Repent, Harlequin ! Said The Ticktockman Summary

“Repent, Harlequin! said the Ticktockman” is a science fiction short story in which society dictated by timeliness to the point where citizens are subjected to death if they were to be late in any aspect of their lives. Much of the symbolism and the themes that are derived revolve around the archetypes of the protagonist and antagonist in relation to what they stand for and how they challenge one another. Marm, also known as the Harlequin, is a prankster who decides to live his life according to his time and disregards the conformity that the oppressive society of the timeliness. He is the protagonist of the story and he takes on the archetype of the rebel. According to the article “Ellison’s ‘Repent Harlequin! said the Ticktockman’” by Earle V. Bryant (Explicator, Spring, 2001), this rebellion is not fueled by violence and terror, rather it is fueled by innocence and

This means of expression is intended to show the audience that roots of most cases of nonconformity comes from the want for freedom and light heartedness rather than anger and destruction. While anger and destruction can play a role in revolution, often revolutionaries are doing this as a means to an end in hopes of a happier and more peaceful society. Bryant highlights this by describing the Harlequin’s attempt to make it rain jelly beans as a way of bringing in color and joy amidst the Ticktockman’s otherwise gray society (Bryant 163). By creating this sense of chaos, the Harlequin encourages a happy setting in a robotic way of life and advocates for individualism away from the collectivistic paralysis that the issue of timeliness has set on the rest of the population. Because the Harlequin is hunted down by the Ticktockman