Let There Be Light (Clarke short story)

Let There Be Light is a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1957^[1] in a Scottish Sunday newspaper. It was subsequently published in Playboy magazine, and was collected in Tales from Ten Worlds. It takes place in the same fictional setting as the stories in the collection Tales from the White Hart.

Plot

As with the other White Hart stories, the plot is a tall tale told by Harry Purvis, one of the regulars at the White Hart pub. He intervenes in a discussion of the depiction of "death rays" in pulp science fiction. Most show a visible beam, when visible light is harmless. However Harry insists he knows of a death ray that was quite visible.

Harry relates the tale of Edgar Burton, a stockbroker who retires to the Yorkshire moors with his younger wife, who quickly becomes bored with country life. Edgar soon realizes that she is having an affair, but is content to carry on with his hobby of astronomy. However he eventually feels that he is being made a fool, and is irritated that her midnight returns from her trysts are ruining his observing sessions as her car headlights shine on the house from a sharp bend in the road. Edgar concocts a scheme to kill his wife by building a searchlight and dazzling her with it as she negotiates the bend, which is next to a cliff. In due course he carries out the plan and sees the car plunge over the cliff.

Edgar is shocked to learn that he has killed the lover instead of his wife. The couple were about to elope and boyfriend was on his way to break the news. Edgar goes insane with guilt and is institutionalized, leaving his wife in charge of his considerable fortune.

Purvis ends the story by claiming that his "death ray" is real: it was a ray, and it killed somebody.

External links

Let There Be Light title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

References