The Stars My Destination: Difference between revisions

{{quote| ''Gully Foyle is my name<br />

''And Terra is my nation<br />

''Deep space is my dwelling place<br />

''And death's my destination'' }}

It is the twenty fifth century. An age when humanity can [[Teleporters and Transporters|jaunte]] across the world, where telepaths are, if not common, then not unheard of. An age where humanity has spread across the solar system-- asystem—a golden age that no one knows they are living in. An age when conflict between the Inner Planets and the Outer Satellites is about to end the age of the Global Wars by means of the outbreak of the first Solar War.

None of this matters to Gully Foyle--theFoyle—the quintessential everyman, if you are convinced [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters]]. No education, no skills, no ambition, just a Mechanic's Mate Third Class on the freighter ''Nomad'', which lies crippled in the void between the planets. And he does want to survive, and he has for six months when the spaceship ''Vorga'' sees the wreck of the ''Nomad'', sees the distress signals--andsignals—and passes by, leaving him to rot.

Now Gully Foyle has a pressing reason to do more than simply survive as he had done while surviving on the ''Nomad'', as he had done all his life before hand. Now, he's headed back to Terra, and he will have his revenge, no matter who stands in his way...

* [[Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence]]: One possible interpretation of the whole "Burning Man''" episode.

* [[Blessed with Suck]]: Robin is a "Telesend", meaning she can't read people's minds, but can only broadcast her thoughts, which often has embarrassing results. The only positive side is that she is capable of controlling the ability enough that she can select who hears the thoughts, allowing a degree of telepathic communication.

* [[Cargo Cult]]: The Scientific People, who are a [[Cargo Cult]] {{smallcapssmall-caps|[[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]] }}

* [[Cold-Blooded Torture]]: Foyle inflicts this on the people connected to the ''Vorga'', and it's especially grisly when he realizes that they are implanted with an [[Involuntary Suicide Mechanism]]... {{spoiler|which Foyle gets around by cutting a man's heart out and keeping him on full life support (and in agony) while he interrogates him}}.

* [[Cyberpunk]]: Although published in 1956, some three decades before Cyberpunk emerged, the book has many examples of the tropes common in cyberpunk--thecyberpunk—the antihero, the mysterious female thief, the intrigue of the [[Mega Corp|multinational companies]], the scientific [[McGuffin]] and cybernetically boosted reflexes most obvious amongst them. This is not entirely a coincidence: cyberpunk pioneer [[William Gibson]] has called ''The Stars My Destination'' his favourite novel.

* [[Dark Messiah]]: Foyle is one of these at the end {{spoiler|he spreads all over the world the [[MacGuffin]], which is [[Made of Explodium]] and can be really easily set off. He gives people the chance not to mess up, but if [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters]], the world will go kaboom}}

* [[Determinator]]: Nothing will stop Gully Foyle from having his revenge. Nothing.

* [[Die or Fly]]: How the first jaunter discovered his ability. Also how Gully Foyle escapes the wreck of the ''Nomad''.

* [[I'll Kill You!]]: "You pass me by. You leave me rot like a dog. You leave me die, Vorga ... Vorga-T:1339. No. I get out of here, me. I follow you, Vorga. I find you, Vorga. I pay you back, me. I rot you. I kill you, Vorga. I kill you filthy,."

* [[Inexplicably Identical Individuals]]: Mr. Presto. Not inexplicably, though, as the narration mentions they're are corporate spokesmen all given extensive cosmetic surgery to look identical.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Many of the characters are named after British towns and cities. Bester began writing the novel while living in England.

* [[Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex]]: After Jisbella reveals to Foyle that she's in a relationship with Dagenham, he tries to ask how that could be possible, given that Dagenham is a [[Walking Wasteland]]. Soon afterward, the reader sees how things work. Dagenham and Jisbella can have sex during his "safe" periods, and after that, they go to separatedifferent beds that are separated by a lead-lined two-way mirror allowing them to see each other but preventing Jisbella from being exposed to Dagenham's radioactivity.

* [[Marked Change]]: Gully Foyle's facial tattoos turn into this after he has itthem (painfully) removed,. reemerging wheneverHe heis getsstunned angry,to ordiscover happy,that orthey passionate,reemerge orwhenever he emotionalis in anythe way,grips shapeof orstrong formemotions.

** To elaborate: He has them removed by having the ink dissolved out of his skin; while this removes the ink, it leaves somethingsubdermal of an imprint,scars which fills with blood, emulatingrecreating the tattoo in bright red, whenever he gets flushed.

* [[Master of Disguise]]: One of the secret police characters pursuing Foyle.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: 'Gully' is short for [[Gulliver's Travels|Gulliver]]... and both characters follow similar development arcs right down to becoming reclusive misanthropes at the end of their respective stories.

* [[No Transhumanism Allowed]]: Averted-- OnceAverted—Once he's rich, Foyle uses his money to have all these implants and circuitry put into his body that give him super-strength and amazing reflexes.

{{quote| ''"Filthy pictures, signore? Cellar Christians, kneeling, praying, singing psalms, kissing cross? Very naughty. Very smutty, signore. Entertain your friends ... Excite the ladies."''}}

* [[Phlebotinum]]: PyrE -- {{spoiler|a ''psychically'' activated nuclear explosive}}.

* [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]]: Foyle pretends to be an [[UpperclassUpper Class Twit]] in his Fourmyle identity

* [[Sense Freak]]: Inverted-- andInverted—and ''how!''-- with—with the Skoptsy.

* [[Space Is an Ocean]]: Foyle is an astronaut but is described as a sailor-; this is probably at least in part because of the [[Recycled in Space]] aspect.

* [[Teleport Interdiction]]: Anti-teleport security measures include turning headquarters and homes into elaborate manipulable mazes. YouJaunting literallyonly can'tworks teleport unlessif you know where you are and where the destination is. Attempting to teleport if you don't will just fail to work or lead to disappearance / death.

* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: Goes from a living object to relentless killing machine to {{spoiler|effectively transcendent}} through the course of the novel, [[Berserk Button|all because some passersby decided not to give him a life-saving lift.]]

{{quote| ''"You got the most in you, and you use the least. You hear me, you? Got a million in you and spend pennies. Got a genius in you and think crazies. Got a heart in you and feel empties. All a you. Every you... Take a war to make you spend. Take a jam to make you think. Take a challenge to make you great. Rest of the time you sit around lazy, you."''}}

** Note that it's a ''inversion'' of this trope: while in its classical form a [[Whoopi Epiphany Speech]] is delivered by a poor uneducated character to his or her social betters, neither Gully, nor his auditory is either. Gully ''was'' a mindless drone barely eligible to be called a sapient, but has since jerked himself out of this stupor, and he tells the very people he was some time ago that ''they'' [[Took a Level Inin Badass|could do the same]] -- a—a sort of inspirational [[World of Cardboard Speech]].

* [[Unconventional Formatting]]: Gully temporarily suffers from synesthesia after a head trauma, which Bester represents with modified typeface.