Project Gutenberg 2020-01-19 Public domain in the USA. 132 Walton, Bryce 1918 1988 O'Hara, Kenneth Schelling, George 1938 Schelling, George Luther Schelling, George L. Schelling The Recruit Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, July 1962 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Recruit" by Bryce Walton is a science fiction short story written in the early 1960s. The narrative follows Wayne Seton, a 16-year-old boy grappling with feelings of impatience and a yearning for adventure as he prepares for his draft call, which symbolizes a rite of passage into adulthood. The story delves into themes of youth, aggression, and societal expectations. Wayne's adventure begins when he receives his draft call, which he interprets as his ticket to manhood and freedom from the mundane life with his parents. However, as he ventures into the darker, more dangerous side of the city, seeking excitement and a thrill, he finds himself confronting his own impulses and moral dilemmas. He is assigned to eliminate two individuals deemed “undesirables” by the state—one a psychopathic killer and the other a victim of circumstance, a young woman with a tragic past. In the climactic moment, Wayne's instinct for violence is challenged when he cannot bring himself to kill the girl, leading to an internal conflict about humanity and morality. The story concludes with Wayne being returned to a controlled environment for treatment, highlighting the struggles between societal conditioning and individual choices. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 86.2 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Psychological fiction Executions and executioners -- Fiction Teenage boys -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 48251 2025-07-24T09:37:50.258644 text/html 24346 2024-10-17T15:54:56 text/html 220982 2025-07-24T09:37:52.236672 application/epub+zip 219819 2025-07-24T09:37:50.746639 application/epub+zip 81080 2025-07-24T09:37:50.420647 application/epub+zip 255131 2025-07-24T09:37:53.610618 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 248023 2025-07-24T09:37:51.933661 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 109544 2022-09-27T16:26:37.861441 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 41284 2025-07-24T09:37:50.146629 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 21543 2024-10-17T15:54:56 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17742 2025-07-24T09:37:53.819612 application/rdf+xml 28380 2025-07-24T09:37:50.586622 image/jpeg 4839 2025-07-24T09:37:50.460681 image/jpeg 357434 2025-07-24T09:37:50.270701 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia