We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick

In the short story, “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,” the storyline takes place in Chicago, Illinois. This story employs mainly two genre conventions that make it a science fictional reading. The first one is called future science fiction. This is shown in the text because of the tropes of calling the Earth as “Terra” and the futuristic drug called “narkidrine”. Spy Fiction, or Spy-Fi is also another genre convention because of essential tropes such as suspicion and uncertainty. These two genre conventions project the fallacies of the American Government, which Dick uses to persuade the audience into believing that the text is science fiction. Moreover, blending these two distinct genres together makes the storyline much more amusing to the audience because of the supernatural characteristics mentioned above. In the short story, “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,” Phillip K. Dick utilizes satire, diction/neologisms, and ethical appeal in order to raise awareness of government interference in daily life for the audience.
Future science fiction is one of the few subgenres that relate to the short story because of the elements that make this true. Science of the near future and the advancement of technology are one of the two characteristics that categorize the text as science fiction. It is shown throughout the text through various sections such as the fabricated drug “narkidrine” and other false words. The purpose of the drug is to implant a false memory into the patient, which creates false beliefs, provides proof that the even took place, indicating the perplexity between reality and fantasy. Towards the middle of the reading, Mr. Quail has the problem of distinguishing these two as if he were to have the medical condit...

... middle of paper ...

...ings. This can also be said with Spy-Fi due to the traits of suspicion and the intrusion of the government, making the argument debatable as well for the same reason. But in the end, it’s best to live a great memory and remember it for as long as it can be remembered rather than being confused between what is true and what is false to the extent that it cannot be taken anymore.

Works Cited

Cavallari, Dan, and Bronwyn Harris. "What Is Spy Fiction?" WiseGeek. Conjecture, 01 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Dick, Philip K. We Can Remember It for You Wholesale. New York, NY: Carol Pub. Group, 1990. Print.
Mayo Clinic Staff. "Schizophrenia." Definition. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 24 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
McNeil, Hayden. The Anteater's Guide to Writing & Rhetoric. Irvine: Composition Program, Department of English, UC Irvine, 2014. Print.