the portable phonograph by walter van tillburg clark

this is not one of my favorite stories but i think it's also good. the story is very interesting. it makes us think if such will happen in the future when the world is almost devoid of humanity and things that we hold so dear to our human hearts. i think greed was dominant in the story. doctor jenkins undeniably exemplified it. he was very hesistant to bring out his phonograph, one of the very few remnants of a glorious, civilized past. he really was very protective of it. but one cannot exactly persecute him for having his bouts of paranoia. i think that was justifiable. given the number of people left (from six billion down to four!) it's normal to presume that these people will eventually become more savage in looking out for themselves. earth was stripped of most of the things it boasted, and the competition among these people became more intense. it's like a survival of the fittest. there prevailed a sense of loss and uncertainty and, consequently, the urgency to carve your own niche, to once again provide yourself a blanket of security. and indeed, desperate times call for desperate measures. and i think doctor jenkins understood that. it's really possible for the men to have the tendency to want what he possessed. after all, there weren't anything like those anymore. and the saying desperate times call for desperate measures also applies to doctor jenkins who so ardently clung to his lead pipe for dear life. also, i think doctor jenkins' possessions like the books and the phonograph stood for the beautiful things in life: music and literature. art. coolness!