Fredrick Pohl. known as the “Science Fiction Grand Master. ” wrote his short narrative “Day Million” in one dark in 1966 ( Solstein. 1 ) . This short narrative became one of the most anthologized narratives of it’s scientific discipline fiction genre and is considered to be one of the best short narratives of his aggregation. “Day Million” is a love narrative between a male child and a miss that takes topographic point one thousand old ages from now. This secret plan drumhead sounds simple plenty. but Pohl’s narrative is approximately much more than a simple love narrative ; Pohl’s storyteller speaks straight to the reader. and frequently inquiries the esthesia of the reader. By making this. Pohl creates a feeling that nil is what it seems. Pohl besides displays a subject of today’s civilization versus the hereafter ( or the idea/version of the hereafter that the narrative creates ) .

The fact that the storyteller tells us a narrative about the hereafter in the present twenty-four hours automatically raises inquiries about our thoughts of the hereafter. and how we live and think in our present twenty-four hours universe. Pohl challenges our modern twenty-four hours biass. and it can be said so that the overall subject of “Day Million” is nil is what it seems. The subject of nil is what it seems becomes apparent in the really debut to the narrative. Pohl writes. “On this twenty-four hours I want to state you about. which will be about a thousand old ages from now. there were a male child. a miss and a love narrative. Now although I haven’t said much so far. none of it is true” ( Pohl. 166 ) . The storyteller speaks straight to the reader from the start. and establishes an untrusty voice. The reader is automatically forced to oppugn the cognition of the storyteller. and to make up one’s mind what to believe and what non to believe.

The reader. so. has to make up one’s mind what seems existent and what does non. Early on. the storyteller gently points a finger at our present twenty-four hours biass. or at our labels of gender and age. The storyteller tells the reader that “The male child was non what you and I would usually believe of as a male child. because he was a 100 and 87 old ages old. Nor was the miss a miss. for other reasons…The ground the miss was non a miss was that she was a boy” ( Pohl. 166 ) . The questionable voice and cognition of the storyteller unfolds even more here ; the storyteller uses the word “normally” here. which points out our modern twenty-four hours impressions of what a male child and miss should be. and what is considered to be “normal. ” The storyteller besides reveals our ideas toward age ; Don could non be a male child because of his age. but in this future clip. age does non count. and Don will ever be considered a male child.

The storyteller goes on to province. “How angrily you recoil from the page! You say. who the snake pit wants to read about a brace of fagots? ” ( Pohl. 166 ) . The storyteller moves from soft commentary to about full blown onslaught upon the readers esthesias. non merely oppugning the readers esthesia. but indicating out our damaging positions. The usage of the word “queer” is non an uncommon usage of linguistic communication in our modern twenty-four hours society. The storyteller assumes that the reader will flinch from the page. or assumes that the reader would hold an immediate job with homosexualism. finally oppugning our esthesia. But Pohl is making more than merely indicating out our usage of labels and our thoughts of what normal are ; he is noticing on our biass as being inferior to the attitudes and impressions of the hereafter.

Pohl is comparing the attitudes and impressions of the society that Don and Dora live in to ours in the present twenty-four hours. When depicting Don’s visual aspect. the storyteller provinces. “In a manner. he likely would hold looked curious to a adult male from the twentieth century. with his glowing eyes and seven-fingered custodies ; but to himself. and of class to Dora. he looked mightily manfully and grand” ( Pohl. 168 ) . Unfortunately in our society any individual with glowing eyes and seven fingers would be considered an castaway. but in Don and Dora’s universe. Don is nil short of perfect. Pohl besides remarks on the littleness of our present twenty-four hours universe and one time once more inquiries our esthesias.

The storyteller provinces. “Oh. I can see you now. you feeders of charcoal-broiled steak. rubing an inchoate bunion with one manus and keeping this narrative with the other. while the stereo plays d’Indy or Monk. You don’t believe a work of it. make you? Not for one minute. Peoples wouldn’t live like that. you say with an annoyed and non diverted oink as you get up to set fresh ice in a stale drink” ( Pohl. 169 ) . The storyteller accuses the reader of non believing. of non swearing the narrative as it is told. The storyteller besides makes premises that the reader will be “irritated” by the narrative. and that the reader will merely “grunt” at the manner Don and Dora live.

This commentary makes our modern twenty-four hours universe seem little. and our point of views on life styles even smaller ; we are thought of as close-minded and about intolerant. and the thought of nil is what it seems is relevant based on the fact that we can’t believe in what doesn’t seem existent or likely to us. Finally. Pohl remarks on the littleness of our modern twenty-four hours universe by composing. “…and one snake pit of a batch more so than anything you are traveling to happen in ‘real life. ’ Go in front. blaze and grumble. Dora doesn’t attention. If she thinks of you at all. her thirty-times-great-great-grandfather. she thinks you’re a reasonably aboriginal kind of beast. You are” ( Pohl. 169 ) .

Here. the storyteller lets us cognize that Dora will believe of us as primitive. if she even fusss to believe of us at all. The storyteller besides remarks on our thought of “real life” versus the life of the hereafter. or the life that Don and Dora lead. A life in the hereafter offers much more than our life now. Pohl chooses to set existent life in quotation marks. indicating out that our modern twenty-four hours life is merely an thought. merely a bantam portion of history as compared to what the hereafter holds. It can be said that “Day Million” is more than merely a simple love narrative between a male child and a miss. After composing this short narrative in one eventide. Pohl was able create a storyteller that spoke straight to the reader.

This storyteller questioned. and even at some points. attacked this readers esthesia. This storyteller besides establishes an untrusty voice early on in the narrative. coercing the reader to oppugn what is true and non true. making a subject of nil is what it seems. Pohl’s narrative besides creates a subject of our modern universe versus the hereafter. and challenges our modern twenty-four hours biass. The storyteller uses modern twenty-four hours linguistic communication. points out our usage of age and gender labels. and inquiries our criterions of normality. Finally. Pohl challenges the littleness of our modern twenty-four hours universe as compared to the hereafter universe he created. Pohl’s storyteller points out the lower status of our universe as being close-minded in comparing to Don and Dora’s universe.