- Author: Isaac Asimov — one of the greatest American science-fiction writers of the 20th century, known for making science simple and exciting.
- Main characters: Margie (age 11) — the central character who hates her mechanical school; Tommy (age 13) — the older boy who finds the old printed book.
- Setting: The year 2155 AD — a future world where children study at home from mechanical teachers and books are read on television screens.
- Genre / type: Science-fiction short story built on irony — the future child envies the children of the past.
- Central theme: Technology versus the human touch — machines can teach facts but cannot give the joy, friendship, and warmth that make school truly fun.
- Famous last line: “What fun they had!” — Margie’s wistful thought about old-fashioned schools; this is also the source of the title.
- Board weightage: ~5 marks per paper — usually one short-answer (2–3 marks) or long-answer (5–6 marks), plus extract-based MCQs in newer pattern papers.
1. About the author — Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) was a Russian-born American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of science fiction and popular science of all time. He wrote or edited more than 500 books across almost every field of knowledge.
Asimov is best known for his science-fiction series including Foundation, the Robot series, and countless short stories. His writing style is clear, logical, and full of ideas about what the future might look like. “The Fun They Had” was first published in 1951 in a newspaper for children. Even though it was written more than seventy years ago, its themes about technology and education feel more relevant today than ever.
A key feature of Asimov’s science fiction is that he does not just describe fancy gadgets — he uses them to make the reader think about human values. In this story, he uses a future world with mechanical teachers and television-screen books to ask a simple but powerful question: Has all our technology made learning more fun, or less?
2. Summary
The story begins on 17 May 2155. Margie, an eleven-year-old girl, writes in her diary: “Today Tommy found a real book!” In this futuristic world, books are not made of paper; instead, everything is read on television screens. So when thirteen-year-old Tommy finds an actual old-fashioned printed book in the attic of his house, both children are amazed. Its pages are yellow and crinkly, and the words stand still on the page instead of moving across a screen as they are used to. Tommy thinks it is a waste — once you read the book you throw it away, whereas a single television screen holds a million books.
The book is about school. Margie hates school more than anything. Her school is not a building — it is a mechanical teacher, a large black machine with a big screen, kept in a special schoolroom right next to her bedroom. The machine gives lessons, sets tests, and marks homework immediately. Margie must write her answers in a punch code and insert papers into a slot. She has been doing very badly in geography recently. Her mother called the County Inspector — a round little man with a red face and a box of tools. He took the mechanical teacher apart, examined it, and found that the geography sector had been geared a little too fast for an average ten-year-old. He slowed it down to the right level. Margie had secretly hoped the inspector would not be able to put the teacher back together, but he did, easily.
Reading the old book, the children discover that schools used to be very different. Centuries ago there were special buildings where all the children of a neighbourhood would go. They were taught by human teachers — real men and women. Children of the same age learned the same things together. They helped one another with homework, talked about their lessons, laughed and played in the schoolyard, and walked home at the end of the day. Margie finds all of this difficult to believe. How could a man be a teacher? Could a man know as much as a mechanical teacher? How could a strange man live in their house? Tommy laughs and explains that the teacher lived in his own house and all the children went to a separate building called a school. This explanation makes the old-fashioned school sound even more wonderful to Margie.
Before they can finish reading, Margie’s mother calls out that it is time for school. Margie asks for more reading time but is refused. She goes into her schoolroom, where the mechanical teacher is already switched on: “Today’s arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday’s homework in the proper slot.” While doing her sums, Margie cannot stop thinking about the old schools. She imagines children from the whole neighbourhood sitting together in classrooms, laughing and shouting in the yard, going home together at the end of the day. The story closes with her wistful thought: “What fun they had!”
3. Character sketches
Margie — Margie is an eleven-year-old girl living in the year 2155. She is the central character and the one whose feelings drive the whole story. She is curious and imaginative — the old book fascinates her and she keeps asking Tommy questions about the old-fashioned school. She is also deeply unhappy and lonely: she hates her mechanical teacher, especially the homework slot, and she studies completely alone, with no friends to talk to. Margie is sensitive and thoughtful; she does not simply dismiss the old schools as primitive but genuinely longs for the company and fun they must have offered. Her final thought — “What fun they had!” — shows both her longing and her sadness. She represents any child who has been left behind by cold, impersonal systems of education and who yearns for human connection.
Tommy — Tommy is thirteen years old, two years older than Margie. He is the one who finds the old book in his attic and who knows more about old-fashioned schools than Margie does. He plays the role of the slightly superior, knowledgeable older boy: he explains things with a tone of patience mixed with mild contempt, laughing at Margie’s questions. He thinks printed books are old and wasteful. Although Tommy is less emotionally affected than Margie by what they read, it is his discovery that sets the whole story in motion. He represents the children of the future who are so used to technology that they take it for granted.
Margie’s mother — She is a careful and responsible parent who has high hopes for Margie’s education. When Margie’s geography marks fall, she calls the County Inspector at once. She enforces the school schedule strictly, calling Margie away from the book when her lesson time begins. She loves her daughter but is entirely accepting of the mechanical system and does not question whether it is good for Margie’s happiness.
The County Inspector — He is a round little man with a red face who carries a box of tools with dials and wires. He is calm, professional, and kind — he pats Margie on the head, tells her she is not at fault, and fixes the over-fast geography sector by slowing it down to the right pace for a ten-year-old. He is a symbol of the technical system that controls education in this future world: a mechanic who services the teacher as one would service a machine.
4. Themes
- Technology versus the human touch: The most important theme of the story is the contrast between cold mechanical education and warm human education. Margie’s mechanical teacher is technically perfect but emotionally empty. The old human teachers of the past were less technically advanced but gave children friendship, joy, and a sense of belonging. Asimov argues that technology should serve human needs, not replace human warmth.
- The joy of learning together: Margie studies entirely alone. The children of the past learned the same things at the same time and could help and talk to each other. The story insists that companionship is a vital part of real education — school is not only about gaining knowledge but also about growing up with friends.
- Irony — the future envying the past: We usually think the future is better than the past. Asimov reverses this: a child of the advanced year 2155 envies children of a much simpler, earlier time. What seems old-fashioned and even primitive to us — a paper book, a classroom, a human teacher — is the very thing Margie longs for. This irony is the heart of the story.
- Loss and nostalgia: Even though Margie has never experienced an old-fashioned school, she feels a sense of loss for something she has never had. Her longing shows that some human needs — friendship, shared laughter, the presence of other people — are so deep that no machine can satisfy them.
- A warning about the future of education: Written in 1951, the story reads like a prophecy about online and screen-based learning. Asimov quietly warns that if we are not careful, the drive for technological efficiency could strip away the fun and humanity of education.
5. Literary devices
- Irony (the central device): The title itself is ironic. “The Fun They Had” refers to the past — the children of the future wish they could have the “old-fashioned” fun of going to a real school. The whole story is a reversal of the idea that progress always means improvement.
- Contrast: Asimov builds the story on a sustained contrast between future schools (mechanical, lonely, cold, isolated) and past schools (human, warm, social, lively). Every detail reinforces this opposition — television screens versus paper books, punch codes versus ordinary writing, a machine versus a human teacher.
- Imagery: Vivid images make the story memorable: the book with pages that are “yellow and crinkly”, words that “stand still” on the page, the County Inspector as “a round little man with a red face”, children laughing and shouting in the schoolyard.
- First-person diary entry (frame): The story begins with Margie’s diary entry — “Today Tommy found a real book!” This device immediately makes the reader feel close to Margie and signals that the events are personal and emotionally significant to her.
- Foreshadowing: Margie’s misery at her mechanical school at the start prepares us for her deep longing at the end. The discovery of the book about school foreshadows the story’s central comparison.
- Science-fiction setting as commentary: Asimov uses a futuristic setting not for entertainment alone but to comment on real, present-day ideas about education. The future world is a magnifying glass that shows the flaws of any system that values efficiency over humanity.
- Dialogue: The conversation between Tommy and Margie is natural and carries all the important information about the two systems of education without feeling like a lecture. Tommy’s patient, slightly superior tone and Margie’s innocent questioning make both characters vivid and believable.
6. Word meanings
- Crinkly — wrinkled; having small folds or creases (the old pages of the book were crinkly).
- Attic — a space or room just below the roof of a house, used for storage.
- Scornful — feeling or showing that someone or something is worthless or inferior; contemptuous.
- Loftily — in a proud and superior manner; acting as though above others.
- Sector — a section or part of something (here, the geography section of the mechanical teacher’s programming).
- Dispute — an argument or disagreement.
- Punch code — a system of writing answers using holes punched in a special card, read by a machine.
- Slot — a narrow opening or groove; here, the slit in the mechanical teacher where homework papers are inserted.
- Inspector — an official who examines and checks that things are working correctly.
- Adjusted — made small changes to something so that it fits or works better.
- Nonchalantly — in a casually calm and relaxed manner, showing no concern or excitement.
- Geared — set or adjusted to a particular speed or level (the geography sector was geared too fast).
- Arithmetic — the branch of mathematics dealing with numbers and basic calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division).
- Inserted — put something into a slot or opening.
- Wistfully — in a sadly thoughtful way, with a gentle longing for something; the mood of Margie’s final thought about the old schools.
Tommy found a real, old-fashioned printed book in the attic of his house. It was different from the books the children knew because, in their world of 2155, all books were read on television screens. The printed book had paper pages that were yellow and crinkly, and the words stood still on the page instead of moving across a screen. Tommy thought it was a waste because once you read it you simply threw it away, while a single television screen could hold a million books.
Margie’s school was not a building. It was a mechanical teacher — a large black machine with a big screen — kept in a special schoolroom right next to her bedroom. It gave lessons on the screen, set tests, and marked papers instantly. Margie studied completely alone, with no friends. The part she hated most was the slot into which she had to insert her homework and test papers, written in a special punch code she had learned as a small child. The machine gave her marks immediately and kept a record of everything.
Margie had been doing worse and worse in her geography tests. Her mother grew worried about these poor results. She called the County Inspector to examine the mechanical teacher. The inspector found that the geography sector had been geared too fast for an average ten-year-old, so he slowed it down to the right level. He patted Margie on the head and reassured her mother that Margie was not to blame.
Several sentences reveal Margie’s dislike. The narrator states: “Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever.” She hated the mechanical teacher, and in particular she hated the slot — “She had always hated it, but now she hated it more than ever, writing her homework and test papers in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old.” Even when the inspector came to fix the machine, the narrator notes: “Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again.” These lines show that Margie found her school cold, lonely, and joyless. She longed for something different — which is why the old printed book about a real school fascinated her so deeply.
The children of 2155 had mechanical teachers — machines with screens that gave lessons, set tests, and marked papers automatically. There were no human teachers in their world. When Margie’s geography marks fell, her mother called the County Inspector. He was a round little man with a red face who arrived with a box of tools with dials and wires. He took the mechanical teacher apart, examined it carefully, and found that the geography sector had been geared a little too fast for an average ten-year-old. He slowed it down to the right level, patted Margie on the head, and told her mother she was not to blame. He represents the technicians who maintain and repair the teaching machines in this future world.
Tommy and Margie had been studying the way all children of their time did — from mechanical teachers in their homes, completely alone. Margie found it very hard to believe that a man could be a teacher because her only experience of a teacher was her mechanical machine. She could not imagine a man knowing as much as the machine, which knew “everything” and could give lessons on any subject at any level. She also puzzled over how a strange man could live in their house to teach her — she did not yet understand that in the old days children went to a school building, not the other way around. Tommy had to explain this to her patiently.
Tommy explained that old schools were special buildings where all the children of the neighbourhood went together. They were taught by human teachers — real men and women. Children of the same age learned the same things at the same time, and they could help one another with their homework and talk about their lessons. The teachers did not live in anyone’s house — they lived in their own homes and the children went to the school building. Margie was fascinated. At first she was puzzled and asked many questions, but as Tommy explained, the idea of so many children learning together, playing together, and walking home together began to seem very appealing and wonderful to her. It made her own lonely mechanical schooling feel even more dull and sad by comparison.
Margie was doing badly in geography not because she was careless or stupid, but because the geography sector of her mechanical teacher had been set at too fast a pace for an average ten-year-old. The County Inspector discovered this when he took the machine apart and examined it. He slowed the geography sector down to the proper level for her age. He reassured both Margie and her mother that Margie was not to blame. This episode highlights a key weakness of mechanical teaching: it must be set by a technician and has no human ability to naturally adjust to a child’s needs and moods.
The story suggests that in the future (the year 2155) schools will have completely moved into individual homes, where each child studies alone from a mechanical teacher — a computer-like machine that gives lessons on a screen, sets tests, and marks papers instantly. There will be no school buildings, no classmates, and no human teachers. Books will be read on television screens rather than on paper. The story suggests, through Margie’s longing, that old-fashioned schools — with their buildings, human teachers, classrooms full of children, shared laughter, and walks home together — were far more joyful and enriching, even if they seem simple and old-fashioned. The “old” ways turn out to be the better ones for human happiness.
Margie is an eleven-year-old girl living in the year 2155 who hates her lonely, mechanical school. She finds the old printed book fascinating because it is about school — but a completely different kind of school, with a building, human teachers, and children studying together, which she has never experienced.
Margie hated her mechanical teacher so much that she secretly hoped that if the inspector could not reassemble it, she would be free from school for a while. But the inspector put the machine back together easily in about an hour, dashing her hope.
The date is written by Margie in her diary and is the very first line of the story. It immediately tells the reader that the story is set far in the future, establishing the science-fiction setting and showing that even in 2155, children still keep personal diaries.
When Margie went into her schoolroom, the mechanical teacher was already switched on and waiting. It spoke to her through its screen, saying: “Today’s arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday’s homework in the proper slot.” This shows how impersonal and command-driven the mechanical teaching system was — there was no greeting, no warmth, no asking how she felt.
In Margie’s future world of 2155, school takes place entirely at home. Each child studies alone from a mechanical teacher — a machine that gives lessons on a screen, takes homework through a slot, and marks papers instantly. There is no building, no classmates, and no human teacher. The child writes answers in a punch code and follows a fixed schedule set by a technician. By contrast, the old schools of the past, which Tommy reads about in the printed book, were held in special buildings where children from the whole neighbourhood came together. They were taught by human teachers — real men and women. Children of the same age learned the same subjects, helped each other with homework, played together in the yard, and walked home together at the end of the day. The contrast is stark: the future school is efficient but lonely; the past school was simpler but warm, social, and full of joy.
In “The Fun They Had,” Isaac Asimov shows a future in which technology has taken over education completely. The mechanical teacher in Margie’s home is perfectly efficient: it gives lessons, sets tests, marks papers instantly, and can even be adjusted by a technician when it is running too fast. Technology gives the children of 2155 accurate information, speed, and convenience. But what technology cannot give them is what Margie longs for: friendship, shared laughter, the company of classmates, the guidance of a caring human teacher, and the joy of walking home together after school. Margie studies alone every day and hates every minute of it. The story gently argues that no machine, however advanced, can replace the warmth, empathy, and human connection that are essential to real learning and real happiness. Technology serves the mind but leaves the heart empty.
The main message of “The Fun They Had” is that true education is about more than just gaining knowledge — it is about human connection, friendship, and shared joy. Through the character of Margie, Asimov shows us that a technically perfect system of education can still be a sad and joyless one if it leaves children isolated and alone. The moral is that technology should be used as a tool to support human learning, not to replace human teachers and companions. However advanced our machines become, we must not allow them to take away the warmth, laughter, and togetherness that make school a happy and meaningful experience. As Margie sighs while doing her sums alone, “What fun they had!” — we, the readers, understand that we must not let that fun disappear from the schools of our own time.
“Margie was scornful. ‘School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school.’ Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.”
(i) Why was Margie scornful that the old book was about school? — Because she hated school so much, she could not imagine why anyone would write a whole book about something so dull and unpleasant.
(ii) What subject had Margie been doing badly in, and why? — She had been doing badly in geography because the geography sector of her mechanical teacher had been geared a little too fast for a ten-year-old.
(iii) What does the phrase “shook her head sorrowfully” tell us about Margie’s mother? — It tells us that her mother was genuinely worried and sad about Margie’s poor performance in geography.
(iv) Find a word in the extract that means “showing contempt or feeling of superiority.” — “Scornful”.
- 17 March 2155
- 17 May 2057
- 17 May 2155
- 15 May 2155
- Nine years old
- Ten years old
- Eleven years old
- Thirteen years old
- In the school library
- In the basement
- In the attic of his house
- In a shop
- They were in a foreign language
- They stood still on the page instead of moving on a screen
- They were too small to read
- They kept changing colour
- A robot that walked around the house
- A large black machine with a big screen
- A tablet computer
- A television set with a keyboard
- She had not been studying hard
- Her mother had not been helping her
- The geography sector had been geared too fast for her age
- The mechanical teacher was broken beyond repair
- That he would give her extra lessons
- That he would replace the machine with a human teacher
- That he would not be able to put the teacher back together again
- That he would give her a holiday from school
- They were robots instead of machines
- They were real human beings — men and women
- They were chosen by the students
- They worked only in the mornings
- History
- Geography
- Arithmetic (addition of proper fractions)
- English grammar
- The book about school was found in a school
- A child of the advanced year 2155 longs for the simpler schools of the past
- The County Inspector was afraid of the mechanical teacher
- Tommy loved his mechanical teacher but Margie hated hers
- She types answers on a keyboard
- She speaks into a microphone
- She writes in a punch code and inserts papers through a slot
- She draws pictures of her answers
- She enjoyed her arithmetic lesson very much
- She was happy that the old book had been found
- She felt a deep longing for the warmth and companionship of old-fashioned schools
- She was excited to meet the County Inspector again
How does Isaac Asimov show the contrast between the schools of the future and the schools of the past in “The Fun They Had”? What does the story suggest about the importance of human teachers and companions in education?
Describe the character of Margie. How does the discovery of the old book affect her feelings about her own school? What does her final thought — “What fun they had!” — tell us about her inner life?
What role does the County Inspector play in the story? What does his visit reveal about the system of education in the year 2155?
Why did Tommy and Margie think the old printed book was unusual? What did they feel was wasteful about it?
“The Fun They Had” was written in 1951 but feels very relevant today, in an age of online learning and screen-based education. What message do you think Asimov wanted to give future generations about the value of going to school with friends and human teachers? Do you agree with him? Give reasons.
Book a free demo class