Deep end is a science fiction short story about a prison ship in the far future. The prisoners are uploaded onto the ship’s system and then downloaded into bodies. The bodies, however, are of the whites who the prisoners tried to rebel against, not the bodies of the prisoners. The story addresses race and gender as mental constructs, since bodies are now exchangeable. The author is trying to show what people are without their bodies to define their identities, or possibly how bodies try to define identities.
I really liked the science fiction aspect of this story. By using space age technology, the author created a new world, but the isolation of deep space and the feeling of being trapped in a system or by your own body are universal. I also liked the ending, the hope that the new place, the change will mean something better, but the knowledge that your body, your experiences are still there; it gave a sense of optimism mixed with dread that people feel when a change happens in their lives, as well as when they are being blasted from orbit in a water-filled metal coffin. The most obvious question after reading this story is: “What happens next?” but I don’t think it’s a very good one. This chapter of the characters’ lives has ended, what happens next is a different story. The question I would ask is about the past, not the future. The story leaves me wondering how the characters got there. What happened to Doe to make her so distrustful? Why does Thad not want a body? Is that simply anger at wearing someone else’s or does he have a reason to want to abandon reality?
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on Shawl’s story and agree that many of the most interesting questions are about how the characters ended up on the ship – who were they and what did they do, individually and collectively? Your post and Jeffrey’s together do a brilliant job of covering the story’s many nuances.