Logan's Run

Plot conclusion

In the novel Francis, another sandman, catches up with Logan and Jessica after they have managed to escape the cities. He reveals that he and Ballard, a friend of Jessica and Logan who has helped them escape, are one and the same (he was wearing a disguise). The 40-year-old Ballard is working from within the system, and he believes that it is starting to die. Sanctuary turns out to be an abandoned space colony near Mars. Logan and Jessica escape to the colony on a rocket from the remains of the John F. Kennedy Space Center. Ballard remains to continue to help others escape.

Related Topics:
Mars - Rocket - John F. Kennedy Space Center

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The movie version of Logan's Run had a different outcome. Francis, who is Logan's best friend, follows Logan and Jessica in an attempt to save his friend and fulfill his duty by terminating Jessica. After narrowly escaping from Box's cave, Logan and Jessica conclude that all previous Runners were killed by Box and that Sanctuary does not exist. In the ruins of Washington D.C., they meet an old man -- well beyond the thirty-year lifespan that citizens are allowed, and in a confrontation between Logan and Francis, learn that the restrictions on population, Carousel, and the basis for their society are no longer necessary. Francis dies in the fight.

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Logan, Jessica, and Old Man decide to return to the City Of Domes to prove the inhabitants wrong. Logan and Jessica enter the city, are arrested, and are brought to the city computer for interrogation. Logan tells the computer about his findings -- there is no Sanctuary, nothing but ruins and an old man outside the city, and all the runners were frozen by Box. This runs contrary to what the computer holds as established fact, leading it to say several variatons on the classic "does not compute" and explode in a fit of cognitive dissonance, which in turn causes the explosive destruction of the City Of Domes. Logan and Jessica (and eventually the entire city populace) escape and the under-thirty citizens meet the old man who accompanied them, thus the human race is freed from totalitarian control. The film's ending is much more sentimental than the book's.

Related Topics:
Does not compute - Cognitive dissonance

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