Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman | Summary

‘‘‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman’’ is the story of a future world, controlled by a tight schedule and the ticking of a clock. In charge of this world is the Ticktockman, a robot-like figure with the power to shorten or terminate anyone’s life as a penalty for running late.

The story begins with a long quote from Henry David Thoreau’s essay, ‘‘Civil Disobedience.’’ In this passage, Thoreau asserts that most men ‘‘serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies.’’ Further, a ‘‘very few’’ men serve the...

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