The Cold Equations By Tom Godwin Summary

The short story,“The Cold Equations” by Tom Godwin explains the theme of think before you act. To begin with, Tom Godwin portrays the theme of think before you act when Marilyn stowaways in the stardust and unknowingly something has to be done with her so the spaceship to save fuel,”Is that it? she asked at last. Just that the ship doesn't have enough fuel?” on page 5 This quote helps me prove my theme because it shows that she obviously didn’t think before she went into the ship. Second, another reason why the theme of think before you act is shown in the story,” the cold equations” is on page when Barton says ,”These little ships are always given barely enough fuel to reach their destination and if you stay aboard your added weight will cause

For myself, the most exciting part to read in the short story "The Cold Equations" was in the very first part when the pilot knew that someone was hiding in the supply closet and he knew he was "not alone" the first two words of the story had me hooked. From here on he continued explaining that a tiny white hand on a gauge let him face the reality that a person who was not supposed to be on the tiny EDS ship was hiding in a supplies closet.At this point, you are as scared as the pilot as to what is in there especially with this line, "There was something in the supplies closet across the room, it was saying, some kind of a body that radiated heat." Consequently, the pilot has a dialogue with himself about the expectations of an EDS pilot and

‘We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead.’ This quote is said by Beyoncé, a famous female singer who embraces the women she is. Even though gender inequality is present for women in both societies, there are many differences between the expectations of females in the 1930’s to females today.

In the short story “The Cold Equation” by Tom Godwin, the author describes the internal struggle of one pilot and what he has to do and what he wants to do but ultimately knows that he must compromise his moral to do what he must. To start off, the story begins by explaining what life is like out in the Frontier, how dangerous it is and how harsh rules have to be because it is so dangerous. The story is about a pilot of an Emergency Dispatch Ship who finds a stowaway on his ship and debates what he will do; he knows that he must kill her otherwise seven other people will die along with her, including him. He does everything he can to delay the outcome and to possibly change it but ultimately knows the girl must die.

then woman do. In terms of class privilege it is not hard to see that people

Martin Luther King Jr. once said “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” However, I will not be silent. Sexism is a thing of the past, present, and future. Women have never been seen as equal to men. This idea and concept affect how women carry out their lives. Women may act different or speak different just based on society's thoughts about their gender. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and in today’s society it is clear that because of women’s perceived “weakness”, men now dominate women legally, physically and financially.

There are countless stories that one can read and forget about the next day, however this is not one. The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin is such a moving story with so many incorporated themes that leave an impacting message in the reader's life. I really enjoyed the writing style of Tom Godwin. He starts with a phrase that gets the reader's attention immediately and gets us wondering why him not being alone is such a big deal. After this he gives us the answer and some background information about the frontier and jumps right into the story again. There’s a lot of intensity to start with, but when we are introduced to Marilyn the author gives us some relief and the way he does this is by using literary language such as similes and metaphors and sarcasm. I love this contrast because it doesn't stay at one level if not it changes in a way that is entertaining for the reader and it allows us to want to read more. Not only this, but Tom Godwin uses a lot of situational and dramatic irony to add to the intensity and story. Another reason this story stands out is because of all the theme that is incorporated and not only the fact that there are many things but the technique used to incorporate the theme. Many stories use the characters difficult situations or a symbol to introduce theme. On the other hand, Tom Godwin uses situations that the reader can relate to and not only creates emotion within the characters, but within the reader. Some themes I came across were: your actions

The story "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin, displays the theme, There are consequences for every action. The story begins by taking us inside an Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) in mid-flight, when the ship’s gauges alert the pilot that a stowaway is hiding aboard in the small closet. The pilot immediately infers it is a grown male stowaway, whom the pilot orders out of the closet as he lay his hand on his blaster gun. To his utter surprise, the stowaway who emerges is a young female, causing him to immediately realize the inevitable end to the situation at hand, as the protocol for stowaways was very harsh; upon discovery of such person, the stowaway would be dispersed immediately into space leading to imminent death. The EDS was only permitted

The short (not very short) story, “The Cold Equations” by Tom Godwin evinced the thematic tension between selfishness and the law, with the law taking the victory over any act upon it. To summarize the story, “The Cold Equation” by Tom Godwin, you would start off in a closet inside the huge ship, Stardust, that is moving through space. A teenage young girl is caught hiding off inside that closet and doesn’t know the price she has to pay for sneaking onto that ship to see her brother just one year earlier (this action can be labeled as selfishness). Most of the story rambles on with the teenage girl and the man who finds her there with the job of eliminating the intruder according to the law of that spaceship. The tension and suspense

Changing perspective is the act of altering the way someone interprets an action, object, or person. Adjusting perception can allow one to overcome hardships and understand the community around them. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, characters discover the true background behind those who are outcasts in society. Likewise, in Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat, characters ascertain that their long-term enemies were truly innocent. In “The Cold Equations” by Tom Godwin, the pilot of the Emergency Dispatch Ship, Barton, unearths the horror of the stowaway as he discovers her motives. In “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?” by Tim O’Brien, Paul Berlin changes his viewpoint of another character to remain sane in the battlefield of Vietnam. Seeing things from another angle allows characters to grow socially and act responsibly against challenges.

The short story “The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin illustrates the theme the love for something can either push you to doing the extreme or not doing anything at all. In the beginning of the story we learn about Barton who is the Pilot of an EDS that this story is placed on. He finds a stowaway on his ship, a girl,Marilyn, who is trying to see her brother again, so the procedure for stowaways is simple: they die. As the story goes on Barton and the girl argue about if it is right for her die. continuing, Barton calls the base that her brother is at for her to say one last goodbye, unfortunately he is not there at the moment.

Throughout women’s life, they are faced with many stereotypes and situations which dictate how they act and how people see them. A problem with this is that, by thinking that women follow certain stereotypes, society starts to believe that women will only act a certain way, and they don expect them to do masculine things such as being a police officer or

In the short story, “The Cold Equation” by Tom Godwin, the author provides the details needed to infer that a man is working against his own emotions and lack of power, in order to help an innocent young girl; in the end, after the man makes a little gesture of care, the girl dies for what she knew wasn’t what everyone wanted, but needed to happen.

One thousand years go by and an abundant amount of people still view women in a stereotypical type of way. On the opposing view, if women did not overstretch the slightest of things, this wouldn’t be such an enormous issue. Women may be overreacting to what the media has to say about them. It is not affecting everybody but a vast majority of successful women from continuing to moving forward said Marianne Schnall. Important to realize, women are capable of doing jobs men can do. Such jobs as being an engineer, physician, mechanic, lawyer and even top notch business women! Up to the present time there is an ongoing public debate on women suffering from double standards. If it makes a female feel threatened or belittled than it may be

Throughout history and today, we women are constant victims of stereotyping from our society. Certain “rules” have to be followed and certain “ideal” women images have to be kept. We are raised in a way to fill certain position where the society wants us to be and as a result, the opportunities are always limited for us and ideas of our importance in the society are diminishing. Even though women gained some independence, where women can work and take various position in society, the society’s idea of typical role of women never seem to change.