Four-Day Planet · Chapter
Monster Killing explained
Walt Boyd recounts the dangerous process of hunting and cutting up a sea monster on Fenris.
What happens
Walt Boyd recounts the dangerous process of hunting and cutting up a sea monster on Fenris. He describes his role as a machine gunner, protecting the crew from predatory sea creatures while Murell pilots the boat. After a tense underwater chase and a successful shot that decapitates the monster, the crew secures the carcass and begins the cutting-up operation.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Resilience
The crew's dangerous work cutting up the monster while fending off predatory sea creatures underscores the constant struggle for survival on Fenris.
Economic Exploitation and Monopoly
The high cost of ammunition and the value of tallow-wax reflect the economic pressures and exploitation driving the monster hunting industry.
Characters to notice
- Walt Boyd
Narrator and machine gunner; protects the crew during the cutting-up operation and shoots the monster's head off.
- Glenn Murell
Pilots the boat during the cutting-up operation and observes the dangerous work.
- Joe Kivelson
Captain of the Javelin; directs the hunt and cutting-up operation.
- Cesário Vieira
Mentioned as one of the men replaced by Murell and Boyd on the boat.
- Julio Kubanoff
Referenced as the peg-legged compositor who lost his leg in a cutting-up accident.
- Hans Cronje
Reports that the forward gun is secure during the submarine chase.
Key passages
“Mr. Murell can pilot for you. You never worked at cutting-up before, and neither did he. You’d be more of a hindrance than a help and so would he. But we do need a good machine gunner.”
Joe Kivelson assigns Murell to pilot and Boyd to machine gun duty, noting their inexperience with cutting-up.
Highlights the division of labor and the value of Boyd's shooting skills over cutting experience.
“I fired, without too much hope of hitting anything, and then the ship was rising and circling. As soon as I’d fired, the monster had sounded, headfirst.”
Boyd takes a shot at the monster but misses as it dives underwater.
Shows the difficulty of hitting a fast-moving monster from an unstable ship.
“I gathered that shooting monsters’ heads off wasn’t at all usual, and hastened to pass it off as pure luck, so that everybody would hurry up and deny it before they got the same idea themselves.”
Boyd downplays his remarkable shot, attributing it to luck to avoid raising expectations.
Reveals Boyd's humility and the rarity of such a feat.