-- Discussion Of Chapter 1

I lit my pipe.
"A good story", said Bunny. "Good for you, Neill old chap."
David frowned.
"Of course you made them all stone so's they wouldn't stink, didn't you?" I nodded and he went on. "Not a bad idea, but silly".
"How silly?" I asked.
"'Cos a cloud like that would make animals into stone too".
"David's right" said Michael. "I want a story that is right from a science point of view."
"But it is right from a scientific point of view", I said.
"How?"
"A cloud could attack human beings without harming animals".
"How?"
"Well", I began, "er -- that is -- er --"...
"Knew you were wrong", said Michael.
"Wrong be blowed", said I. "Take a disease like measles. Do cats take measles? Do rabbits take infantile paralysis? Ever seen a cow with Bright's disease? If animals don't take human diseases, why should they take human clouds?"
"But there wasn't a cloud", said Evelyn.
"O.K.", I said firmly; "and if there wasn't a cloud there will be no story."
Gordon grinned.
"Neill's just annoyed 'cos we criticise his story", he said. "Let's all agree that there was a cloud".
"A completely scientific, full blooded, Aryan cloud", I stipulated.
They nodded agreement and I promised to continue the story on the following Sunday night.

On to Chapter 2

Discussion of chapter 1 of 'The Last Man Alive' by A. S. Neill. This page is copyrighted.