The Egg (Weir short story): Difference between revisions
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== Plagiarism Claim == |
== Plagiarism Claim == |
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In November of 2021 Jeromie Gentry accused Andy Weir of plagiarizing The Egg, claiming that they wrote most of God's dialog in the short story. Gentry states that they posted the essay Infinite Reincarnation |
In November of 2021 Jeromie Gentry accused Andy Weir of plagiarizing The Egg, claiming that they wrote most of God's dialog in the short story. Gentry states that they posted the essay Infinite Reincarnation<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://charmonium.com/infinite-reincarnation|title=Infinite Reincarnation}}</ref> to the MySpace religion and philosophy forum and that Weir commented on the post asking them about their views of pantheism and reincarnation. Gentry claims Weir took their responses and parts of the essay and turned it into the dialog for The Egg. |
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== In popular culture == |
== In popular culture == |
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Revision as of 14:32, 11 October 2022
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| "The Egg" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Andy Weir | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Galactanet |
| Media type | Online |
| Publication date | August 15, 2009 |
"The Egg" is a short story published by American writer Andy Weir,[1] originally published on his website Galactanet on August 15, 2009.[2] It is Weir's most popular short story, and has been translated into over 30 languages by readers.[3] The story follows a nameless 48-year-old man who discovers the "meaning of life" after he dies.[4]
Summary
The story is about the main character, who is referred to as "you" (in the second person), and God, who is "me" (in the first person). You, a 48-year-old man who dies in a car crash, meets God, the narrator, who says that you have been reincarnated many times before, and that you are next to be reincarnated as a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD. God then explains that you are, in fact, constantly reincarnated across time, and that all human beings who have ever lived and will ever live are incarnations of you. You remark about being Abraham Lincoln, Adolf Hitler, and Jesus. God adds that you were also once John Wilkes Booth, every Holocaust victim and every person who followed Jesus.
God explains that in fact there are other godlike beings elsewhere, and that you too will one day become a god. The entire universe was created as an egg for the main character (all of humanity), and once you have lived every human life ever, you will be born as a god. The reason God created the universe was for the main character, you, to understand this point: "Every time you victimized someone...you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you."
History
In a 2015 interview with the Craftsman Founder Podcast, Weir discussed his motivation for writing The Egg, among other topics. In the interview, Weir stated that he "just made it up". According to Weir, "I banged it out in 40 minutes and posted it, and that was it."[5]
Plagiarism Claim
In November of 2021 Jeromie Gentry accused Andy Weir of plagiarizing The Egg, claiming that they wrote most of God's dialog in the short story. Gentry states that they posted the essay Infinite Reincarnation[6] to the MySpace religion and philosophy forum and that Weir commented on the post asking them about their views of pantheism and reincarnation. Gentry claims Weir took their responses and parts of the essay and turned it into the dialog for The Egg.
In popular culture
The rapper Logic used "The Egg" as inspiration for his album Everybody released in 2017, re-imagined in the interlude track "Waiting Room" and featuring Neil DeGrasse Tyson as God.[7][8]
See also
References
- ^ Hadi, Shana E. (2017-10-17). "Cracking open Andy Weir's 'The Egg'". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
- ^ "The Egg". Goodreads. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ^ Weir, Andy (2014). "Creative Writings of Andy Weir". Galactanet.
- ^ "StackPath". movemequotes.com. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
- ^ #24 Writing The Martian and The Egg with Andy Weir, retrieved 2022-09-29
- ^ "Infinite Reincarnation".
- ^ Pearce, Sheldon (2017-05-12). "Logic: Everybody". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
- ^ "Logic's "Waiting Room" An Outstanding Reimagining of A Classic Short Story". Inside the Rift. Archived from the original on 2017-05-15. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
External links
- The Egg (full text)
- The Egg - A Short Story on YouTube by Kurzgesagt
- The Egg Theory on YouTube by Aperture
- Infinite Reincarnation (full text)
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