One is One and All Alone

AUTHOR

Nicholas Fisk is the author of some 40 books, including many science-fiction titles for older
children. His real name is David Higginbottom. He completed his first book at the age of nine
and earned money from his typewriter whilst still at school. He dabbled in many fields of
work such as acting, playing jazz and illustrating and editing but, as he says himself,
"continued to write for anyone who would put me into print." He has many interests
including machines, drawing, Victorian artists, growing things and playing the guitar. He
enjoys writing for young people but disagrees with the sci-fi label. He says that his books are
written from the point of view of IF... "Almost any IF, from self-willed domestic robots to
fundamental natural changes in our condition, is a reasonable starting point." He enjoys
writing for young people because they find it easier than adults to accept the unconventional.
SYNOPSIS

"One is One and All Alone" by Nicholas Fisk is a science fiction story, set in 2045. The main
character is Trish, an 11-year old girl who is the only child on a spaceship to Trion. Her
father is the Executive Officer of the spaceship and her mother is in Trion helping to set up a
space station. She will only meet her mother in mid January 2047.After three months, she
feels lonely and bored as she does not have any real friends to talk to except her private,
multi-functional diary: the Voice Printer (VP). VP is an intelligent computer which keeps
Trish entertained with its ability to perform many functions. Through her dialogue sessions
with VP, Trish learns about clones and the cloning process. The idea of cloning fascinates
Trish and she soon decides to create a clone to keep her company in the spaceship Bio lab
without her father's knowledge. She names her new identical twin "Clo" and initially it
becomes her perfect friend and companion. They have fun playing and sharing their time
together. However, certain mannerism of Clo begins to irritate Trish as the clone behaves and
thinks like her. Soon they start to argue and disagree with each other over trivial matters. The
last straw happens one night when Clo starts referring to Trish's mum as her mum and this
upsets Trish as she feels her privacy is being invaded. The next day, Trish opens up her diary
and confides in VP that she does not like to be "swamped, invaded and taken over." At that
instant, she decides to dispose off Clo forever through the "DISPOSAL" hatch near her cabin.
The story ends with a twist when it is Trish who is disposed by Clo. Clo then assumes Trish's
identity and Trish's dad is not aware of the change at all. Clo then enjoys being "one is one
and all alone" and her new lease of life as Trish in the spaceship.
SETTING
The story takes place on board of a space ship in outer space. It takes place in 2045.

PLOT
The
plot
compromises
of
the
following
elements:
1.Exposition
This part introduces the setting, characters and the conflict that is to happen. We are being
introduced to the main character, Trish , who is on board a spaceship on a mission to planet
Trion. We learn that the story takes place in 2045 and Trish is the only child on board the
spaceship.
2.Inciting Incident

This refers to the initial event which triggers the story. This happens when Trish talks to
VoicePrinter and learns about cloning and decides to clone herself.
3. Rising Action
Here we discover a series of events that leads to the climax of the story. It refers to Clo's
behaving exactly the same manner as Trish such as wearing the same clothes as Trish,
repeating the same words Trish uses and having the same thoughts.
4. Conflict
This refers to the main problem. Trish begins to feel uneasy about Clo. Trish feels that Clo is
invading her private thoughts about her mother. This prompts her to reconsider Clo's
existence.
5. Climax
The climax is the most exciting part of the story. This is shown when Trish cannot tolerate
Clo any longer and decides to dispose her.
6. Falling Action
These events occur after the climax. Trish plans on how to get rid of Clo. She will use one of
the five hatches outside her cabin at night. She also plans to write a note to accompany Clo.
7. Resolution
This is the conclusion of the story. Clo is the one who gets rid of Trish. She now takes over as
Trish
and
is
happy
and
satisfied
with
her
decision.
CHARACTERS
The main characters are Trish, Clo and VoicePrinter. The minor characters area Trish's father and
mother and other members on board the spaceship.

Trish : She is independent and can take care of herself on the 2-year space voyage.However,
she feels lonely as she is the only child aboard the spaceship. She is an active child,
interacting with the Voice Printer which is also her tutor and converses with it as if it is
another human being. She is smart and can even clone herself with the help of VoicePrinter
and the Space Lab. She is single-minded and does thing on her own without the help of an
adult. That she did not consult her father or thought through the ethical issues involved in
cloning may show some immaturity and irresponsibility. She is adventurous and sort of ' push
the envelope' with the assistance and knowledge from the VoicePrinter. She thinks she is
smart until she was outwitted by her clone.
The Father :A minor character in this short story. He is always busy as he is the executive
officer of the spaceship. He is a multi-tasker, talking to Trish as well as perusing computer
printouts at the same time. He is caring and looks in on Trish once in a while.
Voice Printer : An informative machine, she provides all the information that Trish requires.
In fact it is her reference source and tutor as well. It is a versatile machine and can perform
many functions. The Voice Printer is a loyal machine and stays by the side of Trish at all
times.

Clo : Clo has the same character traits as Trish as she is her clone. The name, Clo is a short
form of Clone. She outwits Trish the original genetic material that she is cloned from.
The Mother : She is at somewhere in Planet Trion building up a space station. It takes 2 years
to reach Trion from Earth.
MORAL VALUES
1. We must be thankful with what we have.
2. Friends are important in life.
3. Any decisions made will have important consequences.
4. We must make the best of a situation.
5. We must think before we act.
6. We should appreciate our own identity.
7. Everyone is unique.

THEME
1. Life in the space age.
2. Living in a spaceship.
3. Loneliness of children
4. Busy lifestyles of adults.
5. The uses of machine and loss of human touch.
6. Clones for company.
7. The need for companionship.
8. The need for privacy and private space.

POINT OF VIEW
The story is from the first person point of view "I" and this allows the readers to be close to
the character's point of view. It is mainly about the actions, thoughts, feelings and views of
the main charcter, Trish.

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

Technique used by the writer:
1. Scientifis terms
Printouts, clones, tissues, reproduction, duplicate, Biolab
2. Contrast
"Now that might sound exciting, but it's not."
3. Word collocation
spilt second. Wide open, face to face, train the thought
4. Short sentences
Goodbye Clo, Yours never, Trish, over and done with.
5. Sound words
Whoopee! Yaroop! Yum-yum!
6. Alliteration
Finished and forgotten, Finally free!
7. Simile
bright as button
8. Dialogue
Dear Diary, the conversation between Trish and VoicePrinter
9. Repetition
When Clo has nothing to do, it's always pick, pick, pick, I mean my mum is my mum, nothing
to do with Clo. My mum, mine only.
10. Exaggeration
There a thousand things on his mind.
11. Irony
Stop picking yourself, goodbye Clo, Yours never, Trish.
12. Strong Language
It's like being swamped, invaded, taken over, I can't stand Clo's corny jokes and dismal sulks

Summary.
One is One and All Alone by Nicholas Fisk is a science fiction story, set in 2045. The main
character is Trish, an 11-year old girl who is the only child on a spaceship to Trion. Her
father is the Executive Officer of the spaceship and her mother is in Trion helping to set up a
space station. She will only meet her mother in mid January 2047.After three months, she
feels lonely and bored as she does not have any real friends to talk to except her private,
multi-functional diary: the Voice Printer (VP). VP is an intelligent computer which keeps
Trish entertained with its ability to perform many functions. Through her dialogue sessions
with VP, Trish learns about clones and the cloning process. The idea of cloning fascinates
Trish and she soon decides to create a clone to keep her company in the spaceship Bio lab
without her fathers knowledge. She names her new identical twin Clo and initially it
becomes her perfect friend and companion. They have fun playing and sharing their time

together. However, certain mannerism of Clo begins to irritate Trish as the clone behaves and
thinks like her. Soon they start to argue and disagree with each other over trivial matters. The
last straw happens one night when Clo starts referring to Trishs mum as her mum and this
upsets Trish as she feels her privacy is being invaded. The next day, Trish opens up her diary
and confides in VP that she does not like to be swamped, invaded and taken over. At that
instant, she decides to dispose off Clo forever through the DISPOSAL hatch near her cabin.
The story ends with a twist when it is Trish who is disposed by Clo. Clo then assumes Trishs
identity and Trishs dad is not aware of the change at all. Clo then enjoys being one is one
and all alone and her new lease of life as Trish in the spaceship. Source.

Plot.
1.Exposition
The characters and setting are introduced. The main character, Trish described her loneliness of being the only child on the
spaceship. The characters of VoicePrinter and her parents are also introduced. She described the spaceship and that they
were heading to Trion.

2.Rising Action
- Trish was sick of being alone, bored of computer images and sounds, and she wished for a human companion of her age.
She learned the word clone from VP and then decided to make a clone of herself.
- Trish thought that the clone, Clo would be a perfect friend and it was indeed a perfect friend at first. She even
communicated less with VP after she had Clo as her friend.

3. Climax
- Then the conflict began when Trish started to feel uncomfortable with Clo due to the fact that they were totally identical
including in terms of action and even thought.

4. Falling action.
- Trish decided to get rid of Clo and she was thinking of disposing it out from the spaceship.
- One of them was successfully being disposed out through the hatch while another one continued boarding the spaceship.

5. Resolution.
- Surprisingly, it was actually Trish who had been disposed and not Clo. This shows that they really had the same thought of
disposing each other but Clo acted first to dispose Trish out from the spaceship. Thus, Clo took Trishs place in the
spaceship, feeling the sense of freedom; the feeling that Trish would have felt if she was not the one who had been disposed.
- Clo was boarding the spaceship happily as the eleven years old Trish. In fact, it acted as a more cheerful Trish than before
as her father also noticed the good change in Trish.

Theme.
1. Loneliness. The main character, Trish is the only child and she has no sibling. She lives in a spaceship which is heading to
Planet Trion. She is the only child in the spaceship while the rest of the crew are adults who are busy running the system
24/7. To make the situation worse, her parents are extremely busy with their own works and have no time to company her.
Her father is busy with the workloads in the spaceship while her mother is on Trion, setting up the space station. The Voice
Printing is the only friends she has, but as the time passes by, she starts to feel bored with this kind of relationship when
there are only computer images and sounds. Thus, she starts to have the feeling that she really needs someone to talk to and
her loneliness has given her the idea to create a clone of herself.

2. The need of love and attention. Trish feels the loneliness as her parents always busy with their works and that causes her
to get the idea to clone herself. In her mind, cloning is the only way to escape from this boredom and imprisonment so that
she will have somebody to talk to and play with - somebody of her age. She wants someone to accompany her to replace the
roles of her parents who will never have time to be with her.

3. Anotherperson can be a mirror of ourselves.Based

on this short story, Trish cannot stand Clos

picking habit. Ironically, she doesn't realize that Clo is just being herself; Clo's

behaviours

are

the reflection of herself.

Characters and Characterizations.

1. Trish
Trish is the main character of this short story. She is portrayed as a lonely child as her parents are busy with their own works.
She has no friend, no sibling and her only friend in the spaceship is VoicePrinter. She is bored playing and talking to a
machine and she needs a real human of her age to talk to and play with. She cloned herself and named her Clo. Trish is
brilliant in science and technology. She clones herself without anyones help.

2. Clo
Clo is the clone of Trish. Her character is totally the same as Trishs because it is Trishs clone. She does whatever Trish
does, for examples she has picking habit, she keeps repeating what Trish says and she feels what Trish is feeling. This
situation makes Trish to feel that Clo is annoying, thus the quarrel starts.

3. VoicePrinter (VP)
A machine and Trish's best friend. Although it is a non-living thing, it can react and responsd to Trish just like a human. VP
is loyal and always be by Trish's side - playing games with her and also a genius machine as it can correct Trishs spellings
and punctuation. It has also become a teacher to Trish. It also gives Trish dictionary lesson and provides the information on
cloning process to Trish.

4. Father and Mother

Busy working people - running the spaceship and setting up the space station. Her father is a caring person as he is always
poking his head on Trishs door and asking Trish about her life. However, he fails to show his love and Trish is disappointed
because of that.

Settings.
1. Time
In the future: 2045. Trish mentions that they leaves Earth on 12 March 2045 and they will not reach Trion until mid
January 2047. Modern creation such as the voice printing is mentioned too. It respond to human's actions; talks and even
plays game as well as teaches Trish about the dictionary lesson.

2. Place

Mainly in a spaceship which is on its way heading to Trion planet. Every event

occurs

in this

ship. Trishs father works here, the BioLab and Trish's room. It is also the place which causes
Trish to feel lonely without any human friend.
3. Social
Lonely and workaholic

society.

The lonely society is portrayed through Trish's character who is always being alone as she is
the only child on the spaceship while the rest of the crew are adults.

The

only friend that she

has is the VoicePrinter (VP). Her loneliness leads her poor judgement of cloying herself.
The workaholic society is shown trough the characters of Trishs parents. They are too busy
with their own workloads. The father is busy running the spaceship while the mother is on
Trion, setting up the space station. Their hectic schedules cause theme to forget their
responsibilities towards their daughter.