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The Comet is a science fiction short story, written by W. E. B. Du Bois in 1920. It discusses the relationship between Jim Davis (a black man) and Julia (a wealthy white woman) after a comet hits New York and unleashes toxic gases which kill everyone except them. Originally published as the tenth chapter of Du Bois's ''Darkwater: Voices From Within the Veil'',〔(Darkwater ) at WEBDubois.org〕 ''The Comet'' was reprinted in the 2000 anthology ''Dark Matter: The Anthology of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction by Black Writers''.〔(Excerpt from ''Dark Matter'' ) at the African American Literature Book Club〕 ==Plot Summary== “The Comet” begins with the messenger named Jim descending into the lower vaults of the bank where he works to complete a task for the president. Jim silently considers his frustration with the task while the conversation of his superiors revolves around discussion of the "Comet.” While Jim is completing his assignment, the great stone door of the vault mysteriously closes shut. When Jim finds his way out and returns to street level, he discovers that the vault clerk and everyone else he encounters is dead. Jim walks up Fifth Avenue, enters a restaurant where he previously would not have been allowed to eat, and eventually finds a car and drives around the city but still finds no other living person. Near 72nd Street, Jim hears a woman’s voice crying out from the upper window of a home. The survivor is a white woman surprised to discover the only other survivor, her would-be hero, is a black man. The two travel to Harlem and the bank where the woman’s father works to check on their families but find no more living people and only a note at the bank from the woman's father. They attempt to contact the outside world by placing a call on a long distance telephone but receive no response from the phone call. They return to the bank and seem on the verge of overcoming their racial barriers in an act of procreation, when the girl’s father returns with a group of white men and the woman leaves Jim to join them. At the very end, a black woman parts from the group and rushes into Jim's arms after calling out his name. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Comet (short story)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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