Norman Ellison Husband Harlequin Analysis

In “Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman,” Harlan Ellison depicts the differences between an authoritarian ruler and a constructive revolutionist in a dystopian society. The Ticktockman, who controls the timeframe of all civilians who prevail in the city, is challenged by the perilous and advancing viewpoints of an insurgent named the Harlequin. This character, identified as a revolutionary, attempts to transfigure the city towards freedom, yet struggles to overthrow the leader and thus conforms to the society enforced by the Ticktockman. Through his use of repetitive diction, allusions, characterization, organization, and syntax, Harlan Ellison conveys the inevitability of conforming to a society imposed by a powerful, authoritarian regime.

After the Harlequin causes the jelly beans to tumble on the factory, there were “million and billions of purples and yellows and greens and licorice and grape and raspberry and mint and round and smooth and crunchy outside” (3). Harlan Ellison’s use of conjunctions (polysyndeton) as a syntactical tool illustrates how the Harlequin’s sentences often trail off in their own continuous path. The magnitude of the Harlequin’s sentences differentiates himself from the rest of the civilians, who often speak briefly due to fear of the Ticktockman and his attention to time. The polysyndeton exhibits the Harlequin’s attempt to alter society, through his long phrases, whereby he fails to modify to humanity and must conform to the governmental laws. Harlan Ellison articulates that the upper-class citizens of the city “consider [the Harlequin] a menace; a heretic; a rebel; a disgrace” (2). Ellison, who depicts the upper-class citizens as supporters of the Ticktockman, attempts to use asyndeton to emphasize the harshness inflicted towards the Harlequin. The asyndeton, which is often accompanied by fragments, demonstrates the concise effect of the syntactical tool emplaced by Ellison. As the asyndeton demoralizes the Harlequin, the syntactical tool harshens to the notion that the upper-class citizens upheld disbelief and hatred towards the Harlequin. The upper-class citizens endeavor to adapt to the cruel regiment of the Ticktockman and strive for the Harlequin to conform to their standards in society. Accompanying the attempt to capture the Harlequin, the Ticktockman and his government “used dogs. They used probes. They used cardioplate crossoffs. They used feepers. They used bribery. They used stiktytes” (8). Ellison’s use of parallel structure professes the rigid