# Gun for Hire explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Mack Reynolds.

## What happens

Professional assassin Joe Prantera is transported from his own era to a future utopia where crime and violence have been eliminated. Two citizens, Lawrence Reston-Farrell and Warren Brett-James, recruit him to assassinate a dangerous atavistic figure named Howard Temple-Tracy, as they themselves are incapable of taking a life. Joe grapples with the alienness of the future and the moral implications of his mission.

## Themes in this chapter

### Violence as Spectacle

Joe Prantera's profession as an assassin is contrasted with a future society that has eliminated violence, highlighting the spectacle and normalization of killing in his own era.

### Rebellion and Revolution

The future society's fear of Howard Temple-Tracy's appeal to the young and his atavistic ideas represents a potential rebellion against the established order.

### Technology and Alienation

Joe Prantera's disorientation in the future, with its unfamiliar technology and language, illustrates the alienation caused by technological progress.

## Character check-ins

### Joseph Salviati-Prantera

Professional assassin transported from his own era to the future; recruited to kill a dangerous figure.

### Lawrence Demming

Lawrence Reston-Farrell, a citizen of the future who explains the new society and recruits Joe.

### Warren Brett-James

Citizen of the future who assists in recruiting Joe and explains the utopian society.

## Key lines

> The motivation for crime has been removed, Mr. Prantera. A person who commits a violence against another is obviously in need of medical care. And, consequently, receives it.

In this future society, crime is treated as a medical issue rather than a legal one, and those who commit violence are given therapy instead of punishment.

_Reston-Farrell explains the utopian approach to crime and punishment._

> We have tried, but it is simply not in us, Mr. Prantera. It is simply not within us to take the life of a fellow creature—not to speak of a fellow man.

The citizens of the future are psychologically incapable of killing, which is why they need Joe to do the job.

_Reston-Farrell explains why they cannot perform the assassination themselves._

> In your day you were confronted with national and international, problems. Just as we are today and just as nations were a century or a millennium ago.

Every era has its own challenges, and the future is no different despite its advancements.

_Brett-James contextualizes the mission as a response to contemporary problems._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_36_se/chapters/gun-for-hire
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_36_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_36_se/chapters