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The Fun They Had Summary in English by Isaac Asimov

The Fun They Had by Isaac Asimov About the Author

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was bom in Petrovichi, Russia. His family immigrated to the United States in 1923. He was a Professor of Biochemistry at Boston University and a popular writer of science-fiction. He published his first novel, Pebble in the Sky, in 1950. An immensely prolific author who penned nearly 500 books, he published influential sci-fi works like I, Robot and the Foundation trilogy. In fact, Isaac Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre.

The Fun They Had Introduction to the Chapter

Science Fiction is a genre of fiction in which the stories are largely based on science and technology of the future. It is important to note that science fiction has a relationship with the principles of science. Stories involve laws or theories of science which are partially true and partially fictitious. The plot creates situations different from those of both the present day and the known past. Science fiction texts explain what effect new discoveries, happenings and scientific developments will have on us in the future. These stories are often set in the future, in space, on a different world, or in a different universe or dimension.

Isaac Asimov’s The Fun They Had is a science fiction story which first appeared in a children’s newspaper in 1951 and was reprinted in the February 1954 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as the collections Earth Is Room Enough (1957), 50 Short Science Fiction Tales (1960), and The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973). According to Asimov, the story The Fun They Had, written as a personal favor for a friend, became “probably the biggest surprise of my literary career”. He reported that it had been reprinted more than 30 times with more being planned. “Why? I don’t know why.” It is about computerized home schooling, and what children miss out on by not being in school together.

The Fun They Had Summary in English

The Fun They Had is a story set about 150 years in the future; to be precise on 17 May 2157. The writer describes a time in the future when every child has his own machine teacher and schools like today do not exist anymore. There are telebooks, in which words move across the screen. Considering that this story was written in 1951 before personal computers were around, it is amazing how well the author predicts the future. We are not living in 2155 yet, but it is already possible for us to read digital books on handheld devices. Perhaps in the future, children really will be taught by mechanical teachers!

On that particular day, Tommy, a thirteen-year-old boy, finds a ‘real book’ in the attic of his house. The book, which is really old, has been printed on paper and its pages are yellow and crinkly. He and his friend, eleven- year-old Margie, take a look at the book together. Both Margie and Tommy are amazed by the book that is different from the books they are accustomed to. The book has words that are fixed on the pages and do not move as on a screen. Books like these don’t exist anymore. Margie recalls her grandfather had once told her about stories being printed on paper in the time of his grandfather. Tommy thinks of the book as being impractical because, unlike their telebooks that have a million books and are good for plenty more, the book would have to be thrown away after one had finished reading it.

Tommy tells Margie that the book is about school, but Margie, who hates school and cannot understand why someone would write about it, is disappointed. She has been having problems with learning geography from her ‘mechanical teacher’. It teaches Margie, gives her exercises and asks her questions, all in a special room in her own house. It can also calculate the marks in no times. Margie hates the slot where she has to insert her homework or test papers.

Lately, her dislike for her school has intensified because the geography sector of her mechanical teacher is malfunctioning. It has been giving her test after test in geography and she has been doing worse and worse.

Her mother has sent for the County Inspector to look at the mechanical teacher and to rectify the error. The Inspector takes the mechanical teacher apart and finds that Margie is not at fault for her poor performance.

The geography sector in the teacher has been fixed at a speed that is too fast for the little girl. Margie has been hoping he wouldn’t know how to put it together again, but he knows how to repair it all right, and, after an hour or so, the Inspector is able to set the speed to Margie’s level. This leaves Margie disappointed as she had hoped her teacher would be taken away for some time and she would be relieved of the trouble of taking so many tests.

Tommy, who has been reading the book, tells Margie that the book is not about their kind of school which has mechanical teachers with a TV, but rather, it was about the schools hundreds of years ago when students had a person as a teacher who taught the girls and boys, gave them homework and asked them questions. School was a special building the children went to. And they learned the same thing if they were the same age.

At first, Margie does not understand how a person could be a teacher and how the students were taught the same thing because her mother says that education must fit each child’s mind.

Nevertheless, she wants to read more about it. They haven’t even read half the book, when Margie’s mother reminds her it is time for school. Though Margie’s schoolroom is right next to her bedroom, she has to study at regular hours because her mother considers it right to study at fixed timings every day.

Margie goes to the schoolroom in her house, where the mechanical teacher is already on because the lessons are always at regular hours. As the mechanical teacher teaches the addition of proper fractions, Margie is lost in her thoughts about the working of schools in old times. Though at first Margie had been skeptical about the notion, by the end of the story she believes that the kids must have enjoyed going together to school. They must have had fun going to the same school, studying the same things and being able to help one another.

The Fun They Had Title

The title of the story The Fun They Had has been derived from the closing words of the story. They reflect the opinion of Margie, a young girl in the year 2157, about the students centuries ago. In 2157, children are taught individually by mechanical teachers who are adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl they teach and each kid is taught differently. Their “school” is just another room in the house. They have no interaction with a human teacher or with other children during school hours. Tommy finds the book about schools, centuries ago when students had a person as a teacher who taught the girls and boys. School was a special building, the children went to. And they learned the same thing if they were the same age. Margie thinks about the old school system and how much fun the children must have had, learning and spending time together.

The Fun They Had Setting

The setting of the story is 17 May 2157. Two children, thirteen-year-old Tommy and eleven-year-old Margie are at Margie’s house looking at a ‘strange’ book Tommy found in his attic. Their life is different from that of children today. Children no longer have a person as a teacher, nor do all children go to a school house and learn the same thing with other children of the same age. In 2157 children are taught individually by mechanical teachers who are adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl they teach and each kid is taught differently. Children read telebooks and have no interaction with a teacher and little interaction among themselves.

The Fun They Had Theme

The main theme in The Fun They Had by Isaac Asimov is that of education. Specifically, the story deals with the future of education which will become increasingly computerized. As a result, students will become estranged from social interactions.

By contrasting the schools of present day with those expected to exist in the twenty second century, the writer draws the conclusion that present day schools are much more fun. Schools in the future schools will impart knowledge but students will miss out on the fun they can have while going to the same school, studying the same things, adjusting with the same teacher and being able to help one another. The author’s message is one of warning against the dangers of computerized homeschooling which deprives children of the benefits of the personal interaction between students and teachers, which helps them develop social skills.

The Fun They Had Message

The author’s message in the story is that education is not merely accumulation of information. Computerised homeschooling can certainly help gain information in a better way, but present day schooling is much more than acquisition of facts. It is a life-experience where children interact with others, have fim and leam the values of sharing and caring. If in the future schools have mechanical teachers attuned to specific needs of every student and books available only in electronic form, our children will be deprived of the privilege of interaction with human teachers and other students and developing of social skills.

The Fun They Had Characters

Margie

Margie is an eieven-year-old girl who lives in the twenty second century. She is taught by a mechanical teacher in the comfort of her home. The mechanical teacher is highly personalised and adjusted to suit her level. Yet, Margie dislikes her school. Probably this is because she is confined to a room and has to study alone at a fixed time every day.

Margie is a curious girl. When she finds a real book in Tommy’s hands, she is eager to know about its contents.

In fact, she wants to read the book herself. However, she is surprised that the book describes a school of the yesteryears which had real men as teachers and classes were conducted in a special building. She is fascinated to leam that in those times the students of the same level studied together.

Margie seems to be a friendly and social girl. She concludes that the old system was much better as the students had so much fun when they studied together and could help each other, rather than studying in isolation.

Tommy

Tommy, a thirteen-year-old, plays an important role in the story as he is the one who finds a book about the schools from yesteryears. The entire action of the story begins after that. He, too, like Margie represents the students of the future era when education will be mechanised and automated.

Tommy is very curious. He has gone looking in the attic and found the old book. As soon as he discovers it, he starts reading it. However, he does not like the idea of printed books which, according to him, are a waste once they have been read. Compared to Margie, he is not as sensitive to the contents of the book.

He has an air of superiority—he snubs Margie when she expresses her ignorance about old schools.

However, Tommy is warm and friendly and he does believe in sharing. When Margie’s mother calls her to attend school he assures her that they can finish the book later.

The Fun They Had Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Who are Margie and Tommy? How old are they?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy are students from the year 2157. Tommy is a thirteen-year-old boy and Margie is an eleven-year-old girl. Both are neighbours and good friends who like to spend time together like children of their age usually do.

Question 2.
What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer:
On 17 May 2157 Margie recorded in her diary about the discovery of a “real” book by Tommy. It was a very old book printed on paper and had yellow and crinkly pages, unlike the telebooks of the twenty-second century.

Question 3.
Where had Tommy found the book? How was it different from the books Margie and Tommy were used to?
Answer:
Tommy found a real book in the attic of his house. The book was at least two hundred years old so pages had turned yellow and crinkly. It was a different from the books Margie and Tommy were used to because they had teiebooks to read from while the book Tommy found was printed on paper.

Question 4.
Had Margie ever seen a real book before? Did she know about such books?
Answer:
No, Margie had never seen a book before till she saw the one Tommy found in the attic of his house. She had only heard about books from her grandfather who himself had not seen any. He too had heard about a printed book from his own grandfather.

Question 5.
What things about the book did Margie and Tommy find strange?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy read telebooks where words moved on a screen. Books were stored in a machine that could store a million books on it and still be good for plenty more. So they found it strange that the words in the printed book remained fixed unlike the moving ones on their television screen.

Question 6.
“What a waste!” What is Tommy referring to as a ‘waste’? Is it really a waste? Why/Why not?
Answer:
Tommy thought the paper book he found in his attic with words that were printed and did not move was a waste. Once a book had been read, it became useless and must be thrown away because it had the same content.

YES: Printed books are a waste as telebooks are more accessible. They can be stored in a television and read again and again. They occupy very little space as compared to the printed books and need not be discarded once they have been read. In addition, paper books consume resources like trees from which paper is made and water that is consumed in the process of making paper.

NO: Printed books are not a waste as they can be read by many people over and over again and can be preserved for future generations. Moreover, the data in a telebook can be lost or stolen, but in a printed book, the data printed on a page remains for ever.

Question 7.
What do you think a telebook is?
Answer:
A telebook is a book made available in text on a television screen. Many books can be stored and read in this manner. (The telebook is the author’s imagined version of an e-book as this story was written in 1951, long before their advent.)

Question 8.
Did Margie like the printed book? Why/Why not?
Answer:
Margie was really excited to see the ‘real’ book Tommy found as it was unlike the telebooks the two were used to reading. It was such a novelty that she recorded the discovery in her diary. As she turned the yellow and crinkly pages of the book with Tommy, she found it quite fascinating, unlike Tommy who found it a waste. In fact, she was really reluctant to stop reading the book and go to study. She wanted to read the book again after school.

Question 9.
Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Answer:
Margie’s school was a room next to her bedroom in her house. No, she did not have any classmates as her school was a customised school, set up exclusively for her according to her level and needs.

Question 10.
What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have? How were they different from teachers in the book?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers, which were large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. There was a slot where they had to put homework and test papers and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks in no time. Margie and Tommy’s teachers were different from the teachers in the book as the teachers in the book were men and not mechanical teachers.

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Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 12

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 12

The narrator explains his aim in publishing this book. He criticizes travellers who swerve from the truth. The narrator clears himself from any sinister aims in writing. The method of planting colonies is described. His native country is commended. The right of the crown to the countries described by the narrator is justified. The narrator takes his last leave of the reader, proposes his manner of living for the future, gives good advice, and concludes.

Gulliver claimed that absolutely everything he had written was absolutely true. In fact, he thought it was a disgrace that so many travellers embroidered or exaggerated their published accounts of their trips around the world. Gulliver’s motto was: ‘Though Fortune has made Sinon wretched, she has not made him untrue and a liar.’ In other words, though Gulliver was dejected about having left the land of the Houyhnhnms, he still refused to lie about any of his experiences. The purpose of writing his memoirs was not to gain fame, but to share the superior example of the Houyhnhnms with the world.

Gulliver was told that it was his duty, as a subject of England, to give an account of his voyages to the Secretary of State of England, upon his return. This would enable England to conquer the lands. But Gulliver feared that the conquest of the countries he had visited would not be easy or profitable. The Lilliputians were too small to be worth it, the Brobdingnagians, too large and dangerous, and the Laputians, literally out of reach. While the Houyhnhnms were totally inexperienced with war, the English shouldn’t invade them.

The Houyhnhnms were smart, strong, and loved their country. So they would figure out how to defend it quickly enough. In fact, Gulliver wished that the Houyhnhnms would come over and teach all of their virtues to the European Yahoos. A further reason why Gulliver didn’t want the Europeans to conquer the lands he had seen was that they didn’t seem to want to be conquered. Taking their lands against their will would be cruel.

At the end of his tale, Gulliver was sitting in his garden thinking; he was instructing his family as best he could. He was applying the lessons of the Houyhnhnms to instruct the Yahoos of his own family. He even forced himself to look in a mirror every day to get used to his human face and those of the people around him. He mourned the treatment of the Houyhnhnms in England. After five years at home, Gulliver was able to let his wife sit at dinner with him—at the far end of the table, though he still kept his nostrils stuffed with lavender or tobacco so as to not be bothered by the smell.

What he really hated was, not the bad qualities that Yahoos couldn’t seem to escape, but the pride they felt in themselves even though they were so disgusting, diseased, and detestable. The Houyhnhnms, who possessed good natures, were not proud, because they were born as good fellows and could not help but be good. They didn’t need to congratulate themselves. The only way that Gulliver would ever be able to sit in the company of an English Yahoo again was if they avoided at least this one sin: the sin of pride.

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Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 11

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 11

The narrator’s dangerous voyage is described. He arrives at New Holland, hoping to settle there, but is wounded with an arrow by one of the natives. He is seized and carried by force into a Portuguese ship. The narrator arrives in England.

It was 15 February 1714. Gulliver’s Master and his family watched Gulliver from the shore until he floated out of sight. The sorrel nag called out to Gulliver to take care of himself. Gulliver hoped to find the island uninhabited, but still with enough resources to support him as he really didn’t want to return to the Yahoos. On the fourth day, he saw people—naked and sitting around a fire. He jumped into his canoe and rowed away. He was struck by a poisoned arrow in his knee, which left a scar.

Gulliver tried to escape the natives’ darts by paddling out to sea. Having nowhere else to go, he returned to another part of that same island. He saw a sail in the distance and thought of going toward it, but then decided he would rather live with the barbarians than the European Yahoos, so he hid from the ship. Coincidentally, the Portuguese ship sent a long boat to the island for water.

The seamen discovered him after landing near his hiding place. They questioned him, and Gulliver trembled in fear but spoke to the sailors in their own language. He told them that he was a ‘poor Yahoo banished from the Houyhnhnms’. The sailors realized he was a European but did not understand what he meant by the terms Yahoos and Houyhnhnms. He spoke with neighing intonations which made the sailors laugh. They could not understand his desire to escape from their ship. He was horrified to be a prisoner of the Yahoos.

Gulliver told the sailors that he was from England. Since the English and the Portuguese were not at war, he hoped they would not be mean to him. The sailors brought Gulliver aboard their ship, which was heading for Lisbon in Portugal. Gulliver met the captain, Don Pedro de Mendez, who wanted to know where Gulliver was from. He was so distressed to be back among the Yahoos that he would not tell the captain—in fact, he tried to throw himself into the sea to swim away, but he was caught before he could. Don Pedro thought Gulliver was lying at first, as he started talking about Houyhnhnm land. Gulliver was confused as it had been many years since he had heard a lie. Don Pedro made Gulliver promise that he would not try to kill himself on the way home. Gulliver promised, and he also tried not to talk endlessly about how much he hated people now.

Yet, the captain of the ship, Pedro de Mendez, was kind. He treated Gulliver hospitably, offering him food, drink, and clothes. They arrived at Lisbon where Pedro de Mendez did all that he could to make Gulliver comfortable. He insisted that Gulliver stay at his own house and borrow some clothes. After ten days in Portugal, Don Pedro told Gulliver that it was his responsibility to go back home to his family. It would be impossible for Gulliver to find a solitary island to maroon himself on, but in his own home, he could be as much of a hermit as he wants to be. Gulliver grudgingly agreed, and headed back to his home.

Gulliver was happily received by his family, for they had given him up for dead. But the reunion was a disaster for Gulliver. He was filled with disgust and contempt for them. He could not bear the sight or smell of his Yahoo-like wife and children. It was only after some time that he could bear to eat with them.

In fact, it had been five years since he got back to England, and he could still barely stand to be in their presence. To restore his mind, he bought two horses and conversed with them for four hours each day.

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Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 10

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 10

The narrator’s economy and happy life, among the Houyhnhnms, his great improvement in virtue by conversing with them and their conversations are described. The narrator is given notice by his master that he must depart from the country. He falls into a swoon from grief; but submits. He contrives and finishes a canoe with the help of a fellow-servant, and puts it to sea.

Gulliver was absolutely content living in the Land of the Houyhnhnms. A room had been made for Gulliver, and he had furnished it well. He also made new clothes for himself and settled into life with the Houyhnhnms quite easily. Gulliver had several friends among the Houyhnhnms. At times, his master allowed him to remain when his friends came. At others, he was taken along when his master went visiting. He began to think of his friends and family back home as Yahoos.

Gulliver’s admiration of the Houyhnhnms led him to imitate their gait and gesture, which had now grown into a habit. In fact, he was proud that the Houyhnhnms sometimes said that he trotted like a horse.

However, one morning, he was called by his master and told that others had taken offense at his being kept in the house as a Houyhnhnm. They had voted that Gulliver must go away. They were worried that such a smart Yahoo might encourage the other Yahoos to rise in rebellion and kill the Houyhnhnm’s cattle. Gulliver’s master had no choice but to ask Gulliver to leave. Gulliver was heartbroken to hear that he was to be banished, so much so, that he actual fainted.

However, he accepted his fate and built a canoe with the help of the sorrel nag. Gulliver explored the coast with his telescope and found a small island, about three and a half miles away, which he could reach in his boat. Finally, when the day came for Gulliver to leave, Gulliver’s master and his whole family came to see him off. Gulliver cried and kissed the hoof of his master and departed from the island.

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Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 9

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels Part 4 Chapter 9

A grand debate, held at the general assembly of the Houyhnhnms and its resolution are chronicled. The learning of the Houyhnhnms, their buildings, their manner of burials, the defectiveness of their language is described.

The Houyhnhnms held one of their four-year grand assemblies about three months before Gulliver left the land of the Houyhnhnms. His master attended the Grand Assembly, where the horses went back to an old debate: whether or not to extinguish the Yahoos from the face of the earth. It was argued that they were the filthiest, noisiest and the most deformed animals which nature ever produced and they had to be watched constantly to keep them from mischief.

Also, Yahoos were not native to the land. A man and a woman had arrived one day, washed up on the shores of the island. Their numbers had increased to such an extent that the Houyhnhnms, to get rid of this evil, had hunted them down and killed the elders and tamed their children. Their evil nature had made all other animals hate them. They had not been exterminated because they were made to work for the Houyhnhnms. It was suggested that Yahoos be replaced by asses as work force.

Gulliver’s master spoke up and agreed with the speaker that the two original Yahoos came from over the-sea, because he had found one (Gulliver) who was a much better specimen of the Yahoo kind. Gulliver’s Master told his fellow horses that, in Gulliver’s land, Houyhnhnms were the servants and Yahoos were the rational animals.

He also informed them about the human practice of castrating horses to make them less aggressive. He suggested that the Houyhnhnms tried that method on young Yahoos of their own country. This way, the Houyhnhnms could make the Yahoos more docile, which meant they wouldn’t need to kill them all. In time, this would put an end to the whole species, without destroying life and, in the meantime, Houyhnhnms must breed asses, which, as they are in all respects more useful animals.

This was what Gulliver’s master told him of what passed in the Grand Assembly. He hid one fact which related personally to Gulliver and which resulted in misfortune in his life.

Gulliver then described further aspects of the Houyhnhnms’ society. The Houyhnhnms didn’t write anything down; they relied on oral records for their history. They also didn’t have much in the way of astronomy, except measures of months and years. They created excellent poetry about friendship and in praise of their athletes.

They had a sound knowledge of medicinal herbs, built simple houses and, usually, lived about seventy or seventy-five years, dying of old age, unless they had some kind of accident. They felt no sorrow about death, accepting it as a routine element of life. They had no writing system and no word to express anything evil. All of their words for something bad were connected to the Yahoos. So, a poorly built house was ‘ynholmhmrohlnw Yahoo’ and a stone that cut their feet, ‘ynlhmndwihlma Yahoo’.