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Pay for the Printer is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. First published in Satellite Science Fiction, October 1956.

Plot[edit]

In a war-ravaged future, humanity has come to depend on an alien species known as the Biltongs, possessed of the ability to replicate items identically - although the copies only last for a short time. When the Biltongs become decrepit, the humans are forced to rediscover the skill of building.

Interpretation[edit]

Bradley Robert Arthur Congdon makes the case that Pay for the Printer is a critique "of the culture of consumerism and mass production." [1] Congdon connects Dick's story to a left wing analysis of the failings of capitalism, writing that, "it is not much of a stretch to see that a Marxian idea of alienation is at work, where mankind is so alienated from its labour that the possibility of survival is hamstrung."[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Congdon, Bradley Robert Arthur. "Prophet of the Postmodern: The Problem of Authenticity in the Works of Philip K. Dick" Thesis. University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, 2008. Available at http://library2.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-08072008-112806/. pg 10
  2. ^ Congdon, Bradley Robert Arthur. "Prophet of the Postmodern: The Problem of Authenticity in the Works of Philip K. Dick" Thesis. University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, 2008. Available at http://library2.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-08072008-112806/. pg 10-11

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