Discussion Questions for To Serve Man and Theyre Made Out of Meat

In To Serve Man, how does the authorspeaking through the narrator, Peter, a
translator who works for the United Nationsdescribe the Kanamit? (1)
They are ugly, pig-faced, short and hairy (brown-gray and bristly), very plump, with three
fingers on each hand, small eyes and snout-like noses. They wore green leather harness
and green shorts, with slash pockets and half-belts.
What were the first two Earth-based languages the Kanamit had learned? (1)
English and French.
What technology have humans decided to use to verify the accuracy of what the Kanamit
are saying? (3)
A lie detector (polygraph machine).
What do the Kanamit state are their reasons for coming to Earth? (4)
To bring the people of Earth the peace and plenty that they themselves enjoy, and which
in the past they have brought to other races throughout the galaxy. They are here to
eliminate hunger, war, and needless suffering.
What technological innovation that the Kanamit have brought to Earth is the first that is
put into widespread production? (4-5)
A power source, a little metal box that gives more electrical power than an atomic pile,
for next to nothing and nearly forever, so cheap to make everyone on Earth can have one.
What is the second piece of technology that the Kanamit share with the world; what does
it do? (5)
A gadget that would increase the fertility of any arable land by 60 to 100 percent, by
speeding the formation of nitrates in the soil, or something.
What is the third piece of technology that the Kanamit introduce to Earth, and what do
they insist on the way it should be distributed? What will the effects of this technology
be? (5)
Force-fields that cannot be detonated by any explosive; every nation must have it equally.
This means there will be no more war.
Why does the narrator, Peter, quit his job as a translator for the United Nations? (6)
He believes the U.N. will die soon anyway.

Why does Peter believe that the United Nations will soon cease to exist? (6)
Every nation on Earth was on its way to becoming self-supporting; they werent going to
need much arbitration.
Why has Grigori gone to work as a translator for the Kanamit Embassy? (6-7)
He still doesnt trust them and wants to know what their ulterior motive is and he aims to
find out.
What does Grigori suspect about the Kanamit? (7)
They have something to gain from all this; they are not altruists.
How does Peter, the narrator, feel (at first) about working with Grigori on translating a
book that Grigori had stolen from the Kanamit? (7)
He feels guilty (his conscience bothers him).
How do Peters feelings about what theyre doing change over time? (7)
He becomes absorbed in translating the Kanamit language and no longer feels guilty.
What physiological changes in humanity itself are the Kanamit working on making, using
their knowledge of human biochemistry? (8)
The Kanamit will make humans taller, stronger, and healthier.
What human diseases do the Kanamit appear to have potentially cured? (8)
They have a potential cure for heart disease and cancer.
What does it turn out is the true significance of the title of the stolen Kanamit book How
to Serve Man? (8)
Its a cookbook!
In retrospect, why does it now appear that the Kanamit were working on making human
beings taller, stronger, and healthier?
To put more meat on our bones and make us more delicious cattle for them to raise and
kill and eat.

Theyre Made Out of Meat

Given their reaction to human beings being made entirely out of meat, what can we infer
about the nature of the aliens having this dialogue?
They are non-corporeal; they exist as thought and/or energy.
How do these aliens know that human beings are made out of meat all the way through,
and are born meat and die meat? (1-2)
They have kidnapped several humans and probed them on their ships. They have also
observed humans for several human lifetimes (which to them seem very short).
What are two other alien species mentioned that either go through a meat stage of
existence or are only partly made out of meat? (2)
The orfolei and the weddilei.
Why are they so incredulous about humans being made entirely out of meat?
They cant believe that meat can think.
What does one alien assume about who could have and who could not have built the
radios that have been sending out radio waves from Earth in an attempt to make contact
with other sentiences in the universe? (1)
It assumes that some other life form besides meat-humans must have made the radios.
What do they think about humans using their meat to make the sounds that are on the
radio? (3)
They cant believe it and/or are disgusted by it.
What are these aliens officially required to do after having discovered sentient beings in
this sector? (3)
They are required to contact, welcome, and log them without prejudice, fear, or favor.
What do they unofficially decide to do instead, and why? (3)
Erase the records and forget the whole thing and mark the entire sector unoccupied.
What is the only kind of space through which human beings can travel, thus limiting
them to the speed of light? (3)
C space (what we call normal space).

Why do the aliens believe that the humans they brought aboard their vessels and probed
will not expose their existence? (4)
The aliens have smoothed out their meat-brains so they shouldnt remember their
abductions and probings as real, but consider these memories to be dreams. If the humans
whom they abducted and probed do remember and believe that the experiences were real
and not dreams, they will be considered crackpots.
What does one alien find strangely appropriate that they should be? (4)
Meats dream.
What is the final line of the short story, and what do you think of it? (4)
Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the Universe would be if one were all
alone
Which is worseto have alien beings like the Kanamit regard us as meat, and thus as a
food source, so that they lull us into a state of complacency by making Earth a paradise
so they can raise us like cattle to be slaughtered and eatenor to have non-corporeal
aliens regard us as meat and thus not worthy of even contacting, so that they decide to
completely ignore us?
Answers will vary.
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