"Out of All Them Bright Stars"

"Out of All Them Bright Stars"
by Nancy Kress
pub. 1985 in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and in Trinity and Other Stories
1985 Nebula for Best Short Story

Preview

Background
Data

Navigation
Guide

Further
Exploration

Preview

A waitress at a truck stop serves an alien who comes in for a plain green salad as her co-workers react to his presence.

Background Data

Kress has said that this "is a story about people who are not at the center of the action. . . . most of us . . . at the moment of first contact will have been at the dentist. This is therefore a story of someone whose life must cope with history, not cause it--like most humanity." (35)

Navigation Guide

Characterize Sally, the narrator of the story.

Characterize her co-worker Kathy

Characterize her boss, Charlie

All three humans are initially prejudiced against the alien. What is the root at the prejudice of each of these three characters? How do the sources of their prejudices differ?

Notice the way Sally address the alien out loud and the way she refers to the alien in her mind. Why does she switch back and forth?

Why does Charlie immediately refer to the alien as "he"?

Why does distinguishing between a thing and a human involve the assigning of gender?

Why does Sally treat the alien with respect?

Why does Sally get angry at the end of the story? Who or what is she angry at?

Further Exploration

Note the references to Bogart's hat in the movie Casablanca. Do you recognize the further connection to Casablanca in the story's title. What is the significance of these references?