Eyes of Dust by Harlan Ellison

 



Eyes of Dust by Harlan Ellison - the shortest of the seven stories collected in I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, published in 1967.

As a prelude to his tale possessing qualities of fable, Harlan Ellison wrote: “Because, friends and neighbors, we live in a Time of Beautiful People. Gorgeous is revered. We can’t stand anything even remotely ordinary; it has to be young and lovely. So you are not where it’s at, if you aren’t pretty.” And Harlan definitely didn’t think he was where it’s at when he was an adolescent: “I used to think I was ugly. Short, pale, scrawny, braces, glasses, I sucked my thumb, I had pimples.”
 

Turning to this short-short story, we’re on the planet of Topaz. “There was nothing but beauty on Topaz. In the city of Light there was nothing but the glorious presentation of perfection and elegance. It was a vital culture, rich in thought, complex in design but dedicated to the beauty of life, and the reflection of that beauty in all things material.”  However, on the outskirts of the city of light, something’s amiss, a being who is ugly, the son of a blind man and moley woman. Conflict and drama ensue.

What I found especially fascinating about Harlan’s tale is the use of irony. There’s many descriptions of beauty, such as “all pastels: all blues and pinks and soft greens, that blended into one blinding impression of flow and swirl,” along with all the beautiful people on Topaz doing beauty things…but are we talking true beauty or mere glamour?

I recall one philosopher noting the difference between beauty and glamour, how true beauty has depth - we can return to a work of beauty again and again and again and have a richer experience each and every time. But this is not the case with glamour – once we get the initial hit of something glamorous, that’s all there is. Thus, for example, the difference between the beauty of a portrait by Modigliani and a slick photo in a fashion magazine.

Toward the end of the story, Harlan writes, “But Person had eyes of dust, and the eyes of dust saw what could not be seen, and the soul within was the sweet soul of the visionary.” 

When making judgements of what’s beautiful and what’s ugly, we would be wise not to be too quick, not to make snap judgements, for who knows, even a kid who’s short, pale, scrawny, has braces, wears glasses, sucks his thumb and has pimples might turn out to be a literary artist of great profundity.