He-y, Come On Ou-t!

by Shinichi Hoshi

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Why does the author include so many details about what people put in the hole?

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In the story "H-ey, Come On O-ut," a community of people discover an immensely deep hole after a landslide. At first, the nature of the hole is uncertain, and scientists are confounded by its seemingly never-ending depth. Eventually, the miraculous nature of the hole gives way to an idea of utility, and humankind begins to dump all of its unwanted garbage, from nuclear waste to old documents, into the hole. Towards the end of the story, a man is standing atop a high scaffolding platform when he hears the titular phrase that was shouted into the hole at the beginning of the story, and sees the first pebble that was originally thrown in falling from the sky.

The entire impact of the story is completely carried by this final reveal, and much of what this reveal means must be constructed by the reader's imagination. The reason that Hoshi spends so much effort describing in detail everything that is thrown into the hole is to help the reader imagine what is going to happen immediately after the final scene in more visceral detail. The obvious implication is that everything that was thrown into the hole will fall from the sky, creating catastrophic disaster. The reader can better imagine this because they have such a detailed account of what went in.

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