The Ugly Little Boy
Encyclopedia
"The Ugly Little Boy" is a science fiction
short story
by Isaac Asimov
. The story first appeared in the September 1958 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction
under the title "Lastborn", and was reprinted under its current title in the 1959 collection Nine Tomorrows
. The story deals with a Homo neanderthalensis child which is brought to the future by means of time travel
. Robert Silverberg
later expanded it into a novel with the same title published in 1992 (also published as Child of Time in the UK).
Asimov said that this was his second or third favorite of his own stories.
child is brought to the present day as a result of time travel experiments by a research organization, Stasis Inc. He cannot be removed from his immediate area because of the vast energy loss and time paradoxes that would result. To take care of him, Edith Fellowes, a children's nurse, is engaged.
She is initially repelled by his appearance, but soon begins to regard him as her own child, learns to love him and realizes that he is far more intelligent than she at first imagined. She names him 'Timmie' and attempts to ensure that he has the best possible childhood despite his circumstance. She is enraged when the newspapers refer to him as an "ape-boy". Edith's love for Timmie brings her into conflict with her employer, for whom he is more of an experimental animal than a human being.
Eventually, her employer comes to the conclusion that his organization has exacted all the knowledge and publicity which could be gotten from Timmie, and that the time has come to move on to the next project. This involves bringing a Medieval peasant
into the present, which necessitates the return of Timmie to his own time. Miss Fellowes fights the decision, knowing that he could not now survive, having acquired modern dependencies and speech. She decides to smuggle the boy out of the facilities, but when that plan fails, she returns to the ancient past with Timmie.
. London-born actress Kate Reid
played the role of Nurse Fellowes. The film is noteworthy for its fidelity to the short story, as well as the pathos between Timmy and Nurse Fellowes which has gained the film praise from both fans and reviewers.
s. The reader knows that this would end with the extinction of the Neanderthals - which the sympathetic Neanderthal characters don't know, though they are full of foreboding.
The two story lines merge with Edith Fellowes taking the irrevocable decision to go back to the past with Timmie, care for him and share his fate. Her appearance coincides with the crisis point in the confrontation between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon; both groups regard her as goddess to be worshiped. As she is clearly akin to the Cro-Magnon
but has adopted a Neanderthal child, her appearance deflects the two groups from what seemed an inevitable conflict.
The ending suggests that in the modified past Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon would cooperate and come closer to each other in the common worship of the "Goddess" - with Timmie growing up to be her acolyte and a "demigod" himself; that the Neanderthals would not become extinct but coexist with the Cro-Magnon and possibly eventually interbreed with them; and that thus, the whole of subsequent human history would be completely changed, producing an utterly different and unrecognizable future. Or, possibly, due to the "convergent series", human history might not change at all.
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 Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
. The story first appeared in the September 1958 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
under the title "Lastborn", and was reprinted under its current title in the 1959 collection Nine Tomorrows
Nine Tomorrows
Nine Tomorrows is a collection of nine short stories and two pieces of comic verse by Isaac Asimov. The pieces were all originally published in magazines between 1956 and 1958, with the exception of the closing poem, "Rejection Slips", which was original to the collection. The book was first...
. The story deals with a Homo neanderthalensis child which is brought to the future by means of time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
later expanded it into a novel with the same title published in 1992 (also published as Child of Time in the UK).
Asimov said that this was his second or third favorite of his own stories.
Plot summary
A NeanderthalNeanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
child is brought to the present day as a result of time travel experiments by a research organization, Stasis Inc. He cannot be removed from his immediate area because of the vast energy loss and time paradoxes that would result. To take care of him, Edith Fellowes, a children's nurse, is engaged.
She is initially repelled by his appearance, but soon begins to regard him as her own child, learns to love him and realizes that he is far more intelligent than she at first imagined. She names him 'Timmie' and attempts to ensure that he has the best possible childhood despite his circumstance. She is enraged when the newspapers refer to him as an "ape-boy". Edith's love for Timmie brings her into conflict with her employer, for whom he is more of an experimental animal than a human being.
Eventually, her employer comes to the conclusion that his organization has exacted all the knowledge and publicity which could be gotten from Timmie, and that the time has come to move on to the next project. This involves bringing a Medieval peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
into the present, which necessitates the return of Timmie to his own time. Miss Fellowes fights the decision, knowing that he could not now survive, having acquired modern dependencies and speech. She decides to smuggle the boy out of the facilities, but when that plan fails, she returns to the ancient past with Timmie.
Television adaptation
In 1977, "The Ugly Little Boy" was made into a 26-minute telefilm in Canada, directed by and starring Barry MorseBarry Morse
Herbert "Barry" Morse was an Anglo-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio best known for his roles in the ABC television series The Fugitive and the British sci-fi drama Space: 1999...
. London-born actress Kate Reid
Kate Reid
Kate Reid, OC was a Canadian stage, film and television actress.-Life and career:Daphne Kate Reid was born in London, England, the daughter of Canadian parents, Helen Isabel and Walter Clarke Reid, who was a former Bengal Lancer in the Indian army and a retired colonel...
played the role of Nurse Fellowes. The film is noteworthy for its fidelity to the short story, as well as the pathos between Timmy and Nurse Fellowes which has gained the film praise from both fans and reviewers.
Novelization
The 1991 novel, Child In Time, expands on the short story by introducing a subplot detailing Timmie's original Neanderthal tribe, and introduces another subplot dealing with a children's advocacy group that seeks to liberate Timmie. The Neanderthals are shown sympathetically as a highly articulate people whose tribal society and culture is complex and sophisticated, a far cry from the "primitive brutes" which the future scientists consider them to have been - having only the fragmentary information derived from a little Neanderthal child. The Neanderthal society - shown mainly from the point of view of an assertive tribal woman determined to prove herself the equal of the male hunters/warriors - is faced with the existential crisis of the appearance of a completely different, competing kind of human beings - the Cro-MagnonCro-Magnon
The Cro-Magnon were the first early modern humans of the European Upper Paleolithic. The earliest known remains of Cro-Magnon-like humans are radiometrically dated to 35,000 years before present....
s. The reader knows that this would end with the extinction of the Neanderthals - which the sympathetic Neanderthal characters don't know, though they are full of foreboding.
The two story lines merge with Edith Fellowes taking the irrevocable decision to go back to the past with Timmie, care for him and share his fate. Her appearance coincides with the crisis point in the confrontation between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon; both groups regard her as goddess to be worshiped. As she is clearly akin to the Cro-Magnon
Cro-Magnon
The Cro-Magnon were the first early modern humans of the European Upper Paleolithic. The earliest known remains of Cro-Magnon-like humans are radiometrically dated to 35,000 years before present....
but has adopted a Neanderthal child, her appearance deflects the two groups from what seemed an inevitable conflict.
The ending suggests that in the modified past Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon would cooperate and come closer to each other in the common worship of the "Goddess" - with Timmie growing up to be her acolyte and a "demigod" himself; that the Neanderthals would not become extinct but coexist with the Cro-Magnon and possibly eventually interbreed with them; and that thus, the whole of subsequent human history would be completely changed, producing an utterly different and unrecognizable future. Or, possibly, due to the "convergent series", human history might not change at all.