"‘All You Zombies—'"
by Robert A. Heinlein
- 2 Members Following
Follow a topic to see new activity, such as homework help questions and answers, in your personal feed on the homepage.
At a glance:
- Author: Robert A. Heinlein
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Plot: Science fiction
- Time of Work: 1945-1993
- Setting: Cleveland, Ohio; New York City; somewhere under the Rocky Mountains
- Genres: Short fiction, Science fiction
- Subjects: Folkloric or magical people, Future, Space flight or travel, Time travel, Atomic bomb, Zombies or living dead
- Locales: United States, North America, New York, New York, Cleveland, Ohio
The Story
“’All You Zombies—’” takes full advantage of the cause-and-effect paradox inherent in the concept of time travel. The tale assumes not only the existence of time travel but also its necessity. To forestall the atomic destruction of the earth, for example, agents of the Temporal Bureau must selectively manipulate what becomes the past, taking care not to leave too many anachronisms. Temporal agents do not change the past, for that is impossible; rather, it is their hidden presence in past events that ensures that history turns out as it really does. For...
(The entire page is 1614 words.)
Want to read the whole thing?
Subscribe now to read the rest of this article. Plus, get access to:
- 30,000+ literature study guides
- Critical essays on more than 30,000 works of literature from Salem on Literature (exclusive to eNotes)
- An unparalleled literary criticism section. 40,000 full-length or excerpted essays.
- Content from leading academic publishers, all easily citable with our "Cite this page" button.
- 100% satisfaction guarantee READ MORE
