In Ellison’s satirical story, the world has become obsessed with punctuality and rigorous time-keeping, all under the watchful eye of the Ticktockman, who has the power to shorten lifespans as a punishment to those who cannot keep up with a scheduled society. The titular Harlequin works to undermine these carefully regimented routines, and in doing so, threatens the very fabric of the world, for such totalitarian societies rely heavily on threats and punishments to maintain conformity amongst the ranks. The Harlequin’s disruptions are whimsical rather than violent—showering factory workers with brightly coloured jellybeans, for example—and it is exactly this quality which so frightens the Ticktockman, and undermines his power and authority.
“Even in the cubicles of the hierarchy, where fear was generated, seldom suffered, he was called the Ticktockman. But no one called him that to his mask. You don’t call a man a hated name, not when that man, behind his mask, is capable of revoking the minutes, the hours, the days and nights, the years of your life. He was called the Master Timekeeper to his mask. It was safer that way.”
First published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine, 1965, and collected in Paingod and other Delusions, 1965, with various later editions. Also available in World’s Best Science Fiction: 1966, Ace Books, 1966)
A Personal Anthology 