Do Unto Others by Mark Clifton
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"Do Unto Others" by Mark Clifton is a science fiction novella that reflects on themes of morality and cultural misunderstanding, written in the late 1950s. The story revolves around the protagonist, Hapland "Happy" Graves, who accompanies his formidable Aunt Mattie and her committee from the Daughters of Terra on a mission to the distant planet Capella IV. Their mission is sparked by a concern over the treatment of the native inhabitants, whom
they believe to be living in a state of ignorance and sin. The narrative explores the complex relationships between humans and alien life, framed by the philosophy of the Golden Rule, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." As the characters engage with the octopus-like natives, they come to humorous and troubling realizations about their perceptions and actions. Aunt Mattie is determined to impose her values on the inhabitants, resulting in an unintended cultural imposition. The story escalates into a comedic mishap as Aunt Mattie's good intentions lead to the unexpected return of the native's greeting—covering the Daughters of Terra's home in salt, a substance that symbolizes the natives' own values and environment rather than the benevolence intended by the protagonists. Ultimately, the novella serves as a critique of colonial attitudes, questioning the efficacy of moral absolutism in the context of varied cultural frameworks, and leaves the reader reflecting on the nature of good and evil in a universe filled with diverse lifeforms. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Clifton, Mark, 1906-1963 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Emshwiller, Ed, 1925-1990 |
| Title | Do Unto Others |
| Series Title | Produced from If Worlds of Science Fiction June 1958. |
| Credits |
Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 83.4 (6th grade). Easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Human-alien encounters -- Fiction |
| Subject | Aunts -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 32181 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-32181-3 |
| Release Date | Apr 29, 2010 |
| Last Update | Jan 6, 2021 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 537 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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