Coventry (short story)


"Coventry" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, part of his Future History series. It was first published in 1940 in Astounding Science Fiction, and later collected into the book Revolt in 2100 in 1953. The title is inspired by the British idiom "to send someone to Coventry". In 2017, the story won the Prometheus Hall of Fame award.

Plot summary

The story is set in the future on Earth in which a utopian government has the ability to psychologically "cure" criminals of violent personality traits. The protagonist, David MacKinnon, is a romantic idealist on trial for assault. Since the court determines he is a substantial risk to cause violence in the future, he is given a choice: either allow trained psychologists to fix him, or be exiled to a confinement area for other unregenerate people known as Coventry. MacKinnon chooses to emigrate to escape what he sees as the boredom of a too-civilized society. He is sent to the rugged outland beyond the Barrier that separates Coventry from the rest of the world, where people who refuse to abide by social norms and refuse psychotherapy are exiled. MacKinnon discovers that the peaceful anarchy he envisioned is in reality a bleak dystopia split into three separate "countries:"
He is jailed on arrival in New America, losing everything he had brought through the Barrier with him. Befriended by a man David knows only as "Fader" Magee, he breaks out of jail. He learns that New America and the Free State are combining forces to attack the outside civilization. He and Fader break out of Coventry separately to warn the country from which he had emigrated of the imminent attack. Back in the world he had left, MacKinnon learns that Fader is actually an agent of the United States Army, and that by risking his life to warn the rest of the country, he has redeemed himself and no longer needs therapy.

Influence on Dianetics

On March 8, 1949, fellow science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard wrote to Heinlein referencing Coventry as an influence on what would become Dianetics: