“Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman, by Harlan Ellison, takes place in a futuristic setting. In this time, the people are constricted by a master schedule they must conform to, and for every minute one is late, he/she loses a minute of life. The ruler of this era is known as the Ticktockman. He is the one who overlooks and governs this world with an iron fist. The protagonist, the Harlequin, is one who is very petulant. He constantly breaks the rules of the master schedule and eludes the Ticktockman. The Ticktockman attempts to make the Harlequin repent for disobeying law, trying to conform him to his commands. Harlan Ellison illustrates how conformism ultimately leads to the death of individuality through organization, characterization, allusions, and diction. Organization mimics individuality while contrasting to the master schedule. The organization is juxtaposed with the Ticktockman. The Ticktockman is all about maintain a specific order and schedule. The Ticktockman’s own name describes the sound a clock makes. This further helps to describe how orderly he is and how he wants everyone else to be, like clockwork. The reader is also told at the beginning about the order of the story when it is stated, “ Now begin in the middle, and later learn the beginning; the end will take care of itself.” This targets the desire of the Ticktockman to control a certain order. Also, by beginning in the middle, the reader is lead to question who the Harlequin really is because there is less information about him, yet he is still illustrated as an individual. By having multiple digressions, the story is organized similar to a poem. Talking about events occurring in different parts in the city in correlation to the main event, visualizes the similarities to a poem. Even though these digressions seem to be off topic, their purpose later becomes evident. When Mr. Delahanty runs away to try to avoid the Ticktockman, we discover the Ticktockman’s true abilities. The people are so bounded by their schedules and tardiness can result in huge consequences, such as death, which is told in the beginning. Due to their conformity to their schedules, the people lack individuality. They do not have time to be ab