Appointment In Tomorrow

In Short

Set in a war-ravaged, post-atomic United States, the story follows the Thinkers, a group of charlatans who have seized cultural and political control by promising miraculous scientific advancements—like Mars travel and psychic enlightenment—that they cannot actually provide. As their figurehead, Jorj Helmuth, attempts to bridge the gap between their fabricated "miracles" and real physics, he is pushed aside by a cynical partner who prefers to rule through manipulation and brute force. It remains a sharp, resonant study of the fragility of truth in an age of propaganda.

The Story

The United States of the late twentieth century is a shell-shocked nation clutching at the promises of the Thinkers, a powerful organization that has filled the vacuum left by the collapse of traditional institutions. By presenting their massive electronic brain, "Maizie," as a near-divine oracle, the Thinkers have achieved absolute influence over the government. Jorj Helmuth, a high-ranking Thinker, views himself as a visionary who has used these theatrical lies to prepare the public for a future of genuine scientific progress. Driven by a desire for redemption, he secretly trains in advanced physics, hoping to transform their empty projects—like the fake Mars rockets—into actual, functioning technology.

Jorj arranges a conference with a group of skeptical, genuine physicists, led by the elderly Morton Opperly and his protégé, the aggressive Willard Farquar. Jorj hopes to enlist their help in developing a real nuclear-drive spaceship. However, Jorj’s partner, the hedonistic and ruthless Jan Tregarron, has no interest in such progress. Tregarron views the Thinkers’ role not as a bridge to reality, but as a permanent occupation of the public imagination. He sabotages Jorj’s conference and recruits Caddy, a woman trapped in a cycle of emotional manipulation, to bring the "ugly, bear-like" Willard Farquar into the fold.

Willard, motivated by a desire to infiltrate the organization and "bore from within," accepts the offer, sensing that the Thinkers are desperate for real technical expertise. Tregarron, having secured this new, more violent operative, decides that Jorj has become a liability. He rejects Jorj’s plea to initiate the "second big step" of replacing fantasy with fact, arguing that the public prefers the comforts of a "big lie" over the demands of reality.

In a cold, final confrontation, Tregarron forces Jorj into exile, condemning him to a two-year, automated "trip" to Mars in a fake rocket. Caddy, choosing the path of survival, confirms her allegiance to Tregarron by arming him against her former lover. Jorj is discarded, and Willard Farquar is prepared to take his place, marking the transition of the Thinkers from idealistic, if fraudulent, dreamers to a cold, militaristic regime. The story ends with the machinery of deception continuing smoothly, ensuring that the public remains safely distracted by the spectacle of the future while the architects of the lie consolidate their control.

How It Unfolds

The awakening of the dreamer Jorj Helmuth rises in his high-tech sanctuary, confident that his self-imposed mental conditioning has prepared him to lead humanity toward a genuine scientific revolution. He initiates a clandestine plan to enlist professional physicists, believing he can finally turn the Thinkers' elaborate theater into reality.

The shadow of the machine High-ranking government officials treat the Thinkers’ computer, Maizie, with religious dread, unaware that the "wisdom" it dispenses is merely the output of a bored, beer-drinking operator. The contrast between the officials' awe and the petty reality of the operation underscores the depth of the deception.

The collision of two worlds Willard Farquar’s resistance to the Thinkers is met with a sophisticated mixture of technology and psychological coercion. His mentor, Opperly, watches with detached sorrow as Farquar is drawn into the Thinkers' web, believing he can outsmart them from the inside.

The betrayal of the architect Jorj confronts Tregarron, only to realize that he has been a useful mask for a leader who has no intention of ever delivering on their promises. Tregarron dismisses Jorj’s idealism as a dangerous, naive sentimentality that threatens the stability of their profitable charade.

The final subversion Caddy’s final act of turning against Jorj seals his fate and cements the new power structure. The story concludes with the cynical, aggressive Willard poised to replace the idealistic, if deluded, Jorj, ensuring the survival of the lie.

The People

Jorj Helmuth serves as the story’s tragic, if flawed, central figure. He wants to be a hero who transforms a lie into the truth, but his arrogance blinds him to the fact that his partner has no such ambition. He ends his arc in total defeat, a victim of his own organizational creation.

Jan Tregarron is the cold, pragmatic villain who understands the power of the "big lie." He views people as tools to be manipulated through desire and fear. He remains unchanged, successfully consolidating his power by replacing a dreamer with a soldier.

Willard Farquar represents the corruption of the scientific ideal. Initially an angry, honest skeptic, he believes that by adopting the Thinkers' methods of deception, he can eventually destroy them. He ends the story as an infiltrator, already beginning to adopt the very cynicism he once despised.

Caddy is the emotional center of the story’s cycle of abuse. She is a woman whose autonomy has been eroded by the men around her, and her decision to betray Jorj is a desperate attempt to survive in a landscape where loyalty is a liability. She ends the story in a position of complicity, having fully surrendered her agency to Tregarron.

In Its Own Voice

"Is it possible to have a world without moral values? Or does lack of morality become a moral value, also?"

The narrator poses this central question while surveying the hollow, radiation-scarred landscape of the future.

"The Thinkers were able to contact them only because of our degree of learned mental poise and errorless memory-chains."

Jorj uses this pseudo-scientific jargon to maintain his dominance over the terrified, superstitious President of the United States.

"Perhaps in that time you will have learned wisdom, such as realizing that the big liar must never fall for his own big lie."

Tregarron delivers this final, brutal assessment to Jorj as he sends him into exile.

What It's Really About

At its core, this is a story about the intersection of power and mass psychology. It argues that in times of extreme uncertainty, people gravitate toward comforting illusions, and that those who control the narrative—the "Thinkers"—eventually become prisoners of the very fictions they create. The book questions whether a society can ever return to a grounding in reality once it has sacrificed its capacity for critical thought in exchange for the safety of a "big lie." It is a grim examination of how idealism is inevitably weaponized by the cynical, suggesting that the drive to improve society through top-down, revolutionary means often results in the creation of a more efficient, more ruthless authoritarianism.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy mid-century speculative fiction will appreciate the sharp, cynical tone and the vivid, gritty world-building. The book feels like a dark cousin to the optimism of the space age, stripping away the chrome and plastic to show the decay underneath. Its depiction of a post-truth political landscape is startlingly relevant, capturing the same anxieties regarding propaganda and institutional collapse that we face today.

The prose is precise and evocative, though modern readers may find the gender dynamics and the occasional use of "somno-learning" jargon reflective of its 1951 origins. The dialogue is snappy and often chilling, particularly the exchanges between the architects of the lie. It is a dense, thoughtful piece of work that does not offer easy answers; it lingers in the mind because it refuses to let its characters off the hook. If you enjoy stories that treat the reader as an intelligent observer of a complex, flawed world, this is a compelling and deeply unsettling experience.