Peritonitis

Publication(s)

• First publication
  • Tomorrow's Alternatives, ed. Rodger Elwood, 1973
• Wolfe collection(s)
  • Endangered Species

Wolfe's comments from the Introduction to Endangered Species

There was no comment about this story in the introduction.

Summary

The epic saga of a colony of skin-disease germs. Since their host has just died, this is their last story.

Analysis

On his Orpheus-like journey down into the stomach to rescue his beloved, the hero germ Deepdelver convinces the stomach germs that the proper way to feed is to eat from the host. This causes the peritonitis (stomach infection) which kills the host.

• Sources of quotes
• Meanings of names
• References to other works
• Theories about what happens under the surface, what the narrator isn't telling us, who the narrator is and when and why s/he is telling the story, what the whole thing "means," etc.
  If there are multiple or competing theories, each one should be given a name with a three-bang (!!!) header; if the page begins to get out-of-hand from the size of these, as could happen in a few cases, they should be shuffled off to their own page(s).
• Etc.

Unresolved Questions

• Was it A or was it B, or was it X or Z?
• Was it he or was it she, or was it you or me?
• Who dunnit?
• Did the Star Child really start WWIII at the end of 2001?

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