And miles to go before I sleep



And miles to go before I sleep

The short story “And miles to go before I sleep” by William Nolan in 1958 deals with the end of the space trip of 41-years-old Robert Murdock. After 20 years in space he wants to return to his hometown, Thayersville, Kansas, where his parents wait for him.

Although he writes mails to his parents, he doesn’t tell them that he suffers of an alien illness which – as he is told by a doctor – cannot be healed and will cause his death even before reaching earth. For satisfying his parents who aren’t very healthy either, he sends out a machine with his look and his knowledge as a replacement for himself on earth.

Write an ending

But there were doubts in Robert Murdock’s subsystem for ethical questions: Was it good to fool everybody? Just for fulfilling the last wish of one person who is now drifting through space? And what would happen if anybody discovered the truth about Robert? What if any space ship happened to find the corpse and returned it to earth? What if a doctor had a look at Robert and found out that he is no human? Or if Robert had a technical problem, who could he talk to?

Robert knew that even if he talked to one person only, the whole town would know very soon. So he decided to say the truth right where he was, next to his rocket in front of everybody. He went to a microphone and started to talk: “Dear friends. I’ve got a very sad message for you.”

Analyse Murdock’s motives for the plan he has developed

I cannot see any other motive for him to replace himself besides his feelings for his parents.

What is your opinion about this plan? Can it be justified?

On the one hand it is a very good aim to make the parents’ last days easier for them, but on the other hand Robert Murdock lies to his parents. So the question whether Murdock’s plan can be justified or not depends on the question whether it is legitimate to lie for helping others or not. This question cannot be answered with general validity, but when realizing that Robert’s parents would not live very long with that lie, I think Robert’s plan is legitimate. No parents should live longer than their children.

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