PKD's Short Stories

This week we read the short stories, “Paycheck,” “Roog,” “The Preserving Machine,” “If There Were no Benny Cemoli,” and “The Golden Man.” The thing that I found most important in all of these stories was the theme of fear and control. It’s also noteworthy that each story is set in the future after some sort of disaster that destroyed the world as we know it. In “Paycheck” the characters were afraid of government control and that is why Jennings acts as he does and blackmails Rethrick Construction Company. In “Roog,” Boris is afraid of the garbage men stealing food. I really enjoyed “The Preserving Machine” and the fact that Dr. Labyrinth was afraid of all the music being destroyed in a war/world disaster. I never would’ve thought of turning sheet music into animals. The humans were afraid of the different creatures and what they’d do to the world in “The Golden Man.” I enjoyed all of the short stories and the fact that they all have the same central themes; they all also had a good deal of suspense and action!