# Sodom and Gomorrah, Texas explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by R. A. Lafferty. ## What happens Texas Manuel, an unqualified but earnest census taker, is assigned to count the population of the Santa Magdalena sector. Despite clear instructions to count only people, Manuel's literal interpretation leads him to also enumerate the 'little people'—a tiny, intelligent species living underground. This act provokes the little people, who capture Manuel and his mule Mula, forcing them to work a treadmill for thirty-five years. Upon escaping, Manuel returns to High Plains with a microfilm list of a million names. The town, desperate to inflate its population, certifies the list, but the little people retaliate by destroying High Plains with a miniature super-weapon, leaving only two desolate craters known as Sodom and Gomorrah. ## Themes in this chapter ### The Absurd and Inexplicable The entire premise—a census taker counting tiny, intelligent beings, a thirty-five-year treadmill imprisonment, and a town destroyed by a grain-of-sand weapon—embodies the absurd and inexplicable nature of the narrative. ### Knowledge and Its Limits Manuel's inability to distinguish between people and non-people, and the officials' failure to anticipate the consequences of ambiguous instructions, highlight the limits of human knowledge and understanding. ### Social Politeness and Repression The little people's polite but threatening demeanor, and the town's desperate social pressure to inflate population numbers, reflect themes of social politeness masking underlying repression and danger. ## Character check-ins ### Texas Manuel A poor, illiterate census taker who takes his instructions literally, counting both regular people and the 'little people,' leading to his capture and the eventual destruction of High Plains. ### Mr. Marshal The census chief of High Plains, pressured to inflate the town's population to ten thousand; he certifies Manuel's list of a million names without verification. ### Mula Manuel's gaunt mule with a goat ancestor; she accompanies Manuel on the census, is captured, and dies shortly after escaping the little people. ## Key lines > Count everyone? All right. Fill in everyone? I need more papers. Manuel agrees to count everyone, but asks for additional forms to record them all. _Shows Manuel's literal interpretation of his instructions, setting the stage for the conflict._ > Might as well take them all. Manuel decides to include all creatures, not just humans, in his census. _This decision leads to his capture and the eventual destruction of High Plains._ > If only he had looked at it that way, he would have saved worry and trouble for everyone, and also ten thousand lives. Had Manuel stopped after counting the nine regular people and himself, the disaster would have been avoided. _Foreshadows the catastrophic outcome of Manuel's thoroughness._ > A thing that size couldn't crack a walnut. Marshal dismisses the tiny weapon as harmless. _Underestimation of the little people's power leads to the town's annihilation._ > When the final count was in, High Plains did not have the highest percentage gain in population in the nation. Actually it showed the sharpest decline, from 7313 to nothing. Instead of a population boom, High Plains was completely depopulated. _Ironic conclusion to the census effort, resulting in total destruction._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters/sodom-and-gomorrah-texas - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_45_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_45_se/chapters