Short Fiction · Chapter
After Some Tomorrow explained
In a post-apocalyptic clan society, Alan, the sole husband of the Wolf clan, faces a contentious assembly where he argues for radical social and reproductive reforms—including merging with rival clans and accepting sterile males as mates—to
What happens
In a post-apocalyptic clan society, Alan, the sole husband of the Wolf clan, faces a contentious assembly where he argues for radical social and reproductive reforms—including merging with rival clans and accepting sterile males as mates—to combat declining fertility and ensure the race's survival, while matriarch Sally and scout chief Vivian resist his interference in what they consider women's affairs.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Caste
The clan's rigid hierarchy—warrior-workers, older women, sterilies, children—and the marginalization of sterile males reflect a caste system based on reproductive ability.
Rebellion and Revolution
Alan's proposal to overturn traditional clan structures, including sharing husbands and integrating sterilies, represents a revolutionary challenge to the established matriarchal order.
Identity and Self-Worth
The sterilies' low status and Alan's struggle for dignity as a man in a female-dominated society highlight themes of identity and worth tied to reproductive function.
Characters to notice
- Alan
The husband of the Wolf clan, advocating for selective breeding and clan unification to address the decline of fertile men.
- Sally
Matriarch of the Wolf clan, who rebukes Alan for endangering himself in battle and resists his proposed changes to clan structure.
- Vivian
Scout chief of the Wolf clan, dismissive of Alan's ideas and assertive in her role, later demonstrating her authority with a captured tommy gun.
Key passages
“I mean our present system can’t go on. It isn’t working.”
Alan declares that the current clan structure is unsustainable and failing.
Alan's central argument for reform, emphasizing the urgency of change.
“All of our women—except for two or three—might die and the clan would live on. The sterilies certainly might all die, and the clan live on. Even the children could all die and the clan live on. But if our husband dies, the clan dies.”
Sally explains that the husband's survival is paramount, as his death would mean the end of the clan.
Highlights the clan's reproductive dependency on a single fertile male.
“Mate with sterilies? ... And let fertile men be used expressly for attempting to produce additional fertile men.”
Alan suggests that sterile men should be accepted as mates and that fertile men should focus on breeding more fertile males.
Alan's controversial proposal to restructure social and reproductive norms.