Essay on Fredrick Pohl
Thematic Analysis of “Day Million” by Fredrick Pohl
Fredrick Pohl, known as the “Science Fiction Grand Master,” wrote his short story “Day Million” in one night in 1966 (Solstein, 1). This short story became one of the most anthologized stories of it’s science fiction genre and is considered to be one of the best short stories of his collection. "Day Million" is a love story between a boy and a girl that takes place one thousand years from now. This plot summary sounds simple enough, but Pohl’s story is about much more than a simple love story; Pohl’s narrator speaks directly to the reader, and often questions the sensibility of the reader. By doing this, Pohl creates a feeling that nothing is what it seems. Pohl also displays a theme of today’s culture versus the future (or the idea/version of the future that the story creates). The fact that the narrator tells us a story about the future in the present day automatically raises questions about our ideas of the future, and how we live and think in our present day world. Pohl challenges our modern day prejudices, and it can be said then that the overall theme of “Day Million” is nothing is what it seems.
The theme of nothing is what it seems becomes apparent in the very introduction to the story. Pohl writes, “On this day I want to tell you about, which will be about a thousand years from now, there were a boy, a girl and a love story. Now although I haven’t said much so far, none of it is true” (Pohl, 166). The narrator speaks directly to the reader from the start, and establishes an untrustworthy voice. The reader is automatically forced to question the knowledge of the narrator, and to decide what to
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believe and what not to believe. The reader, then, has to decide what seems real and what does not.
Early on, the narrator gently points a finger at our present day prejudices, or at our labels of gender and age. The narrator tells the reader that “The boy was not what you and I would normally
Fredrick Pohl, known as the “Science Fiction Grand Master,” wrote his short story “Day Million” in one night in 1966 (Solstein, 1). This short story became one of the most anthologized stories of it’s science fiction genre and is considered to be one of the best short stories of his collection. "Day Million" is a love story between a boy and a girl that takes place one thousand years from now. This plot summary sounds simple enough, but Pohl’s story is about much more than a simple love story; Pohl’s narrator speaks directly to the reader, and often questions the sensibility of the reader. By doing this, Pohl creates a feeling that nothing is what it seems. Pohl also displays a theme of today’s culture versus the future (or the idea/version of the future that the story creates). The fact that the narrator tells us a story about the future in the present day automatically raises questions about our ideas of the future, and how we live and think in our present day world. Pohl challenges our modern day prejudices, and it can be said then that the overall theme of “Day Million” is nothing is what it seems.
The theme of nothing is what it seems becomes apparent in the very introduction to the story. Pohl writes, “On this day I want to tell you about, which will be about a thousand years from now, there were a boy, a girl and a love story. Now although I haven’t said much so far, none of it is true” (Pohl, 166). The narrator speaks directly to the reader from the start, and establishes an untrustworthy voice. The reader is automatically forced to question the knowledge of the narrator, and to decide what to
Salerno 2
believe and what not to believe. The reader, then, has to decide what seems real and what does not.
Early on, the narrator gently points a finger at our present day prejudices, or at our labels of gender and age. The narrator tells the reader that “The boy was not what you and I would normally