Read Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” and compare its ideas and claims to the world depicted in this story. How is Harlan Ellison extending what Thoreau says about authority and resistance? How does what he says differ from Thoreau?

Examine the Harlequin’s relationship with Pretty Alice. How does the futuristic society in the story envision gender dynamics and familial or romantic relationships?

The story refers to the “gods of the passage of time.” How is the society’s obsession with time like a religion? What does this suggest about the Harlequin?