Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

The Terminal Man

 The Terminal Man
type
 TVTItem
 The Terminal Man
label
 The Terminal Man
 The Terminal Man
page
 theterminalman
 The Terminal Man
comment
 The Terminal Man is a 1972 science fiction novel written by Michael Crichton.Harry Benson, a man at least 30 years old, suffers from psychomotor epilepsy. He often has seizures followed by blackouts, and then wakes up hours later with no knowledge of what he has done. During one of his seizures he severely beats two people. He is a prime candidate for an operation to implant electrodes and microcomputer in his brain to control the seizures. Surgeons John Ellis and Morris are to perform the surgery, which is unprecedented for the time. In modern medicine, such a device would be called a brain pacemaker. Even though Harry is psychotic (he adamantly believes that there is no difference between man and machine) and it wouldn't necessarily stop the crimes he commits during blackouts, the doctors go through with the procedure anyway. Unfortunately, it turns out that they programmed the electrodes incorrectly, because Harry likes the shocks the electrodes give him, and he deliberately tries himself into seizures just to get the buzz. That, and he escapes without even getting any thorazine. Now, they must catch him before someone really gets hurt.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_3'); })This book got a film adaptation in 1974 of the same name, starring George Segal as Harry.
 The Terminal Man
fetched
 2018-10-11T14:28:40Z
 The Terminal Man
parsed
 2020-06-25T17:23:28Z
 The Terminal Man
isPartOf
 DBTropes
 The Terminal Man / int_4e3d253b
type
 Downer Ending
 The Terminal Man / int_4e3d253b
comment
 Downer Ending: Harry Benson ends up dead. Not only that, but it's strongly implied that there will be consequences for the people responsible for Harry's procedure, that include being fired or losing a house.
 The Terminal Man / int_4e3d253b
featureApplicability
 1.0
 The Terminal Man / int_4e3d253b
featureConfidence
 1.0
 The Terminal Man
hasFeature
 The Terminal Man / int_4e3d253b
 The Terminal Man / int_6d7026fa
type
 Punny Name
 The Terminal Man / int_6d7026fa
comment
 Punny Name: As the result of the operation, Benson becomes a terminal for the pacemaker computer. As the final consequence of that, he becomes terminal in the medical sense.
 The Terminal Man / int_6d7026fa
featureApplicability
 1.0
 The Terminal Man / int_6d7026fa
featureConfidence
 1.0
 The Terminal Man
hasFeature
 The Terminal Man / int_6d7026fa
 The Terminal Man / int_75979171
type
 The Cuckoolander Was Right
 The Terminal Man / int_75979171
comment
 The Cuckoolander Was Right: Harry Benson adamantly believes that there is no difference between man and machine. He's supposed to be psychotic, and a lot of the characters think that it's just nonsense. But as the story goes on, a number of characters find themselves wondering if maybe Harry did have a point after all.
 The Terminal Man / int_75979171
featureApplicability
 1.0
 The Terminal Man / int_75979171
featureConfidence
 1.0
 The Terminal Man
hasFeature
 The Terminal Man / int_75979171
 The Terminal Man / int_name
type
 ItemName
 The Terminal Man / int_name
comment
 The Terminal Man / int_name
featureApplicability
 1.0
 The Terminal Man / int_name
featureConfidence
 1.0
 The Terminal Man
hasFeature
 The Terminal Man / int_name
 The Terminal Man / int_name
itemName
 The Terminal Man

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 TheTerminalMan
sameAs
 The Terminal Man
 The Terminal Man
hasFeature
 Mad Lib Thriller Title / int_51e45b5a
 The Terminal Man
hasFeature
 Morality Chip / int_51e45b5a
 The Terminal Man
hasFeature
 The Adjectival Man / int_51e45b5a