Young Man from Elsewhen — Reading Companion

Voice and Characterization

The old man's voice is colloquial and defiant: 'Hell's fire!' he protests, and later tells Sandane, 'I was taking trains before you were born!' His daughter-in-law's admonitions—about medicine, cigars, and the club car—paint a picture of a man chafing against control. The narrator notes he 'turned off his hearing aid' to daydream, a small but telling detail. Sandane, the young man from elsewhen, speaks in measured, ethical tones: 'That would be highly unethical.' The contrast between the old man's earthy pragmatism and Sandane's futuristic restraint drives the dialogue.

The Body-Swap Bargain

The central premise is a body swap: Sandane offers to trade his youthful body for the old man's aged one, with the old man gaining a pain-free, hangover-free existence. The old man's skepticism is palpable: 'if this is all a gag, the joke's finished.' Sandane claims he can 'control the mind of anyone of this period at will' but refrains from coercion. The bargain includes money and clothes, and the old man eagerly orders 'all the things that ain't good for me,' knowing Sandane will suffer the arthritis. This transactional, almost comic negotiation grounds the science fiction in character.

Setting and Temporal Details

The story is set entirely on a train from Los Angeles to San Francisco, with specific references to Oakland and a daughter named Edna Bowers meeting the old man. The July heat contrasts with the old man's blanket. Sandane's origin is 'elsewhen,' a vague future where 'human nature is not immutable.' The old man's comment—'Must be a wonderful age to live in'—is undercut by Sandane's remark that 'many people want to get away from it.' The catalog subject 'California' is accurate, but the story uses the setting mainly as a confined stage for dialogue.

Readers should note that the excerpts cover only the first half of the story; the actual body swap and its consequences are not shown. The catalog subjects list 'time travel' and 'older men,' but the story's focus is less on the mechanics of time travel than on the old man's voice and the ethical dilemma. Pay attention to how Jacobs uses the train's confined space to heighten the intimacy and tension between the two characters.

The rain drummed on the window that afternoon, matching the steady rhythm of the train in Young Man from Elsewhen. I kept thinking about the old man’s stubborn, worn-down voice, how it held its ground against the traveler’s impossible promise. Later, a quiet thought drifted in about bodies as vessels, and I found myself reaching for Mists of Mars — Key Ideas to Explore instead. That book has its own whisper about our longings wearing thin.