Examination Day

“Examination Day” is a dystopian science fiction short story by science fiction and mystery writer Henry Slesar. “Examination Day” was originally published in Playboy magazine in February 1952. In the short story, a young boy, Dickie Jordan, is given an intelligence test by the Government shortly after his 12th birthday. His high score turns out to be a liability: Dickie’s parents are devastated learn that the regime has killed their son because of his high intelligence. “Examination Day” explores the dangers of conformity and authoritarianism through the perspective of an innocent young boy. The story exemplifies the Golden Age of Science Fiction, which stretched from the 1930s to the early 1960s. Like the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut (1961), and the novel A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L’Engle, “Examination Day” reflects Cold War-era anxieties about scientific progress, Soviet-like totalitarian regimes, and American suburban conformity. Its main themes are The Moral Cost of Enforced Conformity, Innocence as a Lens for Dystopian Horror, and Intelligence as a Liability in Authoritarian Regimes.

Henry Slesar (1927-2002), who was born to two Jewish Ukrainian immigrants in New York City, wrote prolifically across multiple genres, including short stories, television mysteries, and soap opera scripts. Slesar also worked in advertising, eventually founding his own advertising firm. During World War II, he served in the US Army Air Force, which influenced his outlook on modern American culture. He published his first short story, “The Brat,” in 1955 and continued to publish science-fiction short stories in magazines like Fantastic Science Fiction, Super-Science Fiction, and Amazing Stories. 

Slesar was known for his crime fiction, particularly his contributions to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. “Examination Day” incorporates elements of classic crime fiction, including shifting perspectives and unexpected plot twists. Slesar won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1960 for his first novel, The Gray Flannel Shroud (1958). He also won an Emmy for his work on The Edge of Night, a mystery crime soap opera, which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1975. The short story “Examination Day” was adapted into a 1985 episode of The Twilight Zone by the same name. 

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of coerced drug use and child death. 

Summary

“Examination Day” begins with a third-person omniscient narrator who provides the background for the action before shifting to the third-person limited perspective of Dickie Jordan.

In the opening paragraph, the narrator recounts that Mr. and Mrs. Jordan did not tell their son, Dickie, about “the exam” until his 12th birthday. The topic makes them anxious. 

The action begins on Dickie Jordan’s 12th birthday and is described from his third-person limited perspective. That morning, Dickie is excited to celebrate and open his presents. However, his excitement is dampened when he notices that his mother is crying and his father seems upset. He overhears them talking about “the exam” and asks about it. His mother informs him that he will have to take a “Government Intelligence test” (Paragraph 5) the following week but that he should not worry about it. 

His father sends him to read his comics, but Dickie is distracted by the rain outside. Dickie asks his father about the rain, what causes it, and how it “makes the grass grow” (Paragraph 9). To Dickie’s surprise, his father answers brusquely and discourages him from asking questions. 

After a subdued celebration, Dickie asks his father about the distance between the Earth and the Sun. His father states, incorrectly, that the Sun is “five thousand miles” (Paragraph 16) away. 

About a week later, Dickie is at the breakfast table when he notices his mother crying again. His father informs Dickie that it is his exam day and that “it’s nothing to worry about” (Paragraph 20). Mr. Jordan explains that Dickie will be asked to drink a truth serum and answer the Government’s questions. Despite his strange tone, his father tells Dickie that everything will be fine and that they will celebrate after his exam. 

Dickie goes with his father to the Government building. They check in with a clerk and go to a waiting room, where other fathers are waiting there with their sons. When Dickie’s name is called, he goes to an exam room alone. 

Dickie drinks the truth serum, which makes him sleepy. An attendant then leads Dickie to an armchair with a microphone attached. The man leaves, and a recording begins to play. 

In the final paragraph, the third-person omniscient narrator returns. At 4 o’clock that afternoon, Mr. Jordan answers a phone call from a Government worker. He is informed that Dickie has been killed because “his intelligence quotient is above the Government regulation” (Paragraph 54). Mrs. Jordan sees Mr. Jordan’s distressed face and, realizing what has happened, begins to cry. The Government worker asks what arrangements they would like to make for Dickie’s funeral.