The Child Buyer
Encyclopedia
The Child Buyer is John Hersey
's 1960 novel about a project to engineer super-intelligent persons for a project whose aim is never definitely stated. Told entirely in the form of minutes from a State Senate Standing Committee, it relates the story of the appearance and efforts of a mysterious stranger in the small town of Pequot
, and the repercussions of his attempt to buy a boy, Barry Rudd.
The novel is primarily a satire on the school system, although it also posits questions about intelligence, the validity of intelligence/personality tests, and the efficacy of attempts to quantify humanity. One of its major themes is corruption--in the stranger's (Wissey Jones's) relentless quest to buy Barry, Jones manages to persuade everyone concerned with the transaction, including Barry himself, to go along with him, primarily through favours (money, honorary degrees, positions, status, et al.), although Barry and Dr. Gozar are convinced through a sort of desperate logic.
The novel, in its description of a non-existent mental-conditioning process possibly intended as a means of leaving Earth, approaches science fiction, although it is more properly put in the genre of speculative fiction
.
Wissey Jones - the influential and brilliant antagonist of John Hersey's (The Child Buyer). Mr. Jones buys children for his company United Lympho and a secret project they are developing for the US government. Jones' special talent is being able to identify the levers in each person to make them go along with his purchases. He fulfills desires (gifts, influence, stature, and petty needs) to enlist the help of others. He is the perfect salesman.
John Hersey
John Richard Hersey was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer and journalist considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling devices of the novel are fused with non-fiction reportage...
's 1960 novel about a project to engineer super-intelligent persons for a project whose aim is never definitely stated. Told entirely in the form of minutes from a State Senate Standing Committee, it relates the story of the appearance and efforts of a mysterious stranger in the small town of Pequot
Pequot
Pequot people are a tribe of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. They were of the Algonquian language family. The Pequot War and Mystic massacre reduced the Pequot's sociopolitical influence in southern New England...
, and the repercussions of his attempt to buy a boy, Barry Rudd.
The novel is primarily a satire on the school system, although it also posits questions about intelligence, the validity of intelligence/personality tests, and the efficacy of attempts to quantify humanity. One of its major themes is corruption--in the stranger's (Wissey Jones's) relentless quest to buy Barry, Jones manages to persuade everyone concerned with the transaction, including Barry himself, to go along with him, primarily through favours (money, honorary degrees, positions, status, et al.), although Barry and Dr. Gozar are convinced through a sort of desperate logic.
The novel, in its description of a non-existent mental-conditioning process possibly intended as a means of leaving Earth, approaches science fiction, although it is more properly put in the genre of speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
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Characters
Barry Rudd - a main character of John Hersey's 1960 novel, The Child Buyer. He is thought to have an IQ of 169, and is described by his teachers as maladjusted and socially deviant genius. Physically, he is described as fat, waistless, and sexually underdeveloped. His extreme intelligence becomes known throughout his small town of Pequot and eventually comes to the attention of Wissey Jones, a man determined to buy Barry for the company United Lympho for their secret government project.Wissey Jones - the influential and brilliant antagonist of John Hersey's (The Child Buyer). Mr. Jones buys children for his company United Lympho and a secret project they are developing for the US government. Jones' special talent is being able to identify the levers in each person to make them go along with his purchases. He fulfills desires (gifts, influence, stature, and petty needs) to enlist the help of others. He is the perfect salesman.