Tuesday, April 19, 2011

SHORT STORY “ONE IS ONE AND ALL ALONE”

SHORT STORY “ONE IS ONE AND ALL ALONE”
“One is one and all alone” is a science fiction. The story takes place in the year 2045. The main character is a girl who is eleven. Her name is Trish. She is on board a spaceship traveling to a planet called Trion. Her mother has gone to Trion earlier. Her father is traveling with her in the spaceship. She is very lonely because her father is very busy with work. She has no siblings and friends. A computer becomes her diary. This computer teaches her language and spelling. She also plays games. She loves to play a game called Pop Star where she acts as a pop star. The computer teaches her about the word ‘clone’. This gives her an idea. She makes a clone of herself and calls it Clo. Clo and Trish are identical. They even think the same way. At first Trish was happy to have Clo to accompany her but things began to change. Having a clone as a companion was fun at first but soon the clone wore the girl down. She was so fed up that she decided to get rid of the clone. However, there is a twist to the story. As clones can think alike, it was Clo who actually got rid of Trish by dumping her outside the space-ship as space rubbish. She then took on the role of Trish for the rest of the journey.

Plot

1.
Exposition
- This is where the story begins and we are introduced to the characters.

Introduction
 It is the year 2045
 Trish is in a spaceship heading to Trion
 She is expected to reach Trion in 2047
 Soon she began to feel bored.

2.
Rising Action-
This is the part of the story that causes a tension
Action Starts
 Trish’s only companion is her VoicePrinter(VP). It is her playmate, tutor and friend.
 She yearns for someone her age to talk to
 VP teaches her about cloning
 Trish gets an idea on how to have a real friend
 She makes a clone of herself.
 She calls it ‘Clo”

3.
Climax-
In this part of the story, the tension is at its highest
Problem
 Trish and Clo become good friends
 Trish gets tired of ‘Clo”
 Their friendship turns sour.
 Trish feels annoyed with Clo when Clo begins to refer to her mother as her own mother

4.
Falling Action-

Anti Climax
 Trish decides to get rid of Clo via the disposal system
 Trish forgets that Clo can read her mind
 Before Trish could dispose her, Clo disposes Trish.
 Trish gets disposed
 Clo is now Trish

5.
Resolution-
This part of the story presents the outcome of the attempt to clear the tension.

Problems Resolved
 Clo enjoys her new life as Trish
 Clo reminds herself that she is now Trish
 No one realizes that Clo is Trish.

Setting

The story is set in the year 2045. The main setting is the spaceship. The places mentioned in the story are; the spaceship corridor, toilet, diner, cabin, laboratory ( this is where Trish made her clone called Clo), store and the disposal system.

Characters

 Trish- She is the main character in the story. She is eleven years old and the only child on board the spaceship. She has no friends, thus she feel lonely and bored. She is intelligent and brave. She miscalculated her move as Clo is as smart as her.
 Clo – She is clone. Her name is given by Trish. She is shrewd as she figured out what Trish planned to do. She is quick thinking as she beats Trish at her own game and she wins as she kills Trish. She has no regrets about taking Trish’s place and living as Trish.
 Trish’s Father- He is an Executive Officer of the spaceship. He is very busy with work. Sometimes he has chocolate milkshakes at the diner with Trish.
 Trish’s Mum- She is as busy as Trish’s father. She is highly qualified and she is working at a space station in Trion. She will only be meeting Trish in 2047.
 VoicePrinter- It is an intelligent computer. Trish can write her thoughts and at the same time converse with the VoicePrinter. It is also a tutor that can correct spelling and punctuation. It is a playmate for Trish. Trish can play games and Trish’s favourite game is Pop Star.

Themes

The theme tells the readers what the story is about. In this story, the author has given us an insight on the importance of interpersonal relationships and the dangers of cloning.

1. Interpersonal Relationship

Every child needs to know that when they have problems, there is someone older around to help them solve their problems. Children must get guidance and develop into balanced individuals, capable of making sound and morally correct decisions. In Trish’s case, she was the only child with her mum and dad being very busy with work she needed friendship and someone to talk to.

2. Cloning can be dangerous

This story has shown us that cloning is possible whereby we can make another human being identical to an existing living human being. This story ha also shown us on how things can go wrong and have serious consequences. Clo does not feel bad or remorse after she disposed Trish and she continues living as Trish.

Moral Values

The values in this story relates to the characters. They actually relate to qualities of the characters. The story teaches us to think carefully before we take certain actions. Another lesson is that we must not be cruel to others.

1. Think before you leap
We must think carefully before we do anything. We must always think through the problem. We should not make emotional decisions. We must try to be as rational as we possibly can. Sometimes when we make emotional decisions, they may not be rational ones. As a child Trish did not think of the consequences of her actions. She thought they were harmless. In the end, Clo outsmarts her and disposes her.

2. Family Bonding

Family bonding is very importance. Parents should try their best to guide and nurture their children. The parents must be there as the child grows up and learn habits and skills. In the story, Trish is left alone and yearns for her parents company. She spends most of her time alone or with the machine- the VoicePrinter. There is no true family bonding and there is also no bonding with friends her age. She gets involved in cloning as there was no parental guidance and she does not realize the implications.

Tone and Mood

The ordinary tone is felt in the beginning. This is when Trish says that she is lonely and needs a companion. However, the tone changes to something out of the ordinary. This is when Trish decides to make a clone. She makes “another Me” in the BioLab. Later Trish decides to get rid of Clo but Trish gets killed instead.

Language and Style

The author uses the pronoun “I” in the story. The style of writing is very simple and straightforward. Nonetheless, there is a mixture of prose, diary entries and dialogue. The diary entries are feelings and thoughts of Trish. The dialogue is mainly between her and her VoicePrinter.

Literary Devices

Irony Page 52
-“I can’t stand the way Clo’s mind works. I can’t Clo’s corny jokes, and her dismal sulks. I can’t stand Clo’s laugh or eating habits or her finger picking.”

Trish finds Clo’s habits as irritating. She does not see that all those habits that she hates are all her own habits. This is ironic.
Imagery Page 48-49
-“Rolling bits of skin around a fingernail.” and “They writhe and fiddle all the time.”

Page 52-53
- “You open the hatch, put the thing you want to get rid of into the hole, and whoosh its’ gone.”
The readers can actually visualize what Clo is doing with her fingers.

This description of Trish opening the hatch and putting ‘the thing’ into it is an image of horror. It makes Trish seem so cruel.

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