46 pages • 1-hour read
Button, Button: Uncanny Stories
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Themes
Hope in the Wake of Destruction
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes descriptions of physical abuse, graphic violence, death, and racism.
Hope is a powerful force that can persist despite the most harrowing and insurmountable struggles, and Matheson’s stories are designed to celebrate this idea in a myriad of ways. Although his narratives portray dark images of dystopia, nuclear fallout, and destruction, many of his characters retain a certain resilience and sense of hope that cannot be destroyed. In some cases, this attitude helps the protagonist to gain the necessary strength to solve their problems directly, but in other narratives, optimism is used as a stopgap measure to ward off disheartening circumstances—or worse, to ignore the harsh reality of dystopian surroundings.
The most optimistic version of this theme can be found in “Dying Room Only,” for Jean finds herself in a particularly difficult situation but does not let her fear show. Instead, she does everything necessary to find and rescue her husband, and she accomplishes her goal despite her terror at being isolated amongst strange and dangerous men. However, most of Matheson's narratives take on a much darker tone, as in “Pattern for Survival,” in which the protagonist, Shaggley, writes science fiction novels and then publishes and buys them himself. While this may seem like a pointless, empty endeavor, it represents his concerted effort to keep himself motivated amid a ruined world. Because there is no one around to read, critique, or praise his work, Shaggley takes on all these positions himself, giving himself different aliases and doing all of the physical work of mailing, printing, selling, and buying the book. Thus, what begins as an exercise in absurdism becomes a way to keep hope alive in impossible circumstances.
Finally, in “’Tis the Season to Be Jelly,” Luke exhibits unconditional and unyielding optimism despite the stark reality of a world ravaged by nuclear war. Like Shaggley, he lives amongst the wreckage of a decimated environment, but Luke’s life and future prospects are far more dire. He and everyone around him are rapidly disintegrating, piece by piece, and the atmosphere itself has become essentially unlivable. In this context, Luke’s buoyant optimism takes on a note of absurdity that is just as unrealistic as Shaggley’s, for even as his grandfather warns him that there is no point in trying to build a life or get married, Luke runs off to do just that, ignoring the reality of his own rapidly disintegrating body. With the closing scene, which features Luke skipping joyfully away with his new bride-to-be, Matheson simultaneously celebrates the undaunted nature of the human spirit even as he predicts its inevitable end.
Ultimately, the purpose of including hope in stories as dark as these is to suggest that even in the most trying of circumstances, hope can still prevail in some form, even if that hope appears to serve no practical purpose beyond the fact of its existence. The author therefore argues that even when surrounded by ruin, people adapt, carry on, and find things to look forward to. Because Matheson grew up during the 20th century and lived through World War II and the Cold War, his work collectively reflects the belief that inspiration can be found even in the darkest of times.
The Devastating Effects of Selfishness
In many of his short stories, Matheson explores the various manifestations of selfishness, portraying it as a universal human trait and critiquing the extent to which different people allow it to influence their actions. The most dramatic result of selfishness that is depicted in Uncanny Stories is nuclear war and its aftermath. Several of the stories, such as “Pattern for Survival” and “’Tis the Season to Be Jelly,” take place in this dystopian reality, and Matheson uses these particular narratives to imply that war is often the result of selfish intentions. In the case of nuclear war, such devastation can cause the near-permanent destruction of everything and everyone that exists. The author therefore indicates that the extreme level of selfishness required to engage in nuclear war is unmatched by any other.
On a more personal level, selfishness also takes the form of a character flaw that plagues several figures, such as Greg and his exploitation of Carrie, Dr. Gheria’s need for violent revenge on his wife’s illicit lover, Cora’s desperate desire for a child, and Paal’s parents’ willingness to use their child as a test subject. In each of these instances, selfishness leads the characters to engage in behavior that not only harms others but often themselves as well. For example, the abusive Greg flies into a rage and deals his wife a killing blow, but he also has to live a life of paranoia and torment when she reveals the manner of his demise with her last breath. This particular narrative carries an undertone of poetic justice as the much-abused Carrie gains an indirect form of revenge against her tormentor. In other cases, however, the perpetrator never acknowledges their transgressions as wrong, as when Dr. Gheria arranges the death of his closest friend while risking the health of his wife, or when Cora adopts Paal and changes him utterly with her well-meaning love, not realizing that she is destroying the essence of who he is.
Paal’s own situation further complicates the theme, for selfishness essentially made him what he was. He was telepathic because his parents had him in order to experiment on him. They did not love him as he deserved to be loved; instead, they treated him as a subject of science. In Cora’s well-meaning but misguided hands, Paal then undergoes a period of extreme pain and torture as his telepathic abilities are forced from his mind, and he therefore becomes a victim of someone else’s selfishness twice over.
Yet again, other characters convey the idea that even mundane forms of selfishness can result in ruin. In Norma’s case, her desire for trips to Europe, a fancy cottage, and a child compel her to disregard the rights of all other people in order to pursue her goal, and she seeks out a monetary reward even with the knowledge that her choice will cost someone their life. Ironically, the true depths of her selfishness are demonstrated by the fact that her own husband is a stranger to her, rendering him the perfect candidate to be destroyed when she presses the fateful button. When her husband is killed, she loses the chance of getting what she wants anyway, and it is clear that her selfishness is ultimately self-destructive. Thus, in each story, Matheson establishes that the selfish whims of humans can have consequences that range from the personal to the universally catastrophic.
The Dilemmas of Marriage
Many authors explore the complex dilemmas of marriage, and in Matheson’s work, this theme takes on dark undertones that often take the form of betrayal and murder. Notably, most of the stories in this collection feature a married couple, though the dynamics governing each couple differ, as does the weight of their marriage on the story’s plot and purpose. In Matheson’s literary world, marriage is always portrayed as a difficult road fraught with ethical dilemmas.
In several of these narratives, one spouse or the other illustrates the internal battle that precedes the decision to rationalize a transgression or a betrayal of trust. Just as Norma chooses to condemn a stranger (her husband) to death in order to gain $50,000, failing to consider the possible implications of her choice, Frank, the protagonist of “A Flourish of Strumpets,” trades his dignity and morality for a night with a sex worker, thereby jeopardizing his marriage. Like Norma’s immoral decision, Frank’s also backfires, as the conclusion of the novel suggests that his wife will be told of his infidelity, likely causing him to lose everything in the end.
The stories in the collection contain a range of marriage dynamics, from the violence and abuse demonstrated in “No Such Thing as a Vampire” and “Girl of My Dreams,” to the fairly ordinary or even benevolent examples of marriage showcased in “Dying Room Only” and “’Tis the Season to Be Jelly.” In stories like Luke’s, marriage is a source of joy and motivation, but in stories like Carrie’s, marriage becomes a source of abuse and suffering: a form of imprisonment from which death provides the only escape. Carrie and Greg’s marriage is based on an extremely toxic power dynamic, and Greg’s callous, vindictive nature mirrors that of Dr. Gheria, whose love turns to hatred after she betrays him. In both stories, the male protagonist is willing to use and deceive his partner for his own selfish gain. Thus, Matheson delivers a complex and pointed critique of marriage and the consequences of various relationship dynamics.
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