Title: Going Gently
Author: Tim Lebbon
Date of First Publication: 2000
Place of Publication: Hideous Progeny
Type: Short Story
Characters: No Character
Themes: ANDROID; POSTHUMAN; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER
Critical Summary: The short story tells the tale of “the last living man” as everyone else in this world have their minds put into new bodies when they die. The main character, an old man by the name of Mr. Capel, chooses to not get the procedure done that allows him to have his mind put into a new body. He tells his wife, who has died numerous times already and has come back with a new body each time, that he wants to die and even asks for her assistance in killing him. She also wishes to die but is unable to do so and remain dead. All during this time, he is harassed by multiple news media outlets outside of his home who are trying to get interviews with him. They try breaking into his home, planting recording devices, and anything else they can do to be there to document his last breath. Just as the man is about to die, it is revealed that he was brought back to life and made immortal against his wishes. He is upset that he does not get to go out as “the last of the old ways”, but instead must now live forever like everyone else around him.
The story loosely shares themes with Frankenstein, one of the strongest being the idea of the Last Man. Mr. Capel did not want to be immortal and actually is a little pleased to be the last man on earth. Ironically, in most “last man” stories, the person is alone and must survive while everyone else around them has either died off or at least has been taken out of the picture. In this tale, however, the “last man” is actually the only person that can die and in fact, wants to have it happen. Androids and sympathetic monsters are also briefly touched upon in this story. When people die, they are given new bodies; some that look passable while others are monstrous in appearance. This whole creating a new body parallels Frankenstein since the Creature’s body was created and, like many characters in the short story, is deformed and quite unpleasant to look at. This has actually happened to the main character’s wife, Angel. What makes her sympathetic is the fact that she too wishes to die like her husband, but unlike him who has the ability to die and not come back, she is cursed to always come back if anything were to happen to her.
Administrative Notes: Bria Murashie, CSUF; Lee Koehler, CSUF (editing)