The People’s Champion Harlan Ellison’s “Repent, Harlequin! ‘ Said the Ticktockman” incorporates, and perfectly balances, a goofy silliness and foreboding seriousness. Ellison’s story invites readers to reflect upon their own values, and whether or not they are meaningful. The society within the story has many parallels with the reader’s, and encompasses many of the same beliefs and values. It is easy to recognize and associate with Harlequin because he commits childish, and funny actions.
These behaviors are distinct because Harlequin’s nonchalance is something the reader finds humorous and desirable. Readers associate with the story characters in this sense because both groups view Harlequin’s actions as erroneous, yet, satisfying. Through the use of onomatopoeia, other language tools, and a child-like “ignorance is bliss” chaos, readers can see how revolutionary Harlequin’s behavior is; which is significant because he personifies their inner desires in a society that mirrors their own.
To demonstrate Harlan Ellison’s eloquent use of onomatopoeia, one can consider the impact Harlequin’s actions have on the Ticktockman. To begin, it is obvious that even the most miniscule actions by Harlequin adversely affect the highly esteemed schedule. Harlequin finds pleasure in acting like a child and he causes chaos within the community because of it. “He skimmed over a slidewalk, purposefully dropping a few feet to crease the tassels of the ladies of fashion, and-inserting thumbs in large ears- he stuck out his tongue, rolled his eyes and went wugga-wugga-wugga. Ellison 376). ” Harlequin makes this obnoxious sound as he does childish activities, and somehow these minute actions have an effect on every single person involved. This use of onomatopoeia takes an important moment in the story, and makes it seem as though its childish and irrelevant, but in reality Harlequin’s actions enormously impact the members of society. The scene continues on to repeat the phrase, “It was a minor diversion (Ellison 376),” twice. This statement is false, which it is reiterated by the repetition because the diversion was hardly minor.
This again shows how, although, Harlequin’s actions are absurd, displaved by his unsophisticated facial expressions and the sound he makes, he has an immense effect on the community. Similarly, Harlequin creates a scene at the Efficiency Shopping Center. He sits atop the roof and challenges the members of society to think about their actions and why they allow themselves to be machines. In an effort to stop Harlequin, Master Timekeeper, himself, who symbolizes the importance of time, was the source of turbulence within the schedule, something that this society reveres.
Eventually, and after considerable effort by the Ticktockman and assistants, Harlequin is captured and forced to conform to the ideals of society. Directly after this scene, as it seems that everything is settled and Harlequin lost the battle, the story concludes with the Ticktockman being confronted for being late, and retreating into his office making the sound “mrmee, mrmee, mrmee, mrmee. (Ellison 382). ” One can make the conjecture that the Ticktockman “malfunctioned,” in a sense, because he’s been impacted by Harlequin’s revolutionary actions.
The use of onomatopoeia at the very end of the story after it seems that the Ticktockman has defeated Harlequin and forced him to conform, shows how significant Harlequin’s actions are because they still affect him. Readers can see Harlequin’s actions as defeating this nonsensical notion that time should be cherished above other things; this is displayed by the nonsensical sound the Ticktockman makes after everything is said and done.
On the subject of things that are silly and nonsensical, one could consider Ellison’s use of language hroughout the entire story. The rhythmic and repetitious language throughout makes reader feel as through the conflict isn’t significant because it’s the same kind of trivial content that can be found in a children’s book. This type of language is used after Harlequin names several scenarios that can be seen within one’s own society. The reader is able to more closely relate to the members of this society because each scenario is understandable and prevalent in their own.
Scenarios such as “You cannot vote unless you appear at 8:45 AM. / I don’t care if the script is good, I need it Thursday! / Check out time is 2:00 PM (Ellison 378). ” These quotes help the reader to understand how similar their society and the society within the story is. These scenarios give the reader real examples of how they too overvalue the clock, and willingly sacrifice other things in order to please the clock. Keeping time is more important than living life in many ways because people are prepared to make sacrifices for it.
For instance, the right to vote/ a person’s ability to vote is sacrificed if they don’t make it on time, the quality of the script is sacrificed so long as it is turned in when its needed by, and leisure relaxation is sacrificed so that it is possible to check out on time. Readers take these scenarios and ponder on the implications of the text, realizing and criticizing their own infatuation with time. Ellison exploits this moment of realization by the reader and follows up the scheduling scenarios with playful rhythmic language.
The use of small words makes the story seem childish, thus making it easy for the reader to disregard the deeper meaning of the passage. “And so it goes. And so it goes. And so it goes. And so it goes goes goes goes goes tick tock tick tock tick tock and one day we no longer let time serve us, we serve time, and we are slaves of the schedule, worshippers of the sun’s passing, bound into a life predicated on restrictions because the system will not function if we don’t keep the schedule tight (Ellison). ” This passage holds immensely significant content that relates to the personal life of the reader.
The reader can analyze the congruity of this society’s values with their own and determine the actual worth of time versus the worth that society places on it. It is easier, instead, to ignore the deeper ramifications, sink into the repetitious cadence of words, and feel as though this is merely a children’s book. This allows the reader to digress back into childhood, the silliness and playful undertone makes Harlequin’s actions comprehensible and even gratifying, in a society that so obviously parallels their own.
It is equally important to recognize the amount of happiness and joy Harlequin brought into people’s lives when he caused these scenes. One can further examine the profound underlying message of the text. Harlequin is trying to convey that time can always be sacrificed if the time is spent enjoying it, but the inverse is not true because sacrificing other important things in the name of time is not enjoyable. This can be seen in his chaotic scenes and operations because time is wasted participating in the festivities, but all in all everyone involved regards his scenes as joyous occasions.
The shift workers howled and laughed and were pelted, and broke ranks, and the jelly beans managed to work their way into the mechanism of the slidewalks after which there was a hideous scraping as the sound of a million fingernails rasped down a quarter of a million blackboards, followed by a coughing and sputtering, and then the slidewalks all stopped and everyone was dumped thisawayandthataway in a jackstraw tumble, still laughing, and popping little jelly bean eggs of childish color into their mouths. It was a holiday, and a jollity, and absolute insanity, a giggle.
But… / The shift was delayed seven minutes (Ellison 376). ” This also adds to the “ignorance is bliss” idea because the jelly beans are a childish candy, and children are ignorant and blissful. Furthermore, it popularizes the notion that if something is unexpected it is better enjoyed and more spontaneous because everyone is laughing, and smiling, and carrying on without a worry. The colorful sweetness of it all makes them feel like children, and not as though they are confined by responsibilities and the rigidness of adulthood.
The story continues on to reflect on how the entire schedule, in all its excellence, was ruined by something so ludicrous as jellybeans. Ellison satirizes the whole situation, demonstrating the true revolutionary nature of Harlequin, as he is able to destroy the entire system with something as crazy as jellybeans. Harlequin’s actions throughout the entire story reveal a rebellious attitude of nonconformity. Harlequin incites joy within the members of society that have conformed and accepted a life a promptness, and punctuality with little time for anything else.
He shows helps them to return to their childhood happiness, and forget the intense demands of the clock. Harlequin’s radical behavior may have seemed to be under control by the Ticktockman, but really Harlequin negatively affected him in more ways than one; and that’s all a revolutionary could really ask for. Harlan Ellison helps the reader see their inner desires personified as Harlequin, a rebel, that challenges ideals prevalent in their own society, through the use of onomatopoeia, “ignorance is bliss chaos,” and other literary tools.
