“The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end.
To Henry Bemis it meant something far different—a thing to appreciate and enjoy.”
We can only imagine how science fiction fans felt in 1953 when reading this story, written before the now famous Twilight Zone episode aired on television; and how it sparked many science-fiction fans imagination while reading this story for the first time.
“Time Enough at Last,” a short story from the 1953 Magazine If, Worlds of Science Fiction is a very familiar story- especially for those people who are Twilight Zone fans. While reading this story, it is almost impossible to not imagine Burgess Meredith as Henry Bemis throughout this tale.
Time Enough at Last is about Henry Bemis, who works at the East Side Bank and Trust. Henry is very frustrated, the thing he would like to do most of all in his life is read; and nobody will allow him this pleasure.
As the story states, “Henry had no time of his own.” His employer Mr. Carsville, and his wife, Agnes just would not let him read. “
Henry made an excuse to his employer that he needed to get some larger bills in the vault for a customer; but in fact, he was going to read a small magazine he had on him.
As Henry was reading, he was disturbed by a loud noise, and a rumbling within the vault. Part of the ceiling as well as the ground became distorted around him. Henry ventures out of the vault, and notices the wreckage surrounding him.
The author is very good at providing clues about what happened without telling you what happened. The imagery in this story is very vivid. It is a story that also gets to the point to where the author wants to lead the reader within the narrative.
For example, as Henry goes out of the vault, the author states that Henry senses no normal activity of life as quoted,
“There was no whine of sirens, no shouting, no running, just an ominous and all-pervading silence.”
Before Henry ventured out of the vault, there was one clue left for the reader; it was in the title of the article Henry was reading, “The New Weapons and What They’ll Do To YOU.”
We can only envision in our minds eye what kind of devastation Henry saw around him.
Henry’s illustrates how disturbing his new surroundings are to him. He describes seeing things that seemed to be once human as “huddled lumps of unpleasantness.”
Questions are left for the reader to ponder. What happened when the vault shook? What is Henry seeing as he gets out of the vault? Where is he walking to?
Of course, most fans of the famous Twilight Zone episode remember how terrible Henry’s eyesight was. As the author describes about the character of Henry Bemis, his parents thought him to be a dumb child in the beginning, but later discovered from the eye doctor that his manor was because of his terrible eyesight.
As Bemis was stepping out of the vault; he never stopped worrying about his glasses; they had fallen off his face, but they were still together.
Bemis took a moment to think about contacting his eye doctor Dr. Torrance to have a spare pair made; but as Bemis would realize he will never see his doctor again.
There are some nice set ups that lead to some interesting payoffs later in the story. The author knows how to blend humor with reality.
As Henry comes forth from within the vault, and witnesses the destruction around him; his thoughts try to act as if life will still be normal.
During this time, Henry does not believe that his boss Mr. Carsville is dead; but instead believes that he will be available to help him. Of course, that is not the case; for Henry sees Mr. Carsville’s arm peeking out from under a large piece of marble ceiling. Mr. Carsville will never speak his condescending opinions to Mr. Bemis again.
As Henry Bemis starts to realize his lonely fate; he cuts his leg on a car fender. With blood running down his leg he stumbles upon the front of the Public Library.
For so long people tried to stop Henry from reading. His wife, Agnes only wanted to watch television, and to have them do activities with her friends. Agnes did not want Henry to be distracted from her, and the things she wanted them to do- with something as silly as reading.
Here is Henry Bemis in front of a place with countless books. For a moment he worries that all the books were destroyed. Lucky for Henry (besides surviving a nuclear explosion) that many of the books survived, and are ready to be read.
For in that moment Henry’s joy knew no end; he went from Hell to Heaven. But it turned into Hell again. For when Henry sat upon an unstable shelf, while holding one of his beloved books the shelf then collapses, Henry falls, and his glasses tumbles off his face.
Henry claws the ground searching frantically for his thick glasses only to feel broken pieces of glass of what were his eyeglasses. The story ends with the author leaving the reader with a sad image of the lonely Henry Bemis as stated,
“He stared down at the blurred page before him.
He began to cry.”
This is truly one of the best short stories written, and one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes. The television show really captured the humor, and irony of the story.
Rod Serling and Lyn Venable wanted their stories to act as warnings so that we can steer clear of any scenarios that may lead us in these destructive paths.
Nuclear war was something that people around 1953 was worried about. If you watch the Twilight Zone, it was obvious how the creator Rod Serling was fascinated by future dystopian scenarios where mankind can go from a stable civilization to only be destroyed or warped by the very hands that made it.
Other lessons we can take from this story are- you never know what you have until it is gone. We do not take the time to appreciate what we have for what we have can be taken away from us within an instant. It is important to enjoy what is in our life, and to try do what we need, and want to do before our time in this existence runs out.
Time Enough at Last
Author: Lyn Venable
Release Date: June 1, 2010 [EBook #32633]
Public Domain
If Magazine: Worlds of Science Fiction: January 1953
Featured image from Pixabay, TheDigitalArtist