The Night of the Long Knives

Description

Fritz Leiber published this story in the 50’s and its structure is rather closer to a novel than to a short story. The world it projects is a no man’s land, filled with death, radiation poisoning, chaos, madness and no social structures. The few human survivors live to kill or be killed. Survival is the only goal and murder seems to be the only way left. People are equipped to fight with weapons hidden in their hair or with sharp metal dental implants. In this Deathland, a man meets a woman. They agree not to kill each other for a while and they will slowly learn to trust each other and become close, especially after they meet this wise old man, who mysteriously lands in the area with a plane and who believes that murder solves nothing.

The plot is packed up with action, adventure and conflict. The reader progressively learns more about the three main characters and the twisted society they live in. Their words, actions and psychology – everything is explored by the author because he wants to put the accent on how humans react to one another. This is an intelligent move because human reactions in times of conflict, war and devastation are truly the most frightening thing, the thing which causes all the evil.

The book also raises some questions: is there hope for a new life after the scenario of a nuclear war? Can a society be made functional again? And, ultimately, howcan a murderer be made to change his ways, get rid of guilt and be able to help others?

“The Night of the Long Knives” remains a dark story, a grimperspective, but it leaves room for hope in the end. Its general idea remains surprisingly current.
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