The Country of the Kind
Encyclopedia
The Country of the Kind is a science fiction
short story
by Damon Knight
. It was first published in the February 1956 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and has been reprinted many times, including in In Deep
(1963), The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (vol. 1)
(1976), and The Golden Age of Science Fiction (1981).
The story ends with a desperate plea from the protagonist for someone, anyone to join him in his rebellion against what he perceives as a wholly passive society, which has lost any spark of creativity or will to achieve greatness, but the story implies that he has an atavistic
capacity for violent action. A world in which humans have culturally and physically moved beyond violence is incapable of sympathizing with him. His desperate, lonely plea at the end expresses the ironic cruelty of a society that would not do him physical harm, or end his life.
The story also links violence to artistic expression. The protagonist "invents" drawing and sculpture, only later realizing, from old books, that these things had existed in the past, and notes that all great artists had lived in especially violent times.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Damon Knight
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
. It was first published in the February 1956 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and has been reprinted many times, including in In Deep
In Deep (book)
In Deep is a collection of eight science fiction short stories by Damon Knight. The stories were originally published between 1951 and 1960 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Rogue and other magazines....
(1963), The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (vol. 1)
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964 is a 1970 anthology of science fiction short stories, edited by Robert Silverberg. It is generally considered one of the best, if not the best, of the many science fiction anthologies...
(1976), and The Golden Age of Science Fiction (1981).
Plot
The story is set in a future world in which violence and crime have been almost entirely eradicated. The main character is a man who is capable of antisocial behavior and who considers himself “the king of the world.” He is allowed to do what he wishes, take what he wants and go where he pleases without reprisal, so long as he does no violence to another human being. The “humane, permissive” society in which he lives has adopted a threefold solution for someone who is, by their standards, insane. The first is excommunication - no one is to interact with him or even acknowledge his existence, other than by the apparent world-wide directive identifying him and calling for this punishment. Secondly, he is thrown into an epileptic seizure whenever he attempts to commit violence against another human. Thirdly, his body and waste give off a highly offensive odor, undetectable by him, to identify him, warn of his presence and drive others away.The story ends with a desperate plea from the protagonist for someone, anyone to join him in his rebellion against what he perceives as a wholly passive society, which has lost any spark of creativity or will to achieve greatness, but the story implies that he has an atavistic
Atavism
Atavism is the tendency to revert to ancestral type. In biology, an atavism is an evolutionary throwback, such as traits reappearing which had disappeared generations before. Atavisms can occur in several ways...
capacity for violent action. A world in which humans have culturally and physically moved beyond violence is incapable of sympathizing with him. His desperate, lonely plea at the end expresses the ironic cruelty of a society that would not do him physical harm, or end his life.
The story also links violence to artistic expression. The protagonist "invents" drawing and sculpture, only later realizing, from old books, that these things had existed in the past, and notes that all great artists had lived in especially violent times.