I've been reading through the Endangered Species short story collection (about halfway through so far and loving it), and I just tripped over this story. The other couple of stories i've read that I wanted some clarification on the "twist" from, like "Kevin Malone", have been discussed pretty extensively, but this one hasn't gotten any mentions. Couple things i'm trying to figure out:<br>
<br>1) Is the "Joe" in the last paragraph of the story actually Joe, or a robot created by the Thing? I get this impression from the last sentence of the story in which Joe remembers that his girlfriend is pregnant. Earlier on, we're told that anyone who enters the Thing gets "a segment" of their genetic code read and an extrapolated ancestor as their guide created from the DNA sample. So at first, I figured "Joe" is a creation of his unborn child's DNA created by the Thing, except that your clone mimics you at the time of your conception, ergo Joe wouldn't be talking about getting the nail removed from his heart. So now i'm confused again. What's the significance of having a protagonist with a nail in his chest anyway? It's clear Wolfe never adds a detail for no reason.<br>
<br>2) What's the significance of the paragraph in italics at the beginning? It describes two people looking through the fair's telescope (presumably at the top globe of the Thing where the climax of the story takes place), one right before and one right after the climax. However, isn't the fair supposed to be deserted, none of the exhibits open? Are the woman and the man characters from the party Joe is with? What the hell does it mean?<br>
<br>Other than that, i'm loving Endangered Species, especially the New Sun universe stories, "Thag" and "Ming the Merciless".<br><br><br>Greg<br>