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The Fringe (short story)
Encyclopedia
"The Fringe" is a short story by Orson Scott Card
. It appears in his short story collection The Folk of the Fringe
and in Future on Ice
a short story collection edited by card. Card originally published this story in the October 1985 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
.
America Timothy Carpenter is a wheelchair-using teacher in a small farming community. When he discovers that the farm foreman, the bishop and some other men are stealing food from the other farmers he reports this to the authorities. On the day that the marshal
s are scheduled to show up he talks to his students about how wrong it is for people to steal. After class is over the son of the foreman threatens Mr. Carpenter and tells him to keep his mouth shut. Later that day the authorities show up and arrest the thieves. An hour later their sons show up at Mr. Carpenter's house and take him out to a dry riverbed that will flood with the coming rain and dump him into it so that he will drown. Just as he is about to drown he is rescued by a group from a traveling pageant
show. When the police show up at his house Mr. Carpenter refuses to name the boys who attacked him because he feels sorry for their families. However, when he sees them in school the next day they behave.
" by Orson Scott Card is about how a young man named Deaver Teague meet us with and joins that same group. Mr. Carpenter is the narrator of the story "America
". In that story he tells about how the governor of Deseret
, Sam Monson, met and had a baby with an Native American
woman when he was a teenager.
/Mormon
influence is present in this story.
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
. It appears in his short story collection The Folk of the Fringe
The Folk of the Fringe
The Folk of the Fringe is a collection of post-apocalyptic stories by American writer Orson Scott Card. These stories are set sometime in the near future, when World War III has left America in ruins. The stories are about how a few groups of Mormons struggle to survive...
and in Future on Ice
Future on Ice
Future on Ice is a science fiction anthology edited by Orson Scott Card, belated companion to Future on Fire . It contains eighteen stories written in the 1980s by different writers including "The Fringe" by Card himself....
a short story collection edited by card. Card originally published this story in the October 1985 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
.
Plot summary
In a post-apocalypticApocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
America Timothy Carpenter is a wheelchair-using teacher in a small farming community. When he discovers that the farm foreman, the bishop and some other men are stealing food from the other farmers he reports this to the authorities. On the day that the marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
s are scheduled to show up he talks to his students about how wrong it is for people to steal. After class is over the son of the foreman threatens Mr. Carpenter and tells him to keep his mouth shut. Later that day the authorities show up and arrest the thieves. An hour later their sons show up at Mr. Carpenter's house and take him out to a dry riverbed that will flood with the coming rain and dump him into it so that he will drown. Just as he is about to drown he is rescued by a group from a traveling pageant
Latter-day Saint pageant
This list of pageants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delineates those annual outdoor theatrical performance produced by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is reminiscent of early Christian Pageants which reenacted the world history in processional...
show. When the police show up at his house Mr. Carpenter refuses to name the boys who attacked him because he feels sorry for their families. However, when he sees them in school the next day they behave.
Connection to the other stories
After Mr. Carpenter is rescued from drowning he learns that the acting group that saved him is called the "Sweetwater Miracle Pageant". The story "Pageant WagonPageant Wagon (short story)
"Pageant Wagon" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It’s first and only appearance is in his short story collection The Folk of the Fringe .-Plot summary:...
" by Orson Scott Card is about how a young man named Deaver Teague meet us with and joins that same group. Mr. Carpenter is the narrator of the story "America
America (short story)
"America" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collection The Folk of the Fringe. Card originally published this story in the January 1987 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine.-Plot summary:...
". In that story he tells about how the governor of Deseret
Deseret
Deseret is a term derived from the Book of Mormon, a scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Latter Day Saint groups...
, Sam Monson, met and had a baby with an Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
woman when he was a teenager.
Influences
As with many of Card's other literature, a ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
/Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
influence is present in this story.
Students
- LaVon Jensen - Nephi's son
- Kippie Anderson - bishop's son
- Pope Griffith
- Dick
- Yutonna
Sweetwater Miracle Pageant people
- two strong men - unnamed
- older woman - unnamed
- young woman - unnamed
Other characters
- four marshals - unnamed
- Bishop Anderson - Kippie's father
- Sister Anderson - Kippie's mother
- Nephi Delos Jensen - Reefrock farm foreman
- Eldon Finch - new bishop
- Sheriff Budd
See also
- List of works by Orson Scott Card
- Orson Scott CardOrson Scott CardOrson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
- LDS fictionLDS fictionLDS fiction is an American niche market of fiction novels featuring themes related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...