Richard Matheson is renowned for his novels and traditional short stories in the fantasy, horror and science fiction genres. This is one of his few published flash stories, and the fact that it is a spoof of the science fiction cloning model makes it especially interesting. The story is based on the premise of how nice it would be to have a ‘double’ to carry out all the mundane tasks in your life, so you could spend all your time going out and having fun. Despite (or perhaps thanks to) the corny puns, it is a very enjoyable Quick Read.
Original Text / PDF (710 words)
The major theme of the story is misdirected innovation. William is credited with building an amazing machine that can create duplicates of himself capable of: 1) independent thinking, experiencing pleasure, and standing up for their rights; and 2) passing themselves off as human, even under the minute scrutiny of the ladies at Madame Gogarty’s. Instead of sharing his expertise for the greater good, William keeps it to himself for personal pleasure.
A secondary theme that arises from the human-like quality of the duplicates is exploitation. William’s intention was not to clone an exact copy of himself, but rather to create a compliant, slave-like version prepared to do his bidding without argument. When the first double rebels, he briefly considers murdering himself by proxy.
A final theme is the perceived value of family life. Among the duller activities assigned to the duplicates is husbandry and parenthood. For many, these provide far more satisfaction and enjoyment than the pleasurable doings looked forward to by William.