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The Builder
"The Builder" is a short story by Philip K. Dick. It was first published in Amazing Stories, December, 1953-January 1954 with illustration by Ed Emshwiller. Dick had submitted many short stories to magazines and made approximately fifteen sales before becoming a client of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. This was his first SMLA submission, received by SMLA on July 23, 1952. His second SMLA submission was Meddler, received by SMLA on July 24, 1952. The SMLA file card for "The Builder" shows it was submitted to mainstream magazines The Atlantic Monthly and Harper's before it was submitted to Amazing Stories and has an SMLA sub-agent's notation, "IT ISN'T SCIENCE FICTION".
The story centers around a man named Elwood living with his family in 1950s suburbia. He builds a boat in his back yard, to great annoyance to his wife and neighbors. When they ask him why he builds it, he tells them he doesn't know. Elwood exhibits post traumatic stress disorder, and shuns most people around him, including his family and co-workers. One day, he decides to go home in the middle of his job to work on the boat. He gazes at the boat, wondering why he's building it. As it starts raining, he finally realizes why.
The story centers around a man named Elwood living with his family in 1950s suburbia. He builds a boat in his back yard, to great annoyance to his wife and neighbors. When they ask him why he builds it, he tells them he doesn't know. Elwood exhibits post traumatic stress disorder, and shuns most people around him, including his family and co-workers. One day, he decides to go home in the middle of his job to work on the boat. He gazes at the boat, wondering why he's building it. As it starts raining, he finally realizes why.
16 pages, Unknown Binding
First published December 1, 1953
42 people want to read
About the author
Philip K. Dick
2,010 books22.5k followersPhilip Kindred Dick was a prolific American science fiction author whose work has had a lasting impact on literature, cinema, and popular culture. Known for his imaginative narratives and profound philosophical themes, Dick explored the nature of reality, the boundaries of human identity, and the impact of technology and authoritarianism on society. His stories often blurred the line between the real and the artificial, challenging readers to question their perceptions and beliefs.
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 27, 2019
You will probably guess the ending. Heck, anybody with even a nodding acquaintance with the Bible could guess this ending. But that’s okay, because this time Philip Dick isn’t writing mind-bending fiction, he is re-creating myth instead.
“The Builder” tells of a man named Elwood who is obsessed with his hobby. In itself this wouldn’t be remarkable—in the ‘50’s, every suburban man was expected to have a hobby—but Elwood’s hobby is different. He is building a big boat in his backyard, so big it would be impossible to put it on a trailer and drive it to the lake. And the worst part is, when his wife and his neighbors ask him why he is building it, Elwood tells them he doesn’t really know.
Originally published in the December 1953 issue of Amazing Stories, this brief tale—in its depiction of Elwood’s family, neighbors, and work life—does an efficient job of evoking the banality and anxiety of the Eisenhower years. But the real greatness of it lies in its portrait of Elwood as an innovator and instinctive genius. Although he doesn’t know why, he must keep building, no matter what the world says. I think Philip K. Dick put a lot of himself in Elwood.
The only reason I didn’t give this story my highest rating is that I believe its last sentence sums up things just a little too neatly. But that’s only a minor blemish. This is a powerful story, one that has haunted me for almost a week. And every time I see the face of Elwood, he looks like Philip Dick.
July 17, 2017
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
As the boat in Philip K. Dick’s story The Builder, published in the 1953/54 edition of “Amazing Stories”, lacks any motor or sail, rowing can probably not be avoided. The protagonist Ernest Elwood, a Second World War vet, is enthralled by a monomania: Not only does he spend all his free time building an unwieldy boat, but he also tends more and more to return from work in the middle of the day or to walk out of conversations in order to carry on his strange project. While his wife and his older son are ashamed of him, only Toddy, the younger boy, gives him a hand, and he has even been involved in drawing the plans.
Noah’s Ark is looming large in this story, especially when the final sentence mentions “great black drops of rain”, which all of a sudden make Elwood realize why he has been spending all this time building a boat. At the same time, the story is more than just an obvious allusion to the Bible because we cannot know for sure whether Elwood is a modern-day Noah, obeying some obscure but nevertheless helpful impulse, or whether he is not simply a mentally-disturbed man, suffering from a post-traumatic stress syndrome. After all, the raindrops may be a figment of Elwood’s imagination, their blackness suggesting the effect of nuclear fallout. At one point in the story, when Elwood is scolded by his wife, he says,
Well, maybe he has. On the other hand, Dick gives a not too flattering impression of the daily talk of Elwood’s family and colleagues, an impression that conjures up the bigoted and angst-ridden atmosphere of 1950s suburbian America. There is a lot of talk going on about nuclear bombs and an impending war, which clearly vexes Elwood, and while his wife lacks understanding and is just concerned about what her neighbours might think about them, Elwood’s colleagues are sexist racists and the conversations they hold are definitely hard to bear. All in all, I really could understand why Elwood, living in such a kind of world, has the urge to withdraw into his shell and concentrate on his hobby, however strange it may be.
Perhaps the boat building is a metaphor for any kind of hobby and occupation which allows us to keep away from a world that we have the feeling has grown shallow and unsatisfactory, something that allows us to keep our mind clean and simultaneously to spend some time on with those we really love and understand. This kind of thing may not have an ulterior purpose and be a source of ridicule for outsiders, and it may not seem to be getting us anywhere (just like a boat without a motor), but to us it is the key to survival. I am writing this as an avid reader of books, you know.
As the boat in Philip K. Dick’s story The Builder, published in the 1953/54 edition of “Amazing Stories”, lacks any motor or sail, rowing can probably not be avoided. The protagonist Ernest Elwood, a Second World War vet, is enthralled by a monomania: Not only does he spend all his free time building an unwieldy boat, but he also tends more and more to return from work in the middle of the day or to walk out of conversations in order to carry on his strange project. While his wife and his older son are ashamed of him, only Toddy, the younger boy, gives him a hand, and he has even been involved in drawing the plans.
Noah’s Ark is looming large in this story, especially when the final sentence mentions “great black drops of rain”, which all of a sudden make Elwood realize why he has been spending all this time building a boat. At the same time, the story is more than just an obvious allusion to the Bible because we cannot know for sure whether Elwood is a modern-day Noah, obeying some obscure but nevertheless helpful impulse, or whether he is not simply a mentally-disturbed man, suffering from a post-traumatic stress syndrome. After all, the raindrops may be a figment of Elwood’s imagination, their blackness suggesting the effect of nuclear fallout. At one point in the story, when Elwood is scolded by his wife, he says,
”’I – I hear people talking, and it makes me uneasy. I want to get away from them. There’s something about it all, about them. Their ways. Maybe I have claustrophobia.’”
Well, maybe he has. On the other hand, Dick gives a not too flattering impression of the daily talk of Elwood’s family and colleagues, an impression that conjures up the bigoted and angst-ridden atmosphere of 1950s suburbian America. There is a lot of talk going on about nuclear bombs and an impending war, which clearly vexes Elwood, and while his wife lacks understanding and is just concerned about what her neighbours might think about them, Elwood’s colleagues are sexist racists and the conversations they hold are definitely hard to bear. All in all, I really could understand why Elwood, living in such a kind of world, has the urge to withdraw into his shell and concentrate on his hobby, however strange it may be.
Perhaps the boat building is a metaphor for any kind of hobby and occupation which allows us to keep away from a world that we have the feeling has grown shallow and unsatisfactory, something that allows us to keep our mind clean and simultaneously to spend some time on with those we really love and understand. This kind of thing may not have an ulterior purpose and be a source of ridicule for outsiders, and it may not seem to be getting us anywhere (just like a boat without a motor), but to us it is the key to survival. I am writing this as an avid reader of books, you know.
February 14, 2021
This is for me an absolute amazing story! The power of subconsciousness and the powerless of the conscious mind. How we do things without our knowing. That control is an illusion. That our lives are something we watch happening and unfolding but aren't actively participating in it. We are all just puppets of our own abstract mind.
December 27, 2023
el constructor
me gusto que es un relato mas humano, mas profundo, intenta tomarse como una literatura mas seria, mas personal al protagonista y su sufrimiento por sus pensamientos, queda corto al ser de los primeros relatos. podria definirlo como un cuento mas existencialista.
me gusto que es un relato mas humano, mas profundo, intenta tomarse como una literatura mas seria, mas personal al protagonista y su sufrimiento por sus pensamientos, queda corto al ser de los primeros relatos. podria definirlo como un cuento mas existencialista.
April 13, 2018
Showcases the loss and ridicule Noah must have felt. Predictable, but enjoyable and powerful!
December 7, 2023
A nice story with a good buildup and pacing, outstanding characterizations, but a silly ending.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews