Fair Game

Although I enjoyed reading “Fair Game” by Phillip K. Dick, there were many things that were unsettling to be about the story, such as the protagonist’s attitude and the story’s quick and open-ended ending. It bothered me that the protagonist continued to mention how he thought he was special because he was chosen specifically by the extra-terrestrial life form that was following him. The protagonist, Douglas, proclaims, ”he had been singled out, separated from the pack because of his superior ability and training” and later goes on to say, “if only I were just an ordinary person, without skill, without special ability.” These statements left me unsettled due to the character’s arrogant tone. Perhaps here the author is commenting on man’s obsession with pride and self-worth. Dick uses Douglas’s dialogue to illustrate how man can believe they are better than someone else, even though man’s judgment usually lacks substantial evidence. The other part of the narrative that left me unsettled was the fact that the story was very open-ended. At the end of the story, Douglas is being lifted from the ground onto a “flat, shiny surface” that “looked almost like a frying pan.” When I came to the end of this story, I was in a state of confusion. I wondered where Douglas had gone, what was going to happen to him, and ultimately if what had happened to Douglas was even real. Though this story is most often identified as sci-fi, there are obvious fantastic elements that call the reader’s rationality into question.