The Illustrated Man Kaleidoscope
Summary:
The story begins when the rocket has just exploded and the crew is falling through space. They have space suits on, so they can breathe and talk to one another through a radio. They estimate that they have an hour or so to speak to one another before they drift too far apart. Hollis, the main character, is falling towards the Earth, while the Captain is falling towards the moon. They are all scared and Hollis kills one man who starts screaming uncontrollably because they cannot talk to one another on the radio while he screams. As they talk, at first they try to calm each other down, but then some of them become mean. Applegate tries to hurt Hollis by saying that he destroyed his career and Hollis lashes out at Lespere when he reminisces about the fulfilling life he has had. Afterwards, Applegate apologizes to Hollis and Hollis realizes that he has led an empty life. He wishes that he could do something to make up for it by helping someone. When he falls through the Earth‘s atmosphere he burns up like a meteor and a boy in Illinois thinks he is a falling star. His mother tells him to make a wish.
What happens to the astronauts as they face their death, in regards to sanity and logic?
The astronauts deal differently with their impending death. One goes completely insane and screams and flails about, so Hollis kills him. When Hollis is in shock he is calm and talks about his fate of burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere without any hysteria. As the shock wears off and he realizes that he is about to die, he becomes angry and feels that life is pointless. When he calms down again he is full of regret. Most of the men accept their imminent death before long and when the Captain says that they might still be saved, Applegate is realistic and tells him that it is not going to happen. They tell each other goodbye before they are cut off the radio. Mostly, the astronauts are numb, but fairly sane and logical in their acceptance of
The story begins when the rocket has just exploded and the crew is falling through space. They have space suits on, so they can breathe and talk to one another through a radio. They estimate that they have an hour or so to speak to one another before they drift too far apart. Hollis, the main character, is falling towards the Earth, while the Captain is falling towards the moon. They are all scared and Hollis kills one man who starts screaming uncontrollably because they cannot talk to one another on the radio while he screams. As they talk, at first they try to calm each other down, but then some of them become mean. Applegate tries to hurt Hollis by saying that he destroyed his career and Hollis lashes out at Lespere when he reminisces about the fulfilling life he has had. Afterwards, Applegate apologizes to Hollis and Hollis realizes that he has led an empty life. He wishes that he could do something to make up for it by helping someone. When he falls through the Earth‘s atmosphere he burns up like a meteor and a boy in Illinois thinks he is a falling star. His mother tells him to make a wish.
What happens to the astronauts as they face their death, in regards to sanity and logic?
The astronauts deal differently with their impending death. One goes completely insane and screams and flails about, so Hollis kills him. When Hollis is in shock he is calm and talks about his fate of burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere without any hysteria. As the shock wears off and he realizes that he is about to die, he becomes angry and feels that life is pointless. When he calms down again he is full of regret. Most of the men accept their imminent death before long and when the Captain says that they might still be saved, Applegate is realistic and tells him that it is not going to happen. They tell each other goodbye before they are cut off the radio. Mostly, the astronauts are numb, but fairly sane and logical in their acceptance of