All You Zombies: Difference between revisions
Content added Content deleted
(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.AllYouZombies 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.AllYouZombies, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
=== Provides Examples Of: === |
=== Provides Examples Of: === |
||
* [[Everyone Calls Him Barkeep]] - The narrator is only referred to as "the barman" until the end of the story {{spoiler|when he reveals his real name: ''Jane.''}} |
* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]] - The narrator is only referred to as "the barman" until the end of the story {{spoiler|when he reveals his real name: ''Jane.''}} |
||
* [[Foreshadowing]] - The barman becomes ''very'' annoyed at the song "My Own Grandpa." |
* [[Foreshadowing]] - The barman becomes ''very'' annoyed at the song "My Own Grandpa." |
||
* [[Fun With Acronyms]] - The same "elite military service corps" is referred to at various points in history as the '''W'''omen's '''E'''mergency '''N'''ational '''C'''orps, '''H'''ospitality & '''E'''ntertainment '''S'''ection, the "Space Angels" or '''A'''uxiliary '''N'''ursing '''G'''roup, '''E'''xtraterrestrial '''L'''egions, and the '''W'''omen's '''H'''ospitality '''O'''rder '''R'''efortifying & '''E'''ncouraging '''S'''pacemen. |
* [[Fun With Acronyms]] - The same "elite military service corps" is referred to at various points in history as the '''W'''omen's '''E'''mergency '''N'''ational '''C'''orps, '''H'''ospitality & '''E'''ntertainment '''S'''ection, the "Space Angels" or '''A'''uxiliary '''N'''ursing '''G'''roup, '''E'''xtraterrestrial '''L'''egions, and the '''W'''omen's '''H'''ospitality '''O'''rder '''R'''efortifying & '''E'''ncouraging '''S'''pacemen. |
||
| Line 16: | Line 16: | ||
* [[Hermaphrodite]] |
* [[Hermaphrodite]] |
||
* [[Incest Is Relative]] - and ''how!'' See also [[One Degree of Separation]] below. |
* [[Incest Is Relative]] - and ''how!'' See also [[One Degree of Separation]] below. |
||
* [[Luke You Are My Father]] / [[Luke I Am Your Father]] - {{spoiler|and mother.}} |
* [[Luke, You Are My Father]] / [[Luke, I Am Your Father]] - {{spoiler|and mother.}} |
||
* [[Most Writers Are Writers]] - The Unmarried Mother writes short stories for magazines. |
* [[Most Writers Are Writers]] - The Unmarried Mother writes short stories for magazines. |
||
* [[My Future Self and Me]] |
* [[My Future Self and Me]] |
||
| Line 23: | Line 23: | ||
* [[One Degree of Separation]] - The various characters are connected by {{spoiler|''[[My Own Grandpa|zero]]''}} degrees of separation. |
* [[One Degree of Separation]] - The various characters are connected by {{spoiler|''[[My Own Grandpa|zero]]''}} degrees of separation. |
||
* [[Ouroboros]] - The bartender, quite understandably, wears an Ourboros ring. |
* [[Ouroboros]] - The bartender, quite understandably, wears an Ourboros ring. |
||
* [[Parental Incest]] - Again, all part of the story's [[Timey |
* [[Parental Incest]] - Again, all part of the story's [[Timey-Wimey Ball]]. |
||
* [[Screw Yourself]] |
* [[Screw Yourself]] |
||
* [[Stable Time Loop]] - The barman already knows the recruitment will work. {{spoiler|After all, he remembers the other side of it.}} |
* [[Stable Time Loop]] - The barman already knows the recruitment will work. {{spoiler|After all, he remembers the other side of it.}} |
||
| Line 30: | Line 30: | ||
* [[Time Paradox]] |
* [[Time Paradox]] |
||
* [[Time Travel]] |
* [[Time Travel]] |
||
* [[Timey |
* [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] - Don't think too hard on the paradox of the story. You ''will'' start bleeding from the nose. |
||
* [[Title Drop]] - In the closing lines. |
* [[Title Drop]] - In the closing lines. |
||
* [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] - As with all Heinlein's works. The latest date given in the story is 1993. |
* [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] - As with all Heinlein's works. The latest date given in the story is 1993. |
||
Revision as of 17:40, 9 January 2014
 |
"I know where I came from, but where did all you zombies come from?" |
 |
"--All You Zombies--" (1959) is a short story by Robert A. Heinlein that presents to the reader an interesting time paradox. "The Unmarried Mother," as a bar patron calls himself, unloads his life story onto a willing barman. The barman, however, knows more about The Unmarried Mother than he could ever guess.
At roughly a dozen pages, "--All You Zombies--" provides a provocative story and incorporates many of Heinlein's favorite themes.
As the story contains a twist ending, it is recommended you read it for yourself before reading the associated tropes.
Provides Examples Of:
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" - The narrator is only referred to as "the barman" until the end of the story when he reveals his real name: Jane.
- Foreshadowing - The barman becomes very annoyed at the song "My Own Grandpa."
- Fun With Acronyms - The same "elite military service corps" is referred to at various points in history as the Women's Emergency National Corps, Hospitality & Entertainment Section, the "Space Angels" or Auxiliary Nursing Group, Extraterrestrial Legions, and the Women's Hospitality Order Refortifying & Encouraging Spacemen.
- No doubt inspired by the Real Life Women Airforce Service Pilots and their naval counterparts, Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service.
- Help Your Self in The Future
- Hermaphrodite
- Incest Is Relative - and how! See also One Degree of Separation below.
- Luke, You Are My Father / Luke, I Am Your Father - and mother.
- Most Writers Are Writers - The Unmarried Mother writes short stories for magazines.
- My Future Self and Me
- My Own Grandpa - In possibly the most convoluted, mind screwing way possible.
- Noodle Incident - The Mistake of '72.
- One Degree of Separation - The various characters are connected by zero degrees of separation.
- Ouroboros - The bartender, quite understandably, wears an Ourboros ring.
- Parental Incest - Again, all part of the story's Timey-Wimey Ball.
- Screw Yourself
- Stable Time Loop - The barman already knows the recruitment will work. After all, he remembers the other side of it.
- Tangled Family Tree - It's a very tangled family tree, considering that there's only one person in it.
- Take That: Jack Chalker claimed he wrote Downtiming the Night Side to address the questions this story raised but failed to answer.
- Time Paradox
- Time Travel
- Timey-Wimey Ball - Don't think too hard on the paradox of the story. You will start bleeding from the nose.
- Title Drop - In the closing lines.
- Twenty Minutes Into the Future - As with all Heinlein's works. The latest date given in the story is 1993.
- Wrong Genetic Sex: The protagonist starts out as an intersex female and...it gets complicated. Her actual degree of intersexualization approaches true hermaphrodism and isn't biologically possible, at least for normal humans.
- You Already Changed the Past