reading comprehension

[quarrel]

Ponies is one of this year’s Hugo nominees for the short story category. It’s about a girl being cruel to something she loves to gain acceptance into a new social circle.

Commenters had a variety of interpretations regarding the story’s true meaning. Some saw an allegory about the conflict between assimilated immigrants and those struggling to retain their own culture. Some saw the symbolism of cultural female circumcision. I speak with too many Libertarians, so I saw a parable of the dangers of giving up national sovereignty. It turns out we were all making things up. The author’s intended message was the obvious one: sometimes people are jerks to Group A to try to garner favor with Group B, but it doesn’t always work. That’s it. Really.

I saw a claim that Robert Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers to showcase the obvious shortcomings of fascist voting regulations. I had no idea whether to take it seriously. I had a friend point out that Orson Scott Card made the protagonist of Ender’s Game absurdly, unrealistically innocent. I never picked up on that when I’d read it in college.

There’s a local science fiction convention coming up. Maybe they’ll have reading lessons.

Comments

Sometimes a knife

[buni]

Amusingly, I felt it was fairly obvious as what it was, because it rang so true to the experiences of 13-year-olds trying to become part of the in-crowd. This one didn't need any subtext.