The Similarities Between Total Recall And We Can Remember It For You Wholesale

Dreams, are they fantasy or a longing for something once forgotten? For Douglas Q, his dreams seemed all too real to be anything more than a past life. The action packed movie Total Recall and the short story “We can Remember it for you Wholesale” have many similarities and differences throughout one another. The greatest differences being in the characters, settings, and plot. The short story introduces us to Doug Quail, Kirsten, Dr. McClane, and Interplan. Doug Quail, the main character, has dreams of going to Mars. The reality is that a trip cost too much for a small time clerk. He sees an add for Rekal on T.V. and decides to go. They can implant a memory and it will seem a real as if Doug took the trip. Once at Rekal Doug meets …show more content…
They try to get rid of Doug, but he soon realizes Rekal only refunded him half of his money, so he returns to them. After straitening everything out Doug Quail returns home. Interplan, the government that runs earth, is waiting for him as he returns home. They can hear every thought Doug has, making it impossible for him to outsmart them. The only way for Doug to live is to surrender. “We can Remember it for you Wholesale” was written in 1966 and twenty-four years later in 1990, an adaptation of it came out on film called Total Recall. Comparing the two it is easy to spot differences in the characters. Doug Quail became Doug Quaid, his wife was now named Lori, and many new characters were introduced. In Total Recall Quaid is a construction worker who dreams of Mars. Both the story and the movie make it clear that Doug has more potential than he realizes. Doug Quaid seems to be more physically in shape. He can crush skulls and fire guns all day, but Doug Quail is timid. He remembers a time where he could get around 15 guards, but the story does not have any action scenes for him. Kirsten, the wife in the story, acts as if she is really his wife. She gets angry at him, but in a way …show more content…
While in the movie Doug Quaid has the same issue, he also has to stop Cohaagen. There is a scene in the movie were there is a close-up of goldfish in a tank, sitting in Cohaagen’s office. The fish represent the people, aliens, and mutants on Mars. Later on Cohaagen kicks over the tank causing it to break and the fish flopping on the floor gasping for air. The whole scene symbolizes what Cohaagen will do to the Mars inhabitants if he is left in power and this is why Quaid has to stop him. The short story ends with Quail turning himself over to the Interplan, but Total Recall has a happy