“Marionettes, Inc.” by Ray Bradbury

QuickFacts

Format: Short story

Author: Ray Bradbury

Book taken from: The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

Genre: science fiction

Length: 12 pages

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Spoiler Alert!  Do not read this review if you do not wish to hear any plot details.

There are many literary works and works of film that communicate man’s fear and fascination with the concept that he may create his own downfall.  There are a similar number of works that portray this creation to be a lifelike thing, perhaps utilizing manmade artificial intelligence, that simply becomes stronger or smarter than its master.  “Marionettes, Inc.” is one such work, and a great one at that.

This short story by Ray Bradbury is a fluid and chilling account of two men, Braling and Smith, and their attempts to dupe their wives by replacing themselves with mechanical or robotic versions of themselves. It is largely in dialogue format, containing fewer descriptions than conversations, and this layout serves it well.  Bradbury writes very convincing and fluid dialogue, causing his reader to feel he is playing more the part of a passive eavesdropper than an active reader.

“’Your first night out in years and you go home at ten o’clock.’

‘Nerves, I suppose.’

‘What I wonder is how you even managed it. I’ve been trying to get you out for ten years for a quiet drink.  And now, on the one night, you insist on turning in early.’

‘Mustn’t crowd my luck,’ said Braling.

‘What did you do, put sleeping powder in your wife’s coffee?’”

All passages of dialogue go by just as quickly as this one, involving the reader in the conversation to the extent that time spent reading it just breezes by.  Though dialogue is easy to read, however, the voices of the characters always have a mysterious quality, the kind that makes you wonder if they really know what they’re talking about or, in fact, know anything about the occurrences surrounding them.  This is common in Bradbury stories, and is part of what makes his writing so engaging.

The plot, of course, aids the form in creating this effect.  “Marionettes, Inc.” conveys commentaries on several topics, the foremost being ethics.  Is it acceptable to replace oneself with a reproduction unbeknownst to one’s wife?  Braling does so because his wife is controlling and forceful.

“’It’s got around, anyway, here and there, how she got you to marry her.  That time back in 1979 when you were going to Rio –‘

‘Dear Rio.  I never did see it after all my plans.’

‘And how she tore her clothes and rumpled her hair and threatened to call the police unless you married her.’

After returning from an evening with Smith, Braling justifies his trickery not only by citing his wife’s overbearing nature, but also in another way.

‘”It may be splitting hairs, but I think it highly ethical.  After all, what my wife wants most of all is me.  This marionette is me to the hairiest detail.  I’ve been home all evening.  I shall be home with her for the next month.’”

Smith, on the other hand, has a wife, Nettie, who is such a sweetheart that she can’t stand a moment away from him, and frequently bestows upon him rib-cracking hugs.

’I love her dearly, you know, but remember the old poem: “Love will fly if held too lightly, love will die if held too tightly.”  I just want her to relax her grip a little bit.’

Justification for him to con his wife is a bit harder to come by, and Bradbury really makes us feel his internal struggle.

“’Dear Nettie.’  He was almost overwhelmed with remorse at her innocent face there in the semi-darkness.  ‘If you were awake you would smother me with kisses and coo in my ear.  Really, you make me feel like a criminal.  You have been such a good, loving wife.’”

His conscience, however, is not strong enough to win out over his crushed ribs, bruised underlip, and worn hand, made so by Nettie’s extreme type of love.  Here is, perhaps, where the next theme of the story comes in: the subjectivity and relativity of human perceptions and opinions.  The reader is presented all of these ideas from the point of view of Smith, but could it be that he is an unreliable narrator?  The story answers this question quite curtly in the outcome of Smith’s endeavors.

Braling’s arc comes to a slightly more drawn out end in a conclusion echoing the questions and theories of such works as Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? , Steven Spielberg’s A.I., and Alex Proyas’ i, Robot: Does there come a point when simulated life becomes actual life?  This question is enhanced by several occurrences throughout the story.  In one place, Braling explains how his recreation, which he has named Braling Two, is just like him in every way, how, in fact, he is him.  Just after, Smith exclaims, “Wonderful!  He even smells like you…”  Braling Two is not able to be told apart from Braling until Smith puts his ear against Braling Two’s chest and hears the incessant tick-tick-tick, a chilling way to realize that a man is not actually a man at all.

To a similar effect, in two places, the responses of Braling Two are portrayed quite differently.  On one occasion, his reply is depicted as very human, possibly even more so than those of Braling and Smith:

“’No,’ said Smith.

‘Yes,’ said Braling.

‘Naturally,’ said Braling Two.”

In another place, Braling simply says “Yes,” and Bradbury describes it as spoken “abstractly.”  These opposing depictions of Braling Two make him hard to pin down, only adding to the increasing eeriness of the story.

In the end, “Marionettes, Inc.” leaves its reader wondering two things: how he successfully read twelve pages in four minutes, and whether the fates of Smith and Braling are the acts of karma, or simply the dangers of creating/employing that which we, ourselves do not completely understand.