Short Fiction · Chapter
Final Examination explained
An alien voice announces that judgment of Earth will occur in five days.
What happens
An alien voice announces that judgment of Earth will occur in five days. The narrator, Mr. Ostersen, goes to work despite the impending end, witnessing chaotic crowds and a sudden global outpouring of peace, charity, and goodwill. Nations declare peace, people give away money, and a brief utopia emerges. However, when judgment is postponed by ten years, humanity gradually reverts to greed, war, and self-destruction, culminating in nuclear and biological devastation. The narrator survives, wandering northward as civilization collapses.
Themes in this chapter
War and Self-Destruction
Humanity's inability to sustain peace leads to global war, atomic bombs, and biological warfare, ultimately causing near-extinction.
Consumerism and Debt
Money becomes meaningless as people desperately give it away, highlighting the absurdity of economic systems in the face of existential crisis.
Existential Meaning and Legacy
The postponed judgment forces humanity to confront its own nature, ultimately failing to live up to ideals of goodness and brotherhood.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Ostersen
The narrator and protagonist, a middle-class retailer who experiences the lead-up to judgment and the subsequent collapse of society.
- Jane
Mr. Ostersen's wife, who remains with him through the initial chaos and later dies in a machine gun raid.
- Frank Conners
A young employee at Ostersen's store, worried about his sins before judgment.
- Minnie
An employee at Ostersen's store, focused on looking her best for the judgment.
- Ollie Bernstein
A former competitor and friend of Ostersen, who joins him in giving away money during the pre-judgment frenzy.
Key passages
“Judgment of the inhabitants of the planet Earth will be held in five days. Please prepare yourselves for final examination and departure.”
An alien voice announces that Earth's final judgment will occur in five days, instructing everyone to prepare.
The inciting event of the chapter, setting off global reactions.
“The war in Indo-China is over. Peace was declared at 7:30 this morning. Also, a general truce has been called in Mongolia, and in Tanganyika.”
A news report announces that multiple global conflicts have ended as nations rush to make peace before judgment.
Illustrates the immediate, widespread shift toward peace and goodwill.
“I went home early, to miss the evening rush. It was still rough going. I grinned at my wife as I reached the door, and she grinned back. Jane was a little high, also.”
The narrator returns home early, finding his wife also slightly drunk from the celebratory atmosphere.
Shows the temporary euphoria and camaraderie among people.
“For ten years we were good and clean and noble. For ten years we were brothers! Unfortunately, it wasn't that way.”
The narrator reflects on the hope that humanity could sustain goodness for ten years, but admits they failed.
Highlights the theme of humanity's inability to maintain virtue.
“Everyone started bombing everyone else. I took Jane out of the city where we were staying, and headed for the open country.”
Global war erupts again, and the narrator flees with his wife into the countryside.
Marks the return to violence and the beginning of the end.
