Project Gutenberg 2009-10-30 Public domain in the USA. 48 Heiner, Alvin The Stowaway Reading ease score: 86.2 (6th grade). Easy to read. Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Stowaway" by Alvin Heiner is a science fiction short story originally published in the early 1950s. The narrative explores themes of ambition, identity, and the quest for recognition through the lens of a working-class protagonist, Joe Spain, who seeks glory and representation by sneaking onto a rocket ship headed to the Moon. This work reflects the mid-20th century's fascination with space exploration and the socio-political dynamics of class. The story centers around Joe Spain, a determined but overlooked worker who dreams of being part of the historic moon mission. Despite ridicule from his peers and the overwhelming security at the launch site, he concocts a plan to stow away in a barrel that will be sent aboard the rocket. With great desperation, he succeeds in gaining access and rides in the barrel during the launch. However, once aboard, he discovers the ship is experimental and doomed to explode. Alone in darkness, Joe grapples with his fate, realizing he will never be acknowledged or remembered for his daring aspirations. The story ultimately serves as a poignant commentary on the human desire for significance amidst societal indifference. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction Short stories Space flight to the moon -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 39796 39738 2024-11-13T05:06:35.741040 2023-09-13T09:59:06.144426 text/html text/html 35852 2009-10-30T12:44:14 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 110871 2009-10-30T12:44:14 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 178074 2024-11-13T05:06:39.659033 application/epub+zip 176516 2024-11-13T05:06:37.465058 application/epub+zip 79337 2024-11-13T05:06:36.359064 application/epub+zip 243776 2024-11-13T05:06:41.321068 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 236420 2024-11-13T05:06:38.992035 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 113526 2022-09-14T05:53:59.234263 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 33433 33333 2024-10-13T05:14:00.338019 2023-09-13T09:59:05.883417 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 33337 2009-10-30T12:44:14 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 12924 2009-10-30T12:44:14 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19886 2024-11-13T05:06:41.451045 application/rdf+xml 10631 2024-11-13T05:06:36.889041 image/jpeg 2895 2024-11-13T05:06:36.622050 image/jpeg 175676 2024-11-13T05:06:35.751056 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog