The Shrinking Man: Difference between revisions
m WP:CHECKWIKI error fixes + genfixes using AWB (7092) |
→Plot summary: Expanded more details of the impact on character's life, and note on the author's inspiration for the book |
||
| Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
==Plot summary== |
==Plot summary== |
||
While on holiday, |
While on holiday, the protagonist (Scott Carey) is exposed to a cloud of radioactive spray. Shortly thereafter he accidentally ingests insecticide, and the bug spray acts as a catalyst for the radiation, causing his body to shrink at a rate of approximately 1/7th of an inch per day. A few weeks later, Carey can no longer deny the truth: not only is he losing weight, he is also shorter than he was and deduces, to his dismay, that his body will continue to shrink. |
||
The abnormal deceleration of his body initially causes friction in his marriage and family life because he loses the respect his family has for him because of his diminishing physical stature. Ultimately, as the shrinking continues, it begins to threaten Carey's life as well; at 1 and a half feet tall, he has a noted battle with the family cat that drives him outdoors. Shrinking to only 1 1/2 inches, a swallow attacks him in his garden and drives him through a window into the cellar of his house. Although he survives on the cheese left over in a mousetrap for a while, his size is eventually reduced to less than half an inch, and he is forced to engage in a victorious battle with a black widow spider that towers over him. |
|||
As Carey continues shrinking, he realizes that his original fear that he would shrink into nothing is incorrect; that he will continue to shrink but will not disappear as he originally feared, and utters his famous closing line: "I still exist!" |
|||
==Inspiration== |
|||
Author Richard Matheson says he was initially inspired to write the story from a scene in the comedy film [[Let's Do It Again]]. "I had gotten the idea several years earlier while attending a movie in a Redondo Beach theater. In this particular scene, Ray Milland, leaving [[Jane Wyman]]'s apartment in a huff, accidentally put on [[Aldo Ray]]'s hat, which sank down around his ears. Something in me asked, `What would happen if a man put on a hat which he knew was his and the same thing happened?' Thus the notion came."<ref>Stephen King's Danse Macabre, Chapter 9, Pg. 201</ref> |
|||
== Sources == |
== Sources == |
||
Revision as of 20:14, 14 February 2011
| Author | Richard Matheson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
Publication date | 1956 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | 0312856644 |
The Shrinking Man is a novel by Richard Matheson published in 1956. It was adapted into a motion picture called The Incredible Shrinking Man in 1957 and then remade for a 2010 film to star Eddie Murphy. The novel was retitled The Incredible Shrinking Man in later editions.
Plot summary
While on holiday, the protagonist (Scott Carey) is exposed to a cloud of radioactive spray. Shortly thereafter he accidentally ingests insecticide, and the bug spray acts as a catalyst for the radiation, causing his body to shrink at a rate of approximately 1/7th of an inch per day. A few weeks later, Carey can no longer deny the truth: not only is he losing weight, he is also shorter than he was and deduces, to his dismay, that his body will continue to shrink.
The abnormal deceleration of his body initially causes friction in his marriage and family life because he loses the respect his family has for him because of his diminishing physical stature. Ultimately, as the shrinking continues, it begins to threaten Carey's life as well; at 1 and a half feet tall, he has a noted battle with the family cat that drives him outdoors. Shrinking to only 1 1/2 inches, a swallow attacks him in his garden and drives him through a window into the cellar of his house. Although he survives on the cheese left over in a mousetrap for a while, his size is eventually reduced to less than half an inch, and he is forced to engage in a victorious battle with a black widow spider that towers over him.
As Carey continues shrinking, he realizes that his original fear that he would shrink into nothing is incorrect; that he will continue to shrink but will not disappear as he originally feared, and utters his famous closing line: "I still exist!"
Inspiration
Author Richard Matheson says he was initially inspired to write the story from a scene in the comedy film Let's Do It Again. "I had gotten the idea several years earlier while attending a movie in a Redondo Beach theater. In this particular scene, Ray Milland, leaving Jane Wyman's apartment in a huff, accidentally put on Aldo Ray's hat, which sank down around his ears. Something in me asked, `What would happen if a man put on a hat which he knew was his and the same thing happened?' Thus the notion came."[1]
Sources
- http://www.nndb.com/films/719/000073500/
- http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/24721/The-Incredible-Shrinking-Man/overview
- http://www.amazon.com/Shrinking-Man-S-F-Masterworks-Richard-Matheson/dp/0575074639
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050539
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249596/
- http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/richard-matheson/shrinking-man.htm
- http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/info_4643.asp?BSID=148768759
- ^ Stephen King's Danse Macabre, Chapter 9, Pg. 201