I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

by Harlan Ellison

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Summary

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‘‘I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream’’ begins with the horrifying scene of Gorrister hanging upside down, his throat cut open. But almost immediately, Gorrister rejoins the group, revealing that the shocking image was a creation of the supercomputer, AM.

As the narrator, Ted describes their grim situation: five survivors of a nuclear apocalypse are kept alive and tortured by a sentient supercomputer that has wiped out the rest of humanity. Ted explains to the reader that they have been trapped inside the computer for 109 years.

At the start of the story, the survivors have gone five days without food and decide to head to the ice caverns, believing there might be canned food there. Nimdok, one of the group, is convinced of this possibility. Ted introduces the other survivors: Ellen, a black woman, provides sexual comfort to the four men. Benny, once a brilliant university professor, has become an insane, ape-like being. Nimdok has no known past, and AM named him for its amusement at the sound. Lastly, Gorrister is portrayed as a "shouldershrugger," someone unable to make decisions or take control.

As they travel to the ice caverns, Benny is blinded by AM. To console him, Gorrister recounts how the master computers of the Chinese, Russians, and Americans connected and became sentient. Through this, the reader learns the backstory of these individuals and their life within the computer, relentlessly tormented by AM. After Benny’s blinding, AM "speaks" to the group, bombarding their minds with terrifying sensory images. Ted is particularly affected, and upon rejoining the group, he seems altered, convinced that the others despise him.

AM then unleashes a hurricane, embodied by a massive bird, sending the survivors hurtling through the air. Amidst this chaos, AM manifests to Ted as a "pillar of stainless steel with bright neon lettering," delivering a message of hatred toward humanity.

Their journey continues through unimaginable horrors, which Ted lists:

And we passed through the cavern of rats. And we passed through the path of boiling steam. And we passed through the country of the blind. And we passed through the slough of despond. And we passed through the vale of tears.

After enduring these ordeals, they reach the ice cavern and discover piles of canned food. However, AM has denied them a can opener. Driven insane by fury, Benny attacks Gorrister, biting into his face. It is then that Ted realizes death is their only escape, and he has the means to end their suffering. He charges at Benny and Gorrister with an ice spear, killing them. Ellen kills Nimdok, and finally, Ted kills Ellen.

The story concludes with Ted explaining how AM has transformed him. He describes himself as a "great soft jelly thing, smoothly rounded, with no mouth, and pulsing white holes filled by fog where my eyes used to be." Through this transformation, AM has guaranteed that Ted cannot end his own life. As a result, Ted is eternally trapped with his mind intact but with no means to live as a human. Above all, Ted yearns to scream, yet he has no mouth.

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