Communication by Charles L. Fontenay
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"Communication" by Charles L. Fontenay is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. The narrative explores the first Earth expedition to Mars and examines the challenges and misunderstandings inherent in inter-species communication. The work invites readers to consider the possibility of intelligent life on Mars and the complexities of establishing contact. The story begins with Earth astronauts encountering Martians for the first time. As the Earthmen boldly attempt to
communicate using mathematical representations, they fail to recognize the Martians' apparent hostility. Misinterpretations and assumptions lead to tragic consequences as communication breaks down completely. Ultimately, the Martians respond to the perceived threat from the Earthmen by eliminating them, illustrating the frailty of communication across vastly different cultures and species. Through this encounter, Fontenay prompts important questions about understanding and the potential dangers of miscommunication in an interstellar context. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Fontenay, Charles L., 1917-2007 |
|---|---|
| Title | Communication |
| Series Title | Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1956 |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 76.9 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Martians -- Fiction |
| Subject | Mars (Planet) -- Fiction |
| Subject | Human-alien encounters -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 59556 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-59556-6 |
| Release Date | May 19, 2019 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 353 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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