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Ted is one of the characters stuck inside AM—an enormous, all-powerful, sadistic supercomputer—along with Ellen, Benny, Gorrister, and Nimdok. Ted is the narrator of the story, so the reader’s perceptions of life inside AM are filtered through his perspective. Having been trapped with his companions inside AM and subjected to the computer’s relentless physical and psychological torture for 109 years, Ted has pessimistically resigned to their shared misery. Ted feels alienated from his four companions and grows increasingly suspicious that they all secretly despise him because he is the youngest and least affected by AM. By his estimation, they are reprehensible and worthless: the other three men are “bastards” and Ellen is a “dirty bitch” whose only redeeming quality is her role as the men’s sex object. Ted believes that he is the only one of the five who isn’t crazy or damaged, since AM hasn’t gotten into his head. But the reader can see that this clearly isn’t the case, given Ted’s ever-increasing paranoia and the extreme psychological distress he experiences from AM’s punishments, and so Ted is cast as an unreliable narrator. In fact, AM frequently inserts itself into Ted’s mind and barrages him with terrible thoughts and sensations that utterly devastate Ted. Throughout the story, AM starves the group for months and keeps them alive in agony, and Benny cannibalizes Gorrister as a result. Watching this horrific act, Ted has the epiphany that death is the group’s only escape. He makes a snap decision to murder his companions in an act of compassion, saving them from eternal torment. Picking up on his plan, Ellen kills Nimdok, and Ted kills Benny, Gorrister, and Ellen. With the others gone, AM ensures that Ted will never be able to kill himself—instead, he will live within AM forever as a mouthless, slug-like creature that barely even resembles the human he used to be. It is in this state, at the end of the story, that Ted declares, “I have no mouth. And I must scream.”
Ted Quotes in I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
The I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream quotes below are all either spoken by Ted or refer to Ted. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream Quotes
Ellen was grateful, though. She took me twice out of turn. Even that had ceased to matter. And she never came, so why bother?
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After Ted agrees to accompany the rest of the group to the ice caves in search of canned goods, Ellen thanks Ted by having sex with him “twice out of turn.” This passage begins to explore the group’s dynamics surrounding gender and sex. As Ted’s narration later reveals, he expects Ellen to “service” the other men by having sex with them all, objectifying her as the sole woman in the group and tying her worth and purpose to her ability to sexually gratify the men. This passage begins to point to that arrangement by suggesting that they have some sort Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in.
On the third day we passed through a valley of obsolescence, filled with rusting carcasses of ancient computer banks. AM had been as ruthless with its own life as with ours. It was a mark of his personality: it strove for perfection. Whether it was a matter of killing off unproductive elements in his own world-filling bulk, or perfecting methods for torturing us, AM was as thorough as those who had invented him—now long since gone to dust—could ever have hoped.
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As the group travels to the ice caves—still strung along by a vague promise that canned goods will be waiting for them there—they journey through a valley dotted with decaying computer parts. Ted suggests that this carnage was AM’s doing, as AM’s violent and warped perfectionism leads it to destroy anything in its path, be it technology or humankind. Ted’s suggestion that “AM had been as ruthless with its own life as with ours” raises the possibility that these “ancient computer banks” were perhaps older iterations of AM itself. Later in the story, Gorrister explains that during World War Three, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti s
And besides, we all saw through her concern. When AM had altered Benny, during the machine’s utterly irrational, hysterical phase, it was not merely Benny’s face the computer had made like a giant ape’s. He was big in the privates, she loved that! She serviced us, as a matter of course, but she loved it from him. Oh Ellen, pedestal Ellen, pristine-pure Ellen, oh Ellen the clean! Scum filth.
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As Ted thinks about how AM warped and changed Benny—who is now ape-like and mad—his thoughts turn to his searing contempt for Ellen. Ted is convinced that Ellen is not the sweet and “pristine-pure” woman she pretends to be, instead convinced that she plays favorites among the men (preferring sex with Benny over any of the others). Elsewhere in the story, though, he scoffs at how Ellen doesn’t seem to enjoy this arrangement of having four men to have sex with, suggesting that she should be more grateful. In other words, throughout the story Ted criticizes Ellen for liking sex Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam
I fled like a cockroach, across the floor and out into the darkness, that something moving inexorably after me. The others were still back there, gathered around the firelight, laughing…their hysterical choir of insane giggles rising up into the darkness […] Nimdok tried to persuade me it had only been a nervous reflect on their part—the laughing.
But I knew it wasn’t the relief a soldier feels when the bullet hits the man next to him. I knew it wasn’t a reflect. They hated me. They were surely against me, and AM could even sense this hatred, and made it worse for me because of the depth of their hatred.
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When AM tortures Ted with the sense that there is “something moving inexorably after [him],” he flees in terror, much to his companions’ amusement. This passage is the only clear example of Ted’s companions turning against him, but for Ted it unequivocally confirms his fears that his companions hate him. And their laughter is indeed bizarre, given that they are all subject to AM’s torture and thus shouldn’t find it funny when AM sets its sights on Ted. This laughter, then, suggests that Ted may be sensing a very real divisiveness in the group. However, Nimdok raises another fairly reasonable Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui digni
I was the only one still sane and whole. Really!
AM had not tampered with my mind. Not at all.
I only had to suffer what he visited down on us. All the delusions, all the nightmares, the torments. But those scum, all four of them, they were lined and arrayed against me. If I hadn’t had to stand them off all the time, be on my guard against them all the time, I might have found it easier to combat AM.
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After thinking about how AM has mentally or physically warped all of his companions, Ted asserts that AM did nothing to change him. Because of this belief, Ted is consequently convinced that he has to shoulder the burden of AM’s incessant abuse in a way that his companions do not. This passage speaks to Ted’s proclivity to set himself apart from his companions. Instead of seeing AM’s suffering as something they all have to grapple with, Ted tells himself that he’s the only one who really has to deal with it. Of course, there is little to no basis for Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a de
Oh, Jesus sweet Jesus, if there ever was a Jesus and if there is a God, please please please let us out of here, or kill us. […]
If there was a sweet Jesus and if there was a God, the God was AM.
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Here, Ted despairs privately about his own helplessness in the face of AM’s powerful wrath, petitioning Jesus to kill him and his companions to put them out of their misery. Moments later, though, Ted decides that the benevolent savior that is Jesus in the Christian tradition doesn’t actually exist, and that his prayers are fruitless. Ted realizes that AM’s power is so vast and awe-inspiring that the machine is practically God—though a violent and hateful one—which reveals the story’s underlying message that technology can be as harmful as it is helpful, and that technology is a powerful force to reckon Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferend
We had given AM sentience. Inadvertently, of course, but sentience nonetheless. But it had been trapped. AM wasn’t God, he was a machine. We had created him to think, but there was nothing it could do with that creativity. In rage, in frenzy, the machine had killed the human race, almost all of us, and still it was trapped. AM could not wander, AM could not wonder, AM could not belong. He could merely be. And so, with the innate loathing that all machines had always held for the weak soft creatures who had built them, he had sought revenge.
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After AM invades Ted’s mind and leaves him with a physically and emotionally painful message about how much AM hates humankind, Ted considers why that might be. He eventually realizes that AM is forced to live a limited existence forever—unlike humans, AM can’t experience community, freedom, or spirituality, the kinds of things that make life rich and meaningful. Instead, AM merely exists, and this is why AM “had sought revenge.” This passage has a few layers of thematic significance; besides highlighting the difference between truly living versus merely existing, this passage also emphasizes the inherent dangers in inventing new technologies. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt.
Inwardly: alone. Here. Living. Under the land, under the sea, in the belly of AM, whom we created because our time was badly spent and we must have known unconsciously that he could do it better. At least the four of them are safe at last.
AM will be all the madder for that. It makes me a little happier. And yet…AM had won, simply…he has taken his revenge…
I have no mouth. And I must scream.
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This passage, which forms the final lines of the story and gives the story its title, leaves readers with a glimpse of what will happen to Ted: he will be forever trapped in the mechanical belly of AM, forced to endure AM’s creative punishments and incessant torture for the rest of time. Ted expresses regret that humankind ever turned to technology to optimize their lives, because that kind of mindset is what led to AM’s creation and eventual domination. Using Ted as a mouthpiece, Ellison emphasizes the many dangers underpinning technological advancements—even advancements meant to make the world better, safer, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimo
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Ted Character Timeline in I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
The timeline below shows where the character Ted appears in I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
...himself. Ellen strokes Gorrister’s hair, and he wonders aloud why AM doesn’t just kill them. The narrator notes that they’ve been trapped inside a computer called AM for 109 years.
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...hallucinates that there are canned goods waiting for them in the ice caverns. Gorrister and the narrator are skeptical. Nimdok knows that it might indeed be another one of AM’s tricks, but...
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Ellen begs the narrator, Ted, to agree to go to the ice caves. He gives in, and Ellen initiates sex...
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...make their way to the ice caves, Nimdok and Gorrister carry Ellen, while Benny and Ted bookend the group in an effort to insulate and protect Ellen from anything that may...
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Suddenly, Ellen starts screaming at Benny, who has been muttering that he’s going to escape. Ted thinks that Benny. is the luckiest among them since he went insane several years ago....
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Benny jumps up to a metal ledge and Ellen cries for Ted and Nimdok to help him, but Ted thinks that he and the rest of the...
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Gorrister slaps Ellen, who dissolves into tears, a reaction which Ted bitterly thinks is just a defense mechanism. Suddenly, light and sound pour out of Benny’s...
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Ted screams and flees across the cavern. The others in the group laugh at Ted for...
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Ted thinks bitterly about his companions, especially “that dirty bitch Ellen.” Prior to their captivity, Benny...
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It’s not entirely clear to Ted what AM has done to Nimdok, but it is clear that AM has affected him...
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Ted believes himself to be the only sane one (“Really!”), and that AM hasn’t messed with...
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Crying, Ted prays to Jesus to kill them all. He realizes that AM plans to keep them...
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AM then infiltrates Ted’s mind, admiring the damage he’s inflicted on the man over the past 109 years. AM...
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Ted realizes that AM hates them so much because humans accidentally gave AM sentience. Despite his...
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...hatred for humankind. Even though some of the five have attempted suicide, AM always intervenes. Ted knows, though, that he and his companions are “not indestructible.”
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Ravenous and desperate, Benny pounces on Gorrister and begins to cannibalize him. Strangely calm, Ted realizes that the only way they can escape this torture is through death. He thinks...
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Ted notes that hundreds of years have passed since he killed his companions, though AM has...
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AM left Ted’s mind untouched, preserving his ability to “dream,” “wonder,” and “lament.” Although Ted knows that he...
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Ted is alone inside of AM, a machine that humans invented “because our time was badly...
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