"The Father-Thing" is a 1954
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
short story by American writer
Philip K. Dick. The story, told through third-person narration but focusing on the child, concerns the replacement of a boy's father with a replicated version. At first, only the child sees the difference and has to recruit other children to help him reveal the truth. The story is typical of Dick's short stories of the period.
The premise was widely used in fiction of the time. Works like ''
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in Superscope and in the film ...
'', especially popular in the 1950s, expressed the fear that people are not what they seem to be. Dick's story is typically more personal because it is not about the invasion of a community, but of a family.
''
The Father-Thing'' is the US
Underwood-Miller (1987) and UK title of the third collected volume of Dick's short stories, retitled ''
Second Variety
"Second Variety" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in '' Space Science Fiction'' magazine, in May 1953. Set in a world where war between the Soviet Union and United Nations has reduced most of th ...
'' after "Second Variety" was moved from Volume 2 by
Citadel
A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
In ...
.
Adaptations
In 2017, writer-director
Michael Dinner
Michael Dinner (born May 20, 1953) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter for television.
Biography
Prior to his TV career, Dinner was a singer-songwriter and recording artist for Fantasy Records, where he released two albums, ''The ...
adapted the story as an episode of the TV series ''
Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams'', starring
Greg Kinnear
Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''As Good as It Gets'' (1997).
Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including ''Sabrina'' (199 ...
as the Father.
See also
* "
The New Mother"
*
Human disguise
A human disguise (also human guise and sometimes human form) is a concept in fantasy, folklore, mythology, religion, literature, iconography, and science fiction whereby non-human beings such as gods, angels, monsters, extraterrestrials, or rob ...
*
Capgras delusion
Capgras delusion or Capgras syndrome is a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member (or pet) has been replaced by an identical impostor. It is named after Joseph Capgras (1 ...
*
The Hanging Stranger
"The Hanging Stranger" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, originally published in December 1953 in the magazine ''Science Fiction Adventures (1952 magazine), Science Fiction Adventures''. It has been reprinted in s ...
*
Folie à Deux (The X-Files)
"Folie à Deux" is the nineteenth episode of the fifth season of American science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. It was written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Kim Manners. The episode originally aired on May 10, 1998, in the Unite ...
References
External links
*
1954 short stories
Short stories by Philip K. Dick
Science fiction horror novels
Alien invasions in fiction
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