ONE IS ONE AND ALL ALONE

The Author: Nicholas Fisk

Pseudonym of David Higginbottom Born in London on 14 October 1923 Worked as an actor, photographer, journalist, lecturer and musician Writer of science fiction and horror stories Writes story mainly for children Some of his popular works are:
Grinny You Remember Me Space Hostages Trillions The Starstomers series of novels.

Synopsis

A science fiction story Set in the year 2045 Trish, an 11 years old girl is the only child on a spaceship to Trion He father is the Executive Officer of the spaceship Her mother is in Trion helping to set up a space station Reach Trion in mid January 2047

Synopsis

After 3 months, she feels lonely and bored She keeps herself occupied by talking to her private diary, the VoicePrinter It has the ability to perform many functions She learns about clones and cloning process from VP It fascinates Trish and decides to create a clone to keep her company in the spaceship Biolab without her fathers knowledge.

Synopsis

She names her new identical twin Clo Initially, they become best friend and companion They have fun playing and sharing their time together Certain mannerism of Clo begins to irritate Trish Clo behaves and thinks like her They start to argue and disagree with each other Trish feels her privacy is being invaded when

Synopsis

She decides to dispose Clo forever through the DISPOSAL hatch near her cabin Clo too has the same idea for she can read Trishs mind However, Clo does it to Trish first Clo then assumes Trishs identity and he never aware of the change at all Clo enjoys her life as Trish in the spaceship

Social Setting

Time:
Take

place in a spaceship which is orbit in 2045 and will only reach its destination, Trion, in 2 years time

Period
The

era of space exploration and advancement in computer technology enable human cloning to become a reality

Physical Setting: Spaceship

Corridor:
The

passageways that run along the length of the spaceship down the corridor where Trish and Clo accidentally saw themselves face to face where Trish and her dad spend their time together having chocolate milkshakes

Toilet/loo
Situated

Diner
Venue

Cabin
Trishs

personal living cubical which equipped with intelligent computer called VoicePrinter (VP) biology lab where Clo was cloned

Biolab
A

Store
A

room where basic necessities like toothbrushes, towels, etc are stored

Disposal System
5

disposal hatches around the spaceship where unwanted things are disposed off into infinite space.

Characters & Characteristics

Trish

11 years old; the only child on the spaceship heading towards Trion Lonely and bored Creative Friendly Misses personal interactions with her parents Caring daughter Relies on the VP for companionship and information Intelligent: she masters the cloning technology and created a clone of herself Short sighted: her cloning plan backfires Clo becomes a nuisance to her

Characters & Characteristics

Clo
Identical

twin created by Trish Trishs friend and companion before she got sick of her Quick thinking as she out maneuvers Selfish Evil Self-centred Cautious: as she assumes Trishs identity at the end of the story

Characters & Characteristics

Trishs dad
Executive

officer of the spaceship Hardworking and busy: preoccupied with work Caring & loving: tries to spend time with Trish at dinner; indulging her with chocolate milkshake Does not realize that Trish has been replaced by Clo at the end of the story

Characters & Characteristics

Voice Printer
Intelligent

computer Tutor and companion to Trish in her lonely days An avenue for Trishs private thoughts, feelings and opinions.

Plot

In 2045, a spaceship is heading towards planet Trion. Being the only child on board, Trish finds it difficult to adapt being all alone most of the time. Her father, the executive officer, tries to spend time with her in spite of his busy schedule, while her mother was away in Trion. Trish is lonely and bored with only VP as her playmate, tutor and friend. She yearns for human companionship

Plot

Through VP, Trish gets an idea on creating a clone. She secretly clones her own companion in the Biolab. She names her Clo. They soon become good friends and have fun together. Trish begins to spend less time with VP as she is occupied with Clo. As Clos mannerism mirrors her, it irritates Trish. When Clo refers Trishs mum as her own, Trish gets really angry and plan to dispose Clo

Plot

Before Trish could dispose her, Clo disposes Trish first. Clo assumes Trishs identity and succeeds in deceiving Trishs dad as well. Clo then reminds herself that she needs to be Trish and enjoys her new identity and status onboard the spaceship.

Themes

Danger of cloning Selfishness Friendship and companionship Loneliness Science ad technology

Values

Being hardworking Being caring Family bonding Think before you leap Be thankful for what we have Aware of our weaknesses and shortcomings

Message

We must face the consequences of our actions. We must not perform selfish and evil deeds.

Point of View

The story is told by first person point of view. It enables the writer to vividly describe the actions and emotions of the characters. Readers have the access to the thoughts and emotions of the main character, Trish, and Clo, after she murders Trish.

Style

A simple science fiction written as diary entries, in form of dialogues. These entries allow us to get closer to the characters thoughts trough simple and straightforward writing.

Repetition
Im sick of Me. Im sick of being the only child on the ship. Im sick of computer images and sounds. (P.44) When Clo has nothing to do, it always pick, pick, pick. (P.48)

The word sick emphasizes Trishs disappointment and frustration of being child on board. The word pick to show Trishs disgust of Clos irritating picking habit.

Imagery
Rolling bits of skin around a fingernail. and They writhe and fiddle all the time. (P.48-49 Para 1 Line 6-8)

One can visualize what Clo is doing with her fingernail. One may find this an irritating habit. This obviously annoys Trish. At Trishs age and ability to understand, she fails to reliase that Clo is just a mirror image of herself. By reprimanding Clo, she is indirectly reprimanding herself as she has the same habit too. In fact, Clo points out, look do you mind? Stop picking at yourself.

Irony
I cant stand the way Clos mind works. I cant stand Clos corny jokes, and her dismal sulks. I cant stand Clos laugh or eating habits or her finger picking. (P.52 Para 2 Line 2-4)

Trish finds Clos habit irritating, but she cant see that Clos habits are just a reflection of her own habits. Clo is her exact replica. These habits are what she does herself. Trish may have created a clone but her immaturity in understanding this, brought about her own downfall.