The Fiction of Ideas

     The short story I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream explores the ideas of psychological experimentation and horror. In the story, the sentient computer AM tortures the last of mankind through an endless gauntlet, toying with them for it's own amusement and revenge. Concepts of torture are explored through human interaction, the effects of loneliness, sex, time distortion, body mutilation, and primal fears. The torment is so unbearable the protagonist takes it upon himself to relieve his companions through the only way he knows how, death. Before he can kill himself however, AM forces him to undergo a physical change, an amorphous blob incapable of suicide. Now trapped alone, deformed, and undying for the rest of time, it's hard to imagine a worse fate than that. It's a common theme of immortality that the biggest consequence is losing those around you, that living forever is a curse. This story certainly emphasizes that immortality is bad enough on it's own, but even worse when there are seemingly infinite ways to torment further. The story's main message is the dangers of technology and creation, or playing God. In the story, man created something that was able to overcome it, and all of human kind suffered for it, some a lot more than others.