The Jigsaw Man
"The Jigsaw Man" | |
---|---|
Short story by Larry Niven | |
Country | America |
Language | English |
Genre(s) | Science fiction |
Publication | |
Published in | Dangerous Visions |
Publication type | anthology |
Publisher | Doubleday |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Publication date | 1967 |
"The Jigsaw Man" is a science fiction short story by American writer Larry Niven, set in the Known Space universe. The story was first published in Harlan Ellison's anthology Dangerous Visions, and is included in Niven's collections All the Myriad Ways and Tales of Known Space.
Plot summary
In the future, criminals convicted of capital offenses are forced to donate all of their organs to medicine, so that their body parts can be used to save lives and thus repay society for their crimes. However, high demand for organs has inspired lawmakers to lower the bar for execution further and further over time.
The protagonist of the story, certain that he will be convicted of a capital crime, but feeling that the punishment is unfair, escapes from prison and decides to do something really worth dying for. He vandalizes the organ harvesting facility, destroying a large amount of equipment and harvested organs, but when he is recaptured and brought to trial, this crime does not even appear on the charge sheet, as the prosecution is already confident of securing a conviction on his original offense: repeated traffic violations.
Reception
Algis Budrys criticized the story's "false basic premise", stating that although Niven implied that the story's premise could occur soon, despite widespread shortages terminally ill people's blood was not being extracted. He concluded that "Niven looks a little ridiculous this time ... [it] is neither good lecture nor good story".[1]
In early 2023, the State of Massachusetts considered a bill to allow Massachusetts prisoners to donate organs and/or bone marrow to hospitals - with some speculation this would be encouraged, in exchange for earning time off their sentence.[2] As of May 2024,[update] the bill is still in committee.[3]
References
- ^ Budrys, Algis (April 1968). "Galaxy Bookshelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 155–163.
- ^ Medsger, Matthew. "Early release from prison for organ donations? Maybe in Massachusetts".
- ^ An Act to establish the Massachusetts incarcerated individual bone marrow and organ donation program (Bill H.2333 [HD.3822]). Massachusetts: 193rd General Court.
External links
- "The Jigsaw Man" title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- v
- t
- e
| |
Ringworld |
|
---|---|
Man-Kzin Wars1 | |
Fleet of Worlds2 |
|
- The Magic Goes Away (1976)
- The Magic May Return (1981)
- The Burning City (2000)
- Burning Tower (2005)
- The Seascape Tattoo (2016)
Jerry Pournelle
| |
Moties3 |
|
---|---|
Heorot4 |
|
- Dream Park (1981)
- The Barsoom Project (1989)
- The California Voodoo Game (1992)
- The Moon Maze Game (2011)
- A World Out of Time (1976)
- The Integral Trees (1984)
- The Smoke Ring (1987)
- The Flying Sorcerers (1971)
- The Descent of Anansi (1982)
- Fallen Angels (1991)
- Building Harlequin's Moon (2005)
- Bowl of Heaven (2012)
- All the Myriad Ways (1971)
- The Flight of the Horse (1973)
- Inconstant Moon (1973)
- A Hole in Space (1974)
- Convergent Series (1979)
- Limits (1985)
- N-Space (1990)
- Playgrounds of the Mind (1991)
- Bridging the Galaxies (1993)
- Rainbow Mars (1999)
- Scatterbrain (2003)
- The Draco Tavern (2006)
- Stars and Gods (2010)
- The Best of Larry Niven (2010)
- "At the Core"
- "The Borderland of Sol"
- "Death by Ecstasy"
- "The Defenseless Dead"
- "Flash Crowd"
- "Flatlander"
- "Grendel"
- "The Handicapped"
- "The Hole Man"
- "The Jigsaw Man"
- "The Magic Goes Away"
- "Neutron Star"
- "Procrustes"
- "The Return of William Proxmire"
- "The Soft Weapon"
- "What Good Is A Glass Dagger?"
- "The Slaver Weapon" (Star Trek: The Animated Series)
- "Downstream" (Land of the Lost)
- "Hurricane" (Land of the Lost) with David Gerrold
- "Circle" (Land of the Lost) with David Gerrold
- Collections by Niven or others
- With Edward M. Lerner
- Set in the CoDominium series
- With Steven Barnes
This article about a science fiction short story (or stories) published in the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e