Short Fiction · Chapter
The Monster Maker explained
Click Hathaway and Irish Marnagan execute a clever plan to capture the pirate Gunther by using telepathic duplicates of Marnagan to create the illusion of a five-hundred-man Patrol.
What happens
Click Hathaway and Irish Marnagan execute a clever plan to capture the pirate Gunther by using telepathic duplicates of Marnagan to create the illusion of a five-hundred-man Patrol. Hathaway films the entire battle, capturing Marnagan's heroic one-man charge. After the victory, they find themselves trapped by asteroid monsters with limited air, and Hathaway discovers that the monsters do not register on his film, raising unsettling questions about their nature.
Themes in this chapter
Technology vs. Humanity
The telepathic duplicates and camera technology are used to deceive and capture, highlighting the power and limits of technology.
Violence and Murder
The battle involves shooting and death, and Gunther's base is built on causing accidental deaths.
The Meaning of Art and Storytelling
Hathaway's film creates a heroic narrative that may not reflect reality, questioning the truth in visual records.
Characters to notice
- Click Hathaway
Photographs the battle and later discovers the monsters are invisible to his film.
- Irish Marnagan
Leads the fake Patrol using telepathic duplicates and fights the pirates.
- Gunther
The old pirate leader captured after his men are overwhelmed.
Key passages
“Five hundred duplicates of Steve Marnagan, broadcast telepathically into the minds of the pirates, walking across a Plaza, capturing the whole shebang!”
The pirates saw five hundred copies of Marnagan marching across the plaza, thanks to a telepathic broadcast, which allowed them to capture the base.
Explains the deception used to defeat Gunther's forces.
“I forgot that the film wouldn't register telepathic emanations, them other Marnagans. It makes it look like I'm a mighty brave man, does it not?”
The film only shows the real Marnagan, not the telepathic duplicates, making him appear to single-handedly defeat the pirates.
Highlights the discrepancy between recorded footage and actual events.
“Pictures in montage; Marnagan sitting down, chatting conversationally with nothing ; Marnagan shooting his gun at nothing ; Marnagan pretending to be happy in front of nothing . Then, closeup—of— nothing ! The monsters had failed to image the film.”
The photographs showed Marnagan interacting with empty space because the monsters did not appear on the film.
Reveals the mysterious nature of the asteroid monsters.