Short Story Billenium

The things that we own reflect our personality and what we deem important in our life.

Furniture is seen simply as an object, while to many it can mean the world to them, possessions

have their own sentimental values and relevance to someone. In the short story “Billenium” by

J.G. Ballard, overpopulation and claustrophobia run rampant and the main character, John Ward

attempts to find solace in a hidden room larger than the cramped cubicles most are forced to

inhabit. The items that are used by the characters represent the illusion of freedom in Ward’s life.

Ballard uses the wardrobe, the Japanese divider and the lamp to deceptively give reason that

Ward is separated from the crowds and that he has found a room that is big enough

This divider is placed during the first night that Ward and Rossiter sleep in the secret room as to give each other privacy. The placement of the divider doesn’t make the room any smaller, but it does split the room into two parts. There exists the illusion that it is Ward and Rossiter’s decision to put the divider there rather than be forced into it, as they previously were in their old cubicle. However, the essence of needing a partition is still present: “...We wouldn’t need to bother about the partition-except at night.” (Ballard, 298) As the story progresses, this divider then becomes a literal wall, creating a cubicle in the once large room for many people to live in and be crowded in, forcing the large room to become two separate cubicles instead and become just as crowded: “The partition pressed against his knees and he could hardly move.” (300) There is a significance with the divider being Japanese. Japan is a very crowded place and has had to use laws that restrict the amount of babies a woman can have in order to control overpopulation, which ties into Billenium’s warning of overpopulation that was a danger at the time of the story being written after the baby boom. This connection is a recurring theme in “Billenium”, of people and items taking up too much space without the awareness that it is