Plot: 4/9. It’s a flimsy fairytale with poor narrating, because Ellison didn’t explain how Harlequin got so many jellybeans, how Harlequin was caught, weather Alice told him out or not, what moved Harlequin to do those gimmicks, how his death influenced the society or how this society was so irredeemable that it didn’t change. So I think it a bit superficial yet funny.

Core: 4/9. Actually, I didn’t get the meaning of this story. The dystopia was not fully depicted to show punctuality was a bad thing.

If someone keeps you busy and don’t want you yo have leisure, it maybe owing to the fact that they want to manipulate you entirely without a good time to think thoroughly and properly. One way to judge whether your leader is tyrant of this type or not is to see whether they obey the same rules they set for you.

Character: 3/9. I cannot resonate with most of characters. They are all actually boilerplates without arcs for merely the theatrical effect.

Ticktockman = bad tyrant
joker = good rebel

World and Others: 2/9. How could everyone believe it reasonable to relate unpunctuality with death? Since people laughed at Harlequin, in all probability they didn’t like it either. How did it happen and why did it last? How could Ticktockman know whether a person was punctual or not in their private affairs? Did there exist any opportunity to appeal to the punishment?

Overall: 3/9. Like Vonnegut, I prefer Ellison’s writing skill to his world-building. They are the same type of writers I mildly dislike for their gimmickry rather than logic, sincerity or true wisdom. I think them as fictionists writing scientific terminology instead of scientific content. But I will not reject their work, for they at least know how to write fiction.