As children, short stories told the tales of malevolent beasts guarding mountains of gold or of a damsel locked away from society only to be freed by her one true love, however, as the clock turns hours to days and days to years, details begin to protrude, warping the facade of childhood stories to their true state, presenting anything but a happy ending. Such stories are presented as Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver, The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin, and This Year’s Class Picture by Dan Simmons, these three tales strive to entertain and warn about the choices and consequences of life and how it is not always what is desired. These three authors all portray characters as archetypal creations, both good and bad, and leave much up to the mind after the final line of their stories, allowing those who are willing to dive deep within the meanings within the words and find the truth behind the conflicts and decisions each character makes.
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In the short stories Popular Mechanics, The Cold Equations, and This Year’s Class Picture, each story’s central characters face difficult choices that cause question to their decisions, life morals, sanity and what they gain no matter the outcome of their choices. Popular Mechanics tells the story of a man and woman’s blooming relationship as it deteriorates before their eyes, weaving universal concepts and archetypes in its midst, it also presents the conflict of their child, or if it is even theirs as they begin to feud. The man becomes quick to want as he says “ I want the baby...No, but I want the baby. I’ll get someone to come for his things.”(1). Despite being told he would not receive the baby, he believes he should have guardianship over the woman whether he is the better adult or not, he is presented as tenacious. As conflict rises, their feud becomes physical, despite the shrieks of a young infant deafening their ears, the woman tries to stop the man by stating “Don’t, she said. You’re hurting the baby, she said.”(2). Her words are expressionless almost, as if she is truly just stating facts as the baby is being harmed by being crushed between a fully grown man and woman however, with a slip, their outcome is not wanted as the baby is possibly killed, severely injured in the best circumstance. Their loss is caused by their reckless behavior, driven by anger and jealousy of each other, they harm much more than themselves in the end. The Cold Equations is a prime example of dark science fiction as a pilot, exposed to the deaths of those who broke the rule of stowaways, discovers yet another on his ship, however, this one is different. He is taken back at first but soon, as he discovers more about the young stowaway, seems to have different thoughts saying “She wanted to see her brother. She’s only a kid and she didn’t know what she was really doing.” (14). He, for a few minutes, seems to want a different outcome for the young girl, trying to defend her for just wanting to reconnect to close family, this is not enough as he is told that all protocol must be in place at all time, bringing in another rising conflict. This young girl is barely 18 and now faces her death, the cold, heartless vacuum of space. She does, however, after much coaxing from the pilot, was told she could talk to her brother one last time, showing how she copes with the situation by saying “I wanted to tell you — but I can’t now. We must say goodbye so soon — but maybe I’ll see you again. Maybe I’ll come to you in your dreams with my hair in braids and crying because the kitten in my arms is dead; maybe I’ll be the touch of a breeze that whispers to you as it goes by; maybe I’ll be one of those gold-winged larks you told me about, singing my silly head off to you; maybe, at times, I’ll be nothing you can see, but
In the short stories Popular Mechanics, The Cold Equations, and This Year’s Class Picture, each story’s central characters face difficult choices that cause question to their decisions, life morals, sanity and what they gain no matter the outcome of their choices. Popular Mechanics tells the story of a man and woman’s blooming relationship as it deteriorates before their eyes, weaving universal concepts and archetypes in its midst, it also presents the conflict of their child, or if it is even theirs as they begin to feud. The man becomes quick to want as he says “ I want the baby...No, but I want the baby. I’ll get someone to come for his things.”(1). Despite being told he would not receive the baby, he believes he should have guardianship over the woman whether he is the better adult or not, he is presented as tenacious. As conflict rises, their feud becomes physical, despite the shrieks of a young infant deafening their ears, the woman tries to stop the man by stating “Don’t, she said. You’re hurting the baby, she said.”(2). Her words are expressionless almost, as if she is truly just stating facts as the baby is being harmed by being crushed between a fully grown man and woman however, with a slip, their outcome is not wanted as the baby is possibly killed, severely injured in the best circumstance. Their loss is caused by their reckless behavior, driven by anger and jealousy of each other, they harm much more than themselves in the end. The Cold Equations is a prime example of dark science fiction as a pilot, exposed to the deaths of those who broke the rule of stowaways, discovers yet another on his ship, however, this one is different. He is taken back at first but soon, as he discovers more about the young stowaway, seems to have different thoughts saying “She wanted to see her brother. She’s only a kid and she didn’t know what she was really doing.” (14). He, for a few minutes, seems to want a different outcome for the young girl, trying to defend her for just wanting to reconnect to close family, this is not enough as he is told that all protocol must be in place at all time, bringing in another rising conflict. This young girl is barely 18 and now faces her death, the cold, heartless vacuum of space. She does, however, after much coaxing from the pilot, was told she could talk to her brother one last time, showing how she copes with the situation by saying “I wanted to tell you — but I can’t now. We must say goodbye so soon — but maybe I’ll see you again. Maybe I’ll come to you in your dreams with my hair in braids and crying because the kitten in my arms is dead; maybe I’ll be the touch of a breeze that whispers to you as it goes by; maybe I’ll be one of those gold-winged larks you told me about, singing my silly head off to you; maybe, at times, I’ll be nothing you can see, but