Repent Harlequin!

Ok, so I change my mind. This is my new favorite short story. I'm a sucker for stories that are about going against the grain. Throughout reading the story I immediately noticed some parallels to the book 1984. Finally at the end there was a reference to the story which sealed it for me. It was stated that "there was always a war going on." It never mattered who it was with, or why they were at war, but they just always were. The government has massive amounts of control over everyday life and they insist on people being about as punctual as fedex. In 1984 the government insisted on controlling peoples thoughts, or rather preventing thought. There were consequences for breaking the laws and i particularly like how it is done in "Repent Harlequin!" It's just a little nifty how they calculate the time you have wasted everyone else and shave it right off the end of your life. The story mainly focuses on time, and how we should not let it dominate our society, but i think there is a bit more to it than that. Not only do I believe the story cautions about time ruling our society, but this lesson could be applied to many other things as well. Money, sex, and social status just to name a few.
I love the way the Harlequin attacks the ticktockman. He says get stuffed, i will not repent. The system is stupid and the fact that you even have me here is contradictory to why I am here. Absolutely amazing dialogue shared between these two characters. How many times have we all felt like saying that to authority?


Go little man!