Little Fuzzy · Chapter
VII explained
Jack Holloway is arrested by George Lunt for the killing of Goldilocks, but immediately counters by accusing Leonard Kellogg of murdering a sapient being.
What happens
Jack Holloway is arrested by George Lunt for the killing of Goldilocks, but immediately counters by accusing Leonard Kellogg of murdering a sapient being. The Fuzzies bury Goldilocks with ritual care, convincing Lunt to arrest Kellogg. Meanwhile, Gerd van Riebeek reveals that Kellogg and Mallin are preparing a fraudulent report claiming the Fuzzies are a hoax, because proving sapience would void the Company's charter. Van Riebeek quits the Company and partners with Holloway, who calls the constabulary to evict the unwanted guests from his camp.
Themes in this chapter
Sapience and Definition of Personhood
The Fuzzies' burial of Goldilocks with her prawn-stick is presented as evidence of sapience, challenging legal definitions.
Colonialism and Corporate Greed
The Company's charter being voided by sapient beings drives Kellogg and Mallin to suppress evidence, prioritizing profit over truth.
Justice and the Legal System
Holloway uses legal channels to charge Kellogg with murder, and Lunt's arrest of Kellogg shows the law beginning to act on the sapience claim.
Characters to notice
- Jack Holloway
Arrested by Lunt but immediately files a counter-charge against Kellogg for murder of a sapient being.
- George Lunt
Arrests Holloway, witnesses the Fuzzies' burial of Goldilocks, and then agrees to arrest Kellogg for murder.
- Gerd van Riebeek
Reveals Kellogg and Mallin's plot to suppress evidence of Fuzzy sapience; quits the Company and partners with Holloway.
- Ben Rainsford
Photographs the Fuzzies' burial of Goldilocks and supports the claim of sapience.
- Goldilocks
Killed by Kellogg; her body is buried by the Fuzzies in a ritual cairn.
- Ernst Mallin
Collaborates with Kellogg to prepare a fraudulent report denying Fuzzy sapience.
Key passages
““But, Jack, they aren’t legally sapient beings.” “There is no such thing. A sapient being is a being on the mental level of sapience, not a being that has been declared sapient.””
Lunt argues that the Fuzzies are not legally recognized as sapient, but Holloway counters that sapience is a matter of inherent mental capacity, not legal declaration.
Highlights the tension between legal definition and empirical reality.
““Because if the Fuzzies are sapient beings, the Company’s charter is automatically void.””
Van Riebeek explains that proving the Fuzzies are sapient would invalidate the Company's colonial charter.
Reveals the corporate motive behind the suppression of evidence.
““They bury their dead! What was Kellogg doing, while you were opening the grave?” “Dithering around having ants.””
Holloway is astonished that the Fuzzies bury their dead, while van Riebeek describes Kellogg's anxious and unhelpful behavior.
Emphasizes the cultural significance of burial as a sign of sapience.