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“Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman”

Question 1

Ellison’s "Repent, Harlequin!" Said The Ticktockman and Hirshfield’s On the Fifth Day

express stories of individuals who are in a constant struggle with the society. By the society, the

stories refer to the authorities that control much of the society. In both stories, the main

characters are portrayed in the image of individuals fighting for the deliverance of the society.

However, the heroes in these stories end up with a tragic fate. The stories stipulate that the

members of the society are hesitant to come to the aid of these heroes to support the due to their

loyalty to the authority. These occurrences in these works of literature raise questions of whether

the heroic attempts of these individuals are a symbol of pessimism or despair. However, this

paper will discuss this issue from the point of view of optimism.

In Ellison’s story, the Ticktockman is the main center of authority in the town. This

individual has convinced all members of the community to believe in the capitalist notion that

strict adherence to time is the only way towards prosperity in the society. The Ticktockman and

Everett C. Marm become enemies leading to Ticktockman hunting Marm until he catches him.

However, the story ends in a moral twist where the Ticktockman come to work and is informed

by his employees that he is late by three minutes. On the other hand, Hirshfield’s poem reflects
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on the plight of American citizens as they tried to address the issue of climate change. The new

government crippled all their operations by sophisticating data and essential tools that they use

for their scientific research.

Marm and the American scientists’ stories are a reflection of optimism in the society.

Power is only held by a few people in the government or the position of authority in the

community. The authority controls a lot in the society. Not all figures in authority use their

power in the right manner. Some authority figures use power to satisfy their ego, their ambition,

and to exercise their pleasures. However, the members of the community do not have to keep up

with such things just because the individuals in power are in control. Uprisings against factions

in power always end in ugly pictures. In some cases, the heroes of the uprising either get caught

or sent to prison for the rest of their lives. The acts of these individuals must be perceived as acts

of valor and a symbol of hope for the society.

The worst thing n a repressive regime is tolerance. When members of the community

tolerate repressive regimes, the regime could become more powerful and obsessive. However,

such acts of valor depict that the future could change. It is a sign of hope, which depicts that the

members of the community might still have the zeal to fight for their rights and their freedoms.

This is not a show of despair rather than hope. The people who are left behind can use this as

motivation to finish the job. It is not easy to take down a government or any faction with power.

Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the efforts of qualities such as the ones portrayed by

the characters of Marm and the American scientists. For instance, Marm showed the members of

the community that they do not have to follow the economist policies of the Ticktockman.

The actions of these heroes are a sign of optimism because they help to crack the wall

that is built by the people in power to blind the members of the public from the truth. In order to
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exercise their power without any form of opposition, leaders mostly establish policies that

engage the citizens proving that the government is the best system of governance that they can

expect. In order to bring down such regimes, it is also important to have the support of the

people. In Ellison's story, Marm carries out schemes that open up the eyes of the people on the

possibility of a better system that does not strictly focus on strict schedules. These schemes cause

the members of the public to increase their curiosity and try to assess whether Ticktockman was

genuine in his push for strict adherence to the schedule. Marm, The Harlequin, reveals that the

Ticktockman had also been late on a number of occasions as he had been investigating him.

"You've been late a total of sixty-three years, five months, three weeks, two days, twelve hours,

forty-one minutes, fifty-nine seconds, point oh three six one one one microseconds" (Ellison 9).

This raises the eyebrows of the members of the public, causing them to ask questions. Most of

the people conclude that if the Ticktockman had not been adhering to his schedule, then the

entire idea of strict adherence to the schedule was ill-conceived. It might have been a scheme

that was used by the Ticktockman to capitalize on the efforts of the public in order to earn more

credit. Seemingly, the scientists who are banned from practising started to release factual

information that proves the existence of climate change. This helped to prove to the American

people and the world that Trump's administration was wrong on the position of the country on

Climate Change.

Question 2

The society is a multifaceted system that mostly comprises of the people and the

government as the main political structures. The government or any position of authority is

elected or appointed by the people. On behalf of the people, the government is supposed to come

up with policies that would help the members of the public to live remarkable lives. However,
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conflict mostly arises when the government betrays its oath to protect the citizens and promote

well being. Ellison's story and Hirshfield's poem are similar and also differ in different areas

regarding the opinion that a single individual can stand up for the society.

These literary texts are similar in the manner that they both portray the resilience of the

people to get justice when they believe that everything is becoming too much for the society to

swallow. In Ellison's story, it is apparent that Marm fights the Ticktockman to the end using

traditional and primitive destructive strategies. He takes the risk to finish what he started even

when he knew that the Ticktockman had the resources to find him. He also knew the fact that he

would have to face strict punishment. However, he is still ready to sacrifice his life in order to

prove to the people that the Ticktockman is playing games with their minds in order to benefit

his business ventures. On the other hand, the American scientists described in Hirshfield's poem

also portray the same image. They are banned by the Federal government from publishing

information about climate change and sharing such information. However, they defiantly share

facts about climate change and global warming from their research. These scientists believe that

climate change and global warming are serious issues that face the society.

However, the two literary pieces also differ regarding the approaches that they use to

address their firm positions against the authority. Addressing grievances against the authority

depends on many factors. Some of these factors include the societal structures that determine the

response of the authority figures to these actions. Another factor is the resources that are

available at the disposal of the individuals making these grievances. In these two works of

literature, the authors depict different methods used by the protagonists in the stories. It is

apparent that Marm uses the method of violence and treachery while the scientists in Hirshfield’s

poem use the media, technology, and data as their main weapons in fighting back against the
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oppressive regime. Although they both get the same results, the implications of their strategies

are evidently different.

In Ellison’s story, Marm uses the technique of violence because the structure of the society did

not tolerate resistance against the authority. The authority was absolute in the sense that no member of

the public had the authority to challenge the elite class. Therefore, he had to use tricks such as hiding

and disrupting activities in the community in order to attract the attention of the Ticktockman and the

members of the public. On the other hand, the scientists addressed in Hirshfield’s poem use the media,

the internet, and data in order to present their case. This is because they exist in a more just society

where everyone has a voice. In this society, they are able to express their views freely regardless of

whether the government objects or not.

Question 3

I agree with Thoreau’s view of “the state” and the classification of the citizens. It is true that there
are different types of citizens when it comes to their reactions to the authority. It is true that there are
people who serve the state with their minds. These are individuals who are mostly involved in working
for the state in poor conditions without question. Most of these individuals are the regular members of
the society. They receive minimal wages for their work while other groups of people receive high
compensation for their work. The truth is that this category of people is the ones who contribute the
most to the economy. Seemingly, they also form the majority of the people who elect the government.

The people who serve the state with their mind is also a major category of people who
serve the state. This group is mostly made up of intellectuals such as lawyers. They have
acquired professional experience and vast knowledge that they can use to offer various
technical services to the state. These individuals are mostly involved in the decision-making
process in the government. They help to formulate policies and come up with
implementation plans. Most of the people who fall under this group have tremendous loyalty
for the state.

Finally, the group that serves the state with their consciousness is also important, yet, the
least popular. These are individuals who look at actions and their consequences before
determining the appropriate course of actions. These individuals are always portrayed as
the enemies of the state because they are usually criticizing the state in the areas that the
state does not perform.
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Based on the above qualification of individuals, it is apparent that Everett C. Marm can be
categorized into the third group that serves the state with consciousness. In his society, Marm can
witness that almost everything is running smoothly, and the members of the society seem to be
contented with life. However, he knows that this notion of the perfect community is constructed based
on a lie. This is the reason why Marm decides to put his life on the line in order to liberate the people.
This is a group of people that Thoreau referred to as martyrs. They are willing to die fighting the state
against what they believe is wrong for the benefit of the other members of the society who might not be
in a better position to perceive what is going on and take the necessary precaution. IN the end, Marm
manages to prove to the public that Ticktockman as a scam using them to advance his agenda by
showing that he did not adhere to strict schedules as he encouraged everyone to stick to the time. This
sets a good example for individuals of the same nature in the society. It gives them hope over the fact
that they are justified to fight for the absolute truth over the prejudice of the state.

Works Cited

Ellison, Harlan. "Repent, Harlequin!" Said The Ticktockman. Nebula Award, Best Short Story, 1965.
https://compositionawebb.pbworks.com/f/%255C%27Repent,%2BHarlequin!%255C%27%2BSaid%2Bthe
%2BTicktockman%2Bby%2BHarlan%2BEllison.pdf

Hirshfield, Jane. On the Fifth Day. March for Science, 2017.