The Mindworm is a short story written by Cyril M. Kornbluth and was published in a collection of other short stories in 1950. First published in 1950 as part of the science fiction anthology "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964," "The Mindworm" delves into themes of power, control, and the consequences of unchecked ambition.
Plot Summary[]
"The Mindworm" unfolds in a future society where individuals known as "Mindworms" possess the ability to control the minds of others. The protagonist, Joel Smith, is a young man who discovers that he has the potential to become a Mindworm. Initially reluctant to embrace his newfound power, Joel is drawn into a web of intrigue and manipulation orchestrated by those who seek to exploit his abilities for their own gain.
As Joel grapples with the moral implications of his abilities, he becomes increasingly entangled in a world of political intrigue, betrayal, and psychological manipulation. Ultimately, Joel must confront the true nature of power and decide where his allegiance lies.
Themes and Symbolism[]
It is clear that throughout the story the Mindworm struggles with his identity and his purpose, especially having grown up being unwanted. Most of his actions were primarily for his survival. He would take the money and nourishment he needed from his victims. Throughout the story, there is no mention of the Windworm's name, adding to his identity struggle. This also made it more difficult for readers to understand the nature of the story. Author, Kornbluth, had actually graduated from high school at the age of 13 and most likely felt similarly to the Mindworm (in terms of social/peer status). As he traveled the country, he listened in on conversations here and there, but never was fully noticed. It is not until the very end of the story that the readers were fully aware that the Mindworm was in fact a vampire.
Unlike other vampire tales (e.g. The Vampyre), the Mindworm was able to travel during the day and there was no written word of fascination or obsession with blood. There is also a lack of romanticism in this story, which often seems to be a focal point for many vampire tales. This made it easier for audience members to initially connect with a lone character who is outcast and alone. Despite feeling different and not special, he realized that he was not the first or only of his kind in the end. Although this realization only came upon his death, it provides a more nourished end to the tale.
One of the Mindworm's main victims is named Dolores "Dolly" Gonzalez[1]. The Mindworm[2] takes great pleasure in going along with people's greatest desires in order to feed off of their thoughts. Posing as "Michael Brent," the Mindworm pretends to fall in love with Dolly until her emotions are strong enough to satisfy his desires. He spends a day fulfilling her every desire, play-acting as the perfect Americ
an husband with a fancy car, second and third homes, an ex-wife. Dolores represents the desire of children born to immigrants to be "American." This desire is manifested in her changing of her name from Dolores to the more American "Dolly." She fights with her mother, telling her "I don't know how many times I tell you not to call me that Spick name no more!" Dolly represents the societal intricacy of the post-World War II America, populated with immigrants from Europe and the Americas. Jeffrey Cohen once wrote that "the monster signifies something other than itself: it is always a displacement, always inhabits the gap between the time of upheaval that created it and the moment into which it is received, to be born again."[3] This story explores the cultures of immigrants in America, as their children struggle to find a place in both the place where they were born and the culture their parents come from. The story is highly dependent on the Mindworm's ability to hear thoughts, as this is what alerts him to the high emotions on which he feeds.
The Mindworm hears words in other languages, and while he cannot understand them, he is still able to key into the emotions behind the words. His supernatural gift to hear words reveals just how much of a melting-pot America truly is, and gives the reader the sense that Dolly's play-acting at her ideals of "Americanism" are truly tragic. However, the Mindworm's story is brought to an abrupt end as he wanders into an area populated with Eastern European immigrants, who see his power and understand what he truly is. When Dolly was tricked into buying into a pseudo-idealized American dream, she abandoned her culture and finds death as a restule.
The Eastern European "moustached men" who kill the Mindworm have taken the knowledge inherent in their culture, and have used it to end the evil power which is the Mindworm. One critic writes that "Not only had [the Mindworm] been unable to read their non-English minds and dismissive of their culture, he had taken for granted the fact that “he had not been the first of his kind, and that what clever people have not yet learned, some quite ordinary people have not yet entirely forgotten.” [4]