Time and religion have always served as means by which humanity satisfies its preoccupation with order and purpose. However, in Ellison’s “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” and Dostoyevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor,” humanity’s obsession with structure has forced it to become subservient to the elements that were intended for its own advancement. In both stories, humanity’s relinquishing control to systems such as time and religion has forced it into a reoccurring state of fear and conformity, which hinder it from rebelling against or correcting the very powers humanity itself has created.

The Master Timekeeper and the Grand Inquisitor are totalitarian megalomaniacs appointed into power by society’s failure to cope with free will. In both societies, humanity is willing to give up its own freedoms in order to attain an easier way of life. Time makes it easier for humanity to structure daily life while the Grand Inquisitor relieves humanity of the burdens of moral decisions. However, neither society takes into consideration what the consequences of relinquishing power will be. The Grand Inquisitor states, “[A]ll that man seeks on earth [. . .] is: someone to bow down to, someone to take over his conscience, and a means for uniting everyone at last into a common, concordant, and incontestable anthill” (425). He illustrates humanity’s desire to be governed, but also acknowledges the results of such a desire as being a constant state of conformity where life becomes as mechanical as the system it exists within.

Society has accepted the systems that both dictators have established. However, humanity’s unwavering conformity is not out of complete devotion, but rather a reaction to the fear these dictators have instilled in order to maintain power. In “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman,” the narrator states, “You don’t call a man a hated name, not when that man is capable of revoking [. . .] the years of your life” (760). Similarly, going against the Grand Inquisitor results in being burned as a heretic. The Master Timekeeper and the Grand Inquisitor’s god-like capabilities allow them to use humanity’s fear of death as a means of control. Members of each society do not willingly go against the state, because they know the consequence of resistance is death. Even Mrs. Delahanty openly wishes that the turn-off notice is for her husband and not for her, which illustrates just how severe the fear of death is and its ability to maintain conformity.

In his essay “Clogging Up the (in)Human Works: Harlan Ellison’s Apocalyptic Postmodern Visions,” Oscar de Los Santos states, “Everyone lives with this fear except the Harlequin, who realizes that a society that relinquishes control of its existence to one entity or one small governing body – mechanical or otherwise – is in grave danger of becoming extinct” (8). It is the Harlequin who understands that the price of conformity is a seemingly lifeless, mechanical existence. Everett and Dostoyevsky’s Christ are the only characters willingly able to affect the systems. Ultimately, both are harlequins as their actions are what cause small but meaningful changes. Through Everett’s antics, the Master Timekeeper is ultimately late, and the Grand Inquisitor’s being kissed by Christ allows the former to realize a moment of compassion.

However, the question that arises at the end of both stories is whether these changes are enough to truly impact the systems that humanity has ultimately created. Conformity has been so indoctrinated that Everett’s own girlfriend is the one who turns him in to the Master Timekeeper, and Jesus’ presence is not enough for society to rebel against the Grand Inquisitor. Ivan states, “And such is his power, so tamed, submissive, and tremblingly obedient to his will are the people” at the moment when the people who have been awaiting His return allow Jesus to be arrested (417).

Ultimately, in both stories, the systems the Harlequin and Jesus are fighting against do win, because neither has anyone else to maintain the rebellion after them or for them. Though the Harlequin and Christ have disrupted the system, society will inevitably fall back into the same subservient position until humanity realizes that death itself is inescapable. Both stories serve as warnings against the dystopian consequences of a society’s relinquishing its right to self-govern because of its failure to understand that the threat of death should not control the ability to live freely. The horror of both stories dwells in the idea that both dystopian situations are products of humanity’s own doing.

Work Cited

• De Los Santos, Oscar. “Clogging Up the (in)Human Works: Harlan Ellison’s Apocalyptic Postmodern Visions.” Extrapolation 40.1 (1999): 5, 5-20. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 21 Sep.2011.

dostoyevsky, dystopia, fall 2011, harlan ellison, time, utopia