear; they both must fight for their, and all of humanity’s, survival. However, the predicaments they face turn out to be substantially different, despite appearing similar on the surface. Where one situation is the classic fight of good versus evil, the other turns out to be a no-win scenario for the
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The ability to solve the problem of crossing the barrier, which gives him the chance to actually defeat the roller, is a perfect example of what the Entity describes as essential to victory; that is, “Brain-power and courage will be more important than strength” (Brown 43). It extremely impressive that Carson is able to solve such a complicated problem, but that he is able to do so while suffering dehydration, a flesh wound, and extreme exhaustion is nothing short of extraordinary. Thus, the distinguishing factor that Hendricks is decidedly inferior to Carson is in Carson’s ability to solve the problem with which he is faced. Where Carson succeeds in identifying how to defeat the red menace, Hendricks fails to identify the second variety. The end of the human race comes when “he had given her the ship and the signal code. Because of him [Tasso] was on her way to the moon, to the Moon Base” (Dick 190). Although Hendricks clearly blames himself for allowing humanity to be annihilated it is not entirely fair to place the blame solely on him. He did not start the war, create the claws, or make any truly rash decisions. In all likelihood, the claws would have eventually built spaceships, infiltrated the Moon Base, and killed everyone in any case. The claws advance so rapidly, in such a short amount of time, that there is very little chance of humanity surviving much longer in the first place. They came from not even existing to, in the duration of about a year, being able to convincingly pose as humans. It cannot be much longer before the robots are able to find another spaceship to the Moon Base or build transportation of their own to the Moon Base; simply stated, Hendricks faces a no-win scenario. Furthermore, Hendricks finds much success despite the situation he faces. He completes the risky journey to the Russian bunker, he returns to the UN
The ability to solve the problem of crossing the barrier, which gives him the chance to actually defeat the roller, is a perfect example of what the Entity describes as essential to victory; that is, “Brain-power and courage will be more important than strength” (Brown 43). It extremely impressive that Carson is able to solve such a complicated problem, but that he is able to do so while suffering dehydration, a flesh wound, and extreme exhaustion is nothing short of extraordinary. Thus, the distinguishing factor that Hendricks is decidedly inferior to Carson is in Carson’s ability to solve the problem with which he is faced. Where Carson succeeds in identifying how to defeat the red menace, Hendricks fails to identify the second variety. The end of the human race comes when “he had given her the ship and the signal code. Because of him [Tasso] was on her way to the moon, to the Moon Base” (Dick 190). Although Hendricks clearly blames himself for allowing humanity to be annihilated it is not entirely fair to place the blame solely on him. He did not start the war, create the claws, or make any truly rash decisions. In all likelihood, the claws would have eventually built spaceships, infiltrated the Moon Base, and killed everyone in any case. The claws advance so rapidly, in such a short amount of time, that there is very little chance of humanity surviving much longer in the first place. They came from not even existing to, in the duration of about a year, being able to convincingly pose as humans. It cannot be much longer before the robots are able to find another spaceship to the Moon Base or build transportation of their own to the Moon Base; simply stated, Hendricks faces a no-win scenario. Furthermore, Hendricks finds much success despite the situation he faces. He completes the risky journey to the Russian bunker, he returns to the UN