History Literature / PumpSixAndOtherStories

* ExtinctInTheFuture: The world from ''''The People of Sand and Slag'' is so heavily polluted, ''most of organic life died'' out and can only survive in an artificial environment or be given the [[BioAugmentation weevil treatment]] (if they can weather through it, that is). This makes the mongrel, wild dog the main characters find all that strange - it might as well be LastOfHisKind.

* EatTheDog: [[spoiler:The conclusion of ''The People of Sand and Slag'']].

* GaiasLament: Almost all of the stories have shades of it, but three stand out the most:

* FuturePrimitive: Trogs from ''Pump Six'' are dumb, primitive, malformed and lacking any cognitive capacity beyond most basic needs. In winter they just freeze to death, unless they migrate south prior to first snows. It's implied they are the result of all the pollution and carcinogenic "food" damaging DNA of everyone still alive. [[spoiler: The [[TwistEnding real kicker]] is that ''everyone'' born in last couple decades is a trog, just less malformed and slightly more functional]].

* CreepyTwins: Lidia and Nia from ''The Fluted Girl''. Not due to their behaviour, but thanks to what was [[BodyHorror done to their bodies]]. Even if the fluting itself is ignored, they were still leached of all pigment, are perpetually stuck in the appearance of twelve-year-olds (despite being adult) and got their eyes replaced with those of others', completely not matching the rest of their ethereal appearance for in-universe shock value.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Thanks to "weeviltech", humans from ''The People of Sand and Slag'' are virtually indestructible. The story opens with the main character ''jumping off a speeding aircraft'' without a parachute, breaking half of the bones in his body and smashing most of his internal organs. Equipment malfunction? Deranged suicidal action? Not at all: that's just '''how they disembark when they're in a hurry'''. Said character promptly gets up as if nothing of note happened, the weeviltech fixing his body in a matter of moments. The story then examines how this kind of ability would affect humanity as a species.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Thanks to "weeviltech", humans from ''The People of Sand and Slag'' are virtually indestructible. The story opens with the main character ''jumping off a speeding aircraft'' without a parachute, breaking half of the bones in his body and smashing most of his internal organs... and getting up, as if nothing happened. The story then examines how this kind of ability would affect humanity as a species.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: You can't just cleanse a woman's body from cancerogenic and toxic residues and then make her give birth to a healthy child, since her ova are already messed up. Ironically, this ''could'' work with semen, but the treatments from ''Small Offerings'' are explicitly about the condition of the mother's body.

* FuturePrimitive: Trogs from ''Pump Six'' are dumb, primitive, malformed and lacking any cognitive capacity beyond most basic needs. In winter they just freeze to death, unless they migrate south prior to first snows. It's implied they are the result of all the pollution and cancerogenic "food" damaging DNA of everyone still alive. [[spoiler: The [[TwistEnding real kicker]] is that ''everyone'' born in last couple decades is a trog, just less malformed and slightly more functional]].

* HateSink: There are various evil characters in the collection, but most of them are either [[PunchClockVillain cogs in the bigger system]], very [[MegaCorp impersonal threats]] or government-tier organisations that are also just doing their job. Enter old Gawar from ''Pasho'': an obsessive ProudWarriorRaceGuy that just can't stand the sheer concept that something might be different than his own set of believes or serve other purpose than making his tribe the greatest and toughest warriors ever. He's very, very old and won't live for much longer, yet does his very best to SaltTheEarth for future generations, just to make sure they will be just as tough as he is. Any non-Jai people? Slaughter those worthless weaklings, who even cares, compassion is not Jai way. His irrational hatred is so fierce and revolting, it's hard to just read his lines.

** In ''Pump Six'' Travis figures out what's really wrong with the titular pump. He reads all the print-outs and collects long list of information needed to fix it. Despite the producer going out of business before he was even born, he has an EurekaMoment to simply contact the engineering department of the Columbia University to help him out, as this is emergency and all the blueprints are public domain anyway... [[spoiler: until he visits the campus. All the buildings are deserted, the faculty is long retired and dead, while "students" are just scions of the rich families having a never-ending orgy on the university grounds. And he learns there that ''everyone'' is a trog at this point]].

** The many, many traditions of Jai and their point of view are ripe with hypocrisy, as they both condemn various actions of other tribes, but do the exact same thing (or worse) without batting an eye. Gawar takes it to logical extreme.
** Stephen tries to call Lidia out on her loyal, head-down-mouth-shut serviture, but she eventually lashes back, pointing he's as much of a "toy" for lady Belari as she is. Maybe [[SexSlave even more so]] than she is. He comes to his senses almost instantly.
* ILetYouWin: [[spoiler: Raphael let his grandfather into a lull, by pretending that he surrenders to the superior ways of Jai traditions and they share a drink over this. The mez he serves is a poison and the young man was from the start on a mission to either placate Gawar, or simply kill him if he won't drop his crusade against Keli]].
* ImagineSpot: Jonathan has one about rest of his life and all possible scenarios (often contradictionary) awaiting for him and Pia [[spoiler: when he starts to asphyxiate her]].

* InternalReformist: [[spoiler: Raphael's mission in ''Pasho'' is to either convince his grandfather to change his ways, or kill the old man and start to influence Jai from the inside, using the esteem surrounding Pasho. Both rely on him being a Jai and knowing Jai, thus allowing him effortless infiltration, rather than being cast away or killed on sight]].

* IrrationalHatred: Gawar in ''Pasho'' compulsively hates anything that doesn't follow (and follow them strictly) traditions of his own tribe, to the point he sees nothing wrong in ''complete extermination'' of other peoples if he feels they threaten Jai way of life.

** Pretty much ''all'' technology from ''Pump Six''. With crippling levels of idiocy and apathy, the whole economy relies entirely on things that still didn't break down, with nobody left to even do basic maintenance on any meaningful scale. The few repairmen that are still left around are unable to do anything beyond just hoping for the best, because they have no replacement parts, no organisation to rely on and no experts to ask for help.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Jai culture runs on this and constant evocation of TestosteronePoisoning. It is also a {{deconstruction}} of the whole concept: when you are rised in society that relishes in combat and believes there is nothing better than slaughtering people you disagree with, you eventually become a burden and threat to everyone around you, while leaving nothing but ruin and despair in your wake. Doubly so when chasing after personal glory of the most fearsome conqueror that ever lived.

** Jai are tribalistic culture of ProudWarriorRaceGuys using iconing hook knives... and napalm, because screw those Keli thinking building cities over water is going to prevent being burned down. There are various other modern appliances used by seemingly Bronze-Age culture of Jai, including radio. Considering the setting is FutureImperfect, they have just bits and pieces of technology and technological know-how of pre-Cleansing world, applying them as their "traditions".
* ScienceIsBad: ''Pasho'' examines a very specific take on the trope: the science by itself isn't bad, quite the contrary. It's the "quickly quickly, like ants" way of studying and applying new technologies, without a second of reflection of their effects, that leads to misery and war. Given how in-universe it lead to [[ApocalypseHow Cleansing, which destroyed human civilization and almost managed to wipe out human race itself, with residual damage still being around]], the cautious nature of applying "new" technology is justified. Especially when one side sees no other applications than war.

* ShownTheirWork: The most fundamental tenets of Pasho believe system are clearly following mnemotechniques for oral passage of information. In-universe they were created in times when writing instructions, not to mention books, was nigh impossible.

** Pretty much ''all'' lords and ladies in ''The Fluted Girl'' are bored, rich people that have complete control over their servants, including doing whatever they please with their bodies. For their own personal amusement, treating those people as nothing else than self-propelled tools at their disposal. ColdBloodedTorture and terror are their standard way of installing order and boy, oh boy, they are one vindictive bunch.

* TerminallyDependentSociety: ''Pump Six'' takes place somewhere in the 2130s. Humanity is cruising solely on the momentum build three-four generations ago, if not earlier. They are all depending on machines they can't build or maintain (to the point of getting glass for windows is impossible) and the people in charge are completely indifferent toward it. Unlike ''Film/{{Idiocracy}}'' (which the story is shamelessly ripping off for its comedic bits), there is no advanced automation nor AI to still keep things running, so once the last few people that care about maintenance retire or die, the whole system is going to crash down the very next day.

* TooDumbToLive: ''The entire human race'' from ''Pump Six'' is one step away from being ''Film/{{Idiocracy}}'' dumb. Highlights include putting forks into electric outlets to fix them or using child stickers as a way to gain immunity to pollution in water. The main character is your regular, not particulary smart blue-collar repairman diligently doing his job, but compared with just about everyone around him, he's the epitome of genius.

* VainSorceress: Keeping in theme with all the feudal and fairy-tale references, lady Berali is a beauty-and-immortality obsessed woman that will stop at nothing to retain her position. And since said position depends on being a forever young actress, and Revitia treatment is expensive...
* VorpalPillow: [[spoiler: How Jonathan murders Pia in the opening of ''Softer''. It doesn't work as well as expected, since she trashes for a really, really long time, desperately fighting for her life and even almost escapes at one point]].

* WorkingClassHero: A recurring trait of leads is being from working class background, but Travis Alvarez from ''Pump Six'' is the most shining example. He's the most intelligent and competent person in the entire city of New York... by the virtue of being a pipe repairman doing his duty and keeping the city sevage system running. And also thanks to being the only person from his generation that seems to care about anything else than his own physiological needs.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Despite most of the stories taking place in {{Crapsack World}}s that are one-step away from completely falling apart, the final message of each of them tends to be almost unbearably optimistic, as if Bacigalupi was pulling his punches or try to force a HappyEnding, giving really bizarre results. Some of them are more guilty of this than others:
** In ''Pump Six'' conclusion [[spoiler: Travis decides to try once more reading through the manuals he can't even grasp, all while being aware there is no hope for humanity left. Why? Because his indifference would make things only worse, so [[ReadingIsCoolAesop keep reading]]]].
** {{MegaCorp}}s took over Earth long ago in ''The Calorie Man'', [[spoiler: Bowman is dead and his research data lost, but Lalji has a shipment of grain on his deck, so not all is lost yet]]. Never mind the artificial locust and plagues wiped out most of plants, Earth is experiencing complete biosphere collapse, humanity is starving and scavenging to just get by, oil run out and there is no real replacement, almost all governments cease to exist, transgenic animals are running amok, clone rebellion is immanent...
** ''Small Offerings''' world is so badly polluted, breathing through a double hazmat mask is still a health hazard, but hey, a new treatment allows to give birth to slightly less mutated babies, hurray.

* HateSink: There are various evil characters in the collection, but most of them are either [[PunchClockVillain cogs in the bigger system]], very [[MegaCorp impersonal threats]] or government-tier organisations that are also just doing their job. Enter old Gawar from ''Pasho'': an obsessive ProudWarriorRaceGuy that just can't stand the sheer concept that something might be different than his own set of believes or serve other purpose than making his tribe the greatest and toughtest warriors ever. He's very, very old and won't live for much longer, yet does his very best to SaltTheEarth for futute generations, just to make sure they will be just as tough as he is. Any non-Jai people? Slaughter those worthless weaklings, who even cares, compassion is not Jai way. His irrational hatered is so fierce and revolting, it's hard to just read his lines.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: You can't just cleanse mother's body from cancerogenic and toxic residues and then make her give birth to a healthy child, since her ova are already messed up. Ironically, this ''could'' work with semen, but the treatments from ''Small Offerings'' are explicitly about the condition of mother's body.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: ''The Calorie Man'' has complex, wind-up mechanism used to store mechanical energy and calories derived from grain are being used specifically as means to power cranking mechanisms by bio-engineered draft animals. Such set-up would be ''extremely'' inefficient mechanically, wasting almost all of the energy during transfer and "storage".

* CluelessAesop: ''Pasho'', big time. The aesop is as convoluted mess of contradictins as are the Jai ways. The story is about the importance of own cultural identity and how technology never really is neutral, but instead affects people and their way of life, often drastically changing them, until they are just part of the crowd, losing their original identity. It also tries to talk about the dangers of globalisation. Problem is, the mouthpiece of all those concerns is a brutal ProudWarriorRaceGuy that could be a poster boy for the most extreme forms of violent nationalism (tribalism, really, because that's how small and narrow his scale is) and comes with absolutely ''[[HateSink zero]]'' [[HateSink redeeming qualities]], being just a maniac warlord with obsession about wiping out anyting else than his own culture and closest kin. Which Gawar would then gladly use to assimilate others into his "true ways" and [[WrittenByTheWinners rewrite history]] to completely remove his enemies from consciousnes of the people. We are supposed to take his speeches as a way against the evils of foreign technology and influences, along with unrestricted exchange of ideas. [[spoiler: And then, of course, he gets poisoned by Raphael, to make sure Jai culture will be changed anyway]]. This isn't just BrokenAesop, it meanders in such twisted ways and gives such unsympathetic and just plain evil counter-viewpoint, the message of "every culture should be respected, regardless of anything" falls flat.

Pump Six and Other Stories is Creator/PaoloBacigalupi's debut collection of short stories. It's full of social criticism, political parables and environmental advocacy, while often indulging in [[BlackComedy extremely black humour]].

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''Softer'' is a very short story of [[spoiler: a man mudering his wife in a random fit and wondering what to do next]]. No hi-tech, no futuristic stuff, no post-apo vibes. Just average Joe in his average life, [[NothingIsScarier in full horror glory]].

* "Pop Squad"

* IgnoranceIsBliss: The reason why nobody does anything about their falling-apart society and infrastructure in ''Pump Six'' is because those few people left to care and know what to do prefer to be consciously ignorant about everything around them. When Alvarez gets called out on his own ignorance, he gets genuinely scared by reality around him, realising how many things he allowed to just slide by as "someone's else problem".

* NotSoDifferent: For all her ferocity and ruthlessness, lady Belari from ''The Fluted Girl'' is as much of a toy in hands of someone higher-up as her servants are to her. And she's painfully aware of her GildedCage.

* VorpalPillow: [[spoiler: How Jonathan murders Pia in the opening of ''Softer''. RealityEnsues, since she trashes for a really, really long time, desperately fighting for her life and even almost escapes at one point]].

Almost all stories contained in the collection were ''at least'' nominated for prestigious awards in sci-fi literature. With massive helping of BioPunk, they feature different but closely related visions of a bleak future, in which Earth is[=/=]was ravaged by different kinds of cataclysms or has been taken over by amoral {{MegaCorp}}s, with a focus on how human society has adapted to the changes and how advances in technology could effectively rob us of our humanity - [[HumansAreBastards and nobody would care]].

* AggressiveCategorism: In ''Pasho'', Jai are this by default, ''always'' divising people according to their tribe and affiliations. Taken to the extreme by the old Gawar, who is obsessed about keeping Jai and Jai ways pure, exterminating everyone else. [[spoiler: He's eventually assassinated by his grandson, Raphael, to prevent yet another bloodbath]].

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: ''Yellow Card Man'' is foreshadowing future issues with ''Literature/TheWindupGirl''. It has almost no relation with actual Malay-Chinese names. Or Thai ones, for that matter. It's especially jarring, given how in other stories, at least names are properly researched for the supposed ethnicity of the characters.

** Trogs from ''Pump Six'' are barely human mutants that are routinely (but not always) hermaphrodites, have primate-like appearance and for whatever reason, yellow eyes[[note]]The story never mentions if that's just irises or the whole eyeball, but given the context, both are just as likely[[/note]]. Since they don't have enough brains to wear any clothes, their twisted bodies are at full display.
* BrainlessBeauty: Maggie is nice looking and dumb as bricks. The story opens with her checking for an ongoing gas-leak in a kitchen stove with a lighter. It takes her few minutes to realise what could have happen and that's only after brutally assaulting Travis for interrupting her "repair". And previously she tried to fix an electric outlet with a fork.
* CallingTheOldManOut: What ''Pasho'' Raphael tries to do with his grandfather, slowly breaking to him how much hypocrisy and contradictions is in his believes. It doesn't take in the slightest.

* CluelessAesop: ''Pasho'', big time. The aesop is as convoluted mess of contradictins as are the Jai ways. The story is about the importance of own cultural identity and how technology never really is neutral, but instead affects people and their way of life, often drastically changing them, until they are just part of the crowd, losing their original identity. It also tries to talk about the dangers of globalisation. Problem is, the mouthpiece of all those concerns is a brutal ProudWarriorRaceGuy that could be a poster boy for the most extreme forms of violent nationalism (tribalism, really, because that's how small and narrow his scale is) and comes with absolutely ''[[HateSink zero]]'' [[HateSink redeeming qualities]], being just a maniac warlord with obsession about wiping out anyting else than his own culture and closest kin. Which Gawar would then gladly use to assimilate others into his "true ways" and [[WrittenByTheWinners rewrite history]] to completely remove his enemies from consciouss of the people. We are supposed to take his speeches as a way against the evils of foreign technology and influences, along with unrestricted exchange of ideas. [[spoiler: And then, of course, he gets poisoned by Raphael, to make sure Jai culture will be changed anyway]]. This isn't just BrokenAesop, it meanders in such twisted ways and gives such unsympathetic and just plain evil counter-viewpoint, the message of "every culture should be respected, regardless of anything" falls flat.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Lidia have been put into so much training and conditioning, she ends up quite confused why her extensive bio-augmentation could be considered bad or, dare anyone say it, immoral. After all, the benovelent lady Belari paid for it all from her own money!

* CreepyTwins: Lidia and Nia from ''The Fluted Girl''. Not due to their behaviour, but thanks to what was [[BodyHorror done to their bodies]]. Even if the fluting itself is ignored, they were still leached from all pigment, are perpetually stuck in appearance of twelve years old (despite being adult) and got their eyes replaced with some Indian twins, completely not matching rest of their ethereal appearance for an in-universe shock value.
* CrypticBackgroundReference: By the dozen. The world-building is almost entirely done with some off-hand remarks in dialogues and tiny snippets of information in narrative.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: All the [[MegaCorp MegaCorps]] could make a real profit if they used their patented grain to get even more precious high-grade alcohol - a perfect fuel. Or even simplier, just get vegetable oil for diesel engines (which are weirdly absent). Instead, they prefer to use their monopoly simply to oppress everyone around the world.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Lady Belari not only used to be just a commoner like everyone else as a child, but went trought the entire cycle of abuse herself. This includes being almost snatched by a paedophile, who was wearing a brainwashing cologne. However, as traumatic as her past have been, she's still an unsympathetic character.

* EyeScream: Lidia and Nia had their own eyes removed and replaced with dark eyes of some Indian girls. It's implied the owners of the black eyes were left with just a white stick.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Despite most of the stories taking place in {{Crapsack World}}s that are one-step away from completely falling apart, the final message of each of them tends to be almost unbearably optimistic, as if Bacigalupi was pulling his punches or try to force a HappyEnding, giving really bizzare results. Some of them are more guilty of this than others:

* TheyDontMakeThemLikeTheyUsedTo: Played for some very, very dark laughs in ''Pump Six''. The world doesn't have actual RagnarokProofing and the technology in it is predominately build in [=2020s=] (which was TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture when the story was published), yet everyone treats it with semi-sacred admiration for how durable it is.

* VainSorceress: Keeping in theme with all the feudal and fairy-tale references, lady Berali is beauty and immortality obsessed woman that will stop at nothing to retain her position. And since said position depends on being forever young actress, while Revitia treatment is expensive...

* WorkingClassHero: A recurring trait of leads is being from working class background, but Travis Alvarez from ''Pump Six'' is the most shining example. He's the most intelligent and competent person in the entire city of New York... by the virtue of being a pipe repairman doing his duty and keeping the city sevage system running. And also thanks to being the only person from his generation that seems to care about anything else than own physiological needs.

Many of them would be later expanded into full-length books (for example, "Yellow Card Man" and "The Calorie Man" were combined into single setting and recycled into ''Literature/TheWindupGirl'').

Many of them would be later expanded into full-length books (for example, ''Yellow Card Man'' and ''The Calorie Man'' were combined into single setting and recycled into Literature/TheWindupGirl).

'''Pump Six and Other Stories''' is [[Creator/PaoloBacigalupi Paolo Bacigalupi's]] debut collection of short stories. It's full of social criticism, political parables and environmental advocacy, while often indulging in [[BlackComedy extremely black humour]].

* Pocketful of Dharma
* The Fluted Girl
* The People of Sand and Slag
* The Pasho
* The Calorie Man
* Literature/TheTamariskHunter
* Pop Squad
* Yellow Card Man
* Softer
* Pump Six
* Small Offerings

!!Pump Six and Other Stories provides examples of:

-->'''Travis Alvarez:''' The entire Upper West Side doesn’t have sewage processing since [[SuddenlyShouting LAST NIGHT]]? Why didn’t you call me? (...) So you had a toilet paper fight while Pump Six was down?

* WhileRomeBurns: The main premise of ''Pump Six'' - the world is falling apart due to lack of maintenance, pollution and lethal levels of stupidity, but the few people that still are intelligent enough to notice are busy partying hard to forget how horrible everything around is.

* AlternateHistory: Whatever happend in ''Pump Six's'' past, it left bunch of chemicals that were retired due to their toxicity in the [=70s=] and [=80s=] still in use. And somewhere, something really weird had happend, because [[Myth/HinduMythology Kali]]-[[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} Mary]] is a thing.

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Jonathan Lilly finds out that [[spoiler: nobody can tell he's a wife-killer]] and the world around him just continues as if nothing happend. And it will continue even once they find out.

* UnreliableExpositor: In ''Softer'', everything is presented within Jonathan's stream of consciousness, so eventually he himself isn't even sure what happend and what he only thought about.

* BloodFromTheMouth: Dimitri is slowly dying, but since he's tending terminal patients and the hospital is short-strung for qualified manpower, nobody really minds the fact he coughts blood, especially since he's contagious - it's "just" his own cancer.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Those wicked Keli eat fishes and their women wear silver belts rather than golden bracelets. Better murder them all to preserve the purity of Jai.

* GaiasLament: All the stories have shades of it, but two stand out the most:

* {{Irony}}: ''Pump Six'' is probably the least known and most definitely the least praised of all the stories, while it provides the title for the anthology.