He-y, Come On Ou-t! Shinichi Hoshi

 

He-y, Come On Ou-t! – Shinichi Hoshi

Background Information

Shinichi Hoshi was born on September 6, 1926, in Tokyo, Japan. The story was published in the year 1989. The story has social criticism with an ecological message. 

Genre: Contemporary Fantasy and Satire

Point of View: The story is narrated in the Third Person Omniscient point of view

Why and How: The narrator sits "above" the action, possessing full knowledge of the thoughts and motives of the scientists, the greedy concessionaire, the mayor, and the villagers. This perspective is crucial for satire because it allows the reader to see the collective foolishness of humanity. By showing the internal greed of the concessionaire and the ego of the scientists, the author highlights the universal nature of the problem rather than focusing on a single hero’s journey.

Setting: The story takes place in a Japanese Village in the 20^th Century.

Character and Characterization

Most characters in this story are flat and static, meaning they do not change and represent specific societal archetypes rather than complex individuals.

• Antagonist: Collectively, all characters who irresponsibly pollute or exploit the hole (humanity's greed).

• Concessionaire: Money-minded and cunning; represents predatory capitalism.

• Scientists: Stubborn and egoistic; they represent the failure of human intellect to respect what it cannot measure.

• The Old Man: Wise but ignored; he represents traditional wisdom and the warning of "karma" or curses.

Tone and Mood

Tone: The author's tone is cynical and satirical. He treats the "scientific" investigations and "government" assurances with irony, mocking how quickly people abandon tradition (the shrine) for convenience.

Mood: The mood shifts from curiosity and mystery at the beginning to a false sense of security in the middle, finally ending in impending doom and suspense.

Plot

Exposition

The typhoon ends and villagers find a mysterious hole right below where the shrine once was.

Rising Action

Different people start to investigate the hole. When nothing was known about the hole mayor and villagers gave the hole to the concessionaire.

 Climax

Village and city start developing. The construction worker while taking his break hears someone shout and later fails to notice a pebble skim past him.

 Falling Action and Denouement

The story ends abruptly leaving the reader to guess and figure out the ending.

 Summary

·   The landslide in a typhoon sweeps away a shrine creating a mysterious hole. The villagers discuss over to repair and start rebuilding the shrine. While villagers exchanged their views, one of them noticed the hole.

·   A young man leans and shouts “He-y, come on Ou-t!” into the hole thinking it might be a foxhole. When no one answers, he throws in a pebble, despite the warning of the old man. The story of the bottomless hole spreads and attracts the attention of different stakeholders: scientists, media, concessionaires, etc.

·  These people try different methods to measure the depth of the hole and understand the phenomenon of the hole itself but fail. Scientist cannot comprehend the hole and the depth and simply says to fill it up.

·    A man (concessionaire) then comes forward and puts forward a proposal. He would fill the hole for them and build a new shrine attached to a meeting hall closer to their village. Villagers agree and the mayor gives his permission. The concessionaire gains control of the hole and asks his cohorts to conduct a campaign in the city about a hole-tilling company.

·    The campaign is successful and then the dumping of dangerous nuclear waste and all unwanted waste begins inclusive of old classified documents, corpses, weapons, etc. The hole shows no sign of filling up. The area grows and develops. The city becomes clean with all waste disappearing into the hole. People find an easy solution for unwanted waste and they keep expanding their city.

·    One day, a worker taking a break atop the high steel frame of a new building under construction hears a voice, “He-y, come on Ou-t!” followed by a pebble that he fails to notice. The story ends there, leaving the reader to imagine the chaos and destruction that will follow as the other contents of the hole make their way back to the people. 

Literary Devices

Symbolism

- Hole: Represents the Earth and consequences of human pollution
- Typhoon: Early warning of environmental destruction
- Shrine: Declining faith in tradition and morality
- Pebble: Small actions triggering bigger problems
- Old Man: Superstitious yet wise
- Young People: Careless, curious, irresponsible
- Reporters: Opportunistic and careless
- Echo / Voice: Unseen danger or warning
- Concessionaire: Greed-driven opportunists
- Classified documents / waste: Bureaucracy, corruption, irresponsibility
- Worker atop building: Younger generations facing consequences of predecessors’ actions

Satire

The story satirizes the concept of human being destroying the environment without realizing the eventual consequences.

Situational Irony

The people think they have found an easy solution for the dangerous waste. They keep discarding the waste into the hole without realizing the eventual consequences.

 Statement from text to support the Irony

1. The government stated: “There would be absolutely no above-ground contamination for several thousand years”

2. “The hole gave peace of mind to the dwellers of the city.”

Dramatic Irony

City dwellers and villagers fail to notice the pebble skim past from the sky. They fail to notice what goes around comes around.

Foreshadowing

The young man shouts and throws a pebble into the hole, at which the old man says, that might bring a curse upon them. This foreshadows the impending danger that falls upon them at the end.

Conflict

External Conflict (Man vs. Nature): The characters attempt to exploit a natural (or supernatural) phenomenon. They view the hole as a tool, while the hole eventually "responds" by returning what was given.

Internal Conflict: There is a lack of internal conflict among the villagers; their immediate surrender to greed and convenience shows a collective lack of conscience.

Conflict Resolution: The story utilizes an open ending (ambiguous resolution). While the physical "return" of the trash has begun with the pebble, the actual resolution—the destruction of the city—is left to the reader's imagination.

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Theme

We should never try to get rid of our problems in the easiest way because they come right back. We should face the problem and try to solve it instead of running away from it. The best proverb to describe the theme would be “What goes around comes around”

Practice Questions

1. Where does the story take place?
2. What happens to create the mysterious hole in the village?
3. Who gains control of the hole, and what do they do with it?
4. How does the story end, and why is it significant?

5. Discuss how symbolism is used to convey the ecological message.
6. Explain the situational and dramatic irony in the story.
7. What role does the old man play in the narrative?
8. How does Shinichi Hoshi use satire to critique society?

9. What does the story suggest about human behavior toward environmental problems?
10. How could the story have ended differently if the villagers had acted responsibly?