The Fun They Had Summary with Themes and Explanation

“The Fun They Had” is the first chapter of the Class 9 English textbook - Beehive. It is a story about how computers play an important role and dominate humans in the future. How traditional schools will be replaced by virtual schools and robotic teachers. How do future students see traditional school? Do they like virtual classes? Here is the prose summary of “The Fun They Had”.

Summary of the Story “The Fun They Had”

Isaac Asimov is the author of the story "The Fun They Had", who visualizes his views on the future. The story takes place in the future where books and schools are digitally conducted through virtual classrooms. These classes are taken by a mechanic (robotic) teacher instead of a human class teacher. The story starts with two Children- Margie and Tommy. They are living in the world of the future where computers control everything. With the advent of virtual schools, the concept of books and classrooms has undergone a considerable transformation from the old days. 

On May 17, 2157, Margie wrote in her diary about how Tommy came up with a real book. It is an old book that consists of stories. Margie remembers her grandfather, who once told that when he was younger, his grandfather used to study through printed books. Tommy and Margie were excited and started to turn the yellow crumpled pages of the book to learn more about the ancient days. They found it hilarious to read the book as the words stood at a place instead of moving around as they saw it on a computer screen. From here, it is clear that in the future there will be only telebooks and that no paper copies of the books will be available. Tommy proclaims that it is absolutely useless to read a book and throw it away once completed. He feels that their monitor screen has millions of books and can store even more without throwing after use.

Soon after they started reading about school in the ancient days, they found that the teachers were actual human beings rather than mechanical (robotic) teachers. Though Margie hated the concept of schools, she was surprised about the human teachers at the school. Margie and Tommy don't even know about physical schools, as they both study in a virtual classroom that is filled with electronic gadgets, robots, etc. They study their lessons through computer screens that teach them all the subjects like Maths, Science, etc. Margie remembers that Margie's mother once called a County Inspector to fix the mechanical device on which Margie attends the virtual classes. He fixed the big black screen together again on which all the lessons were displayed and questions were asked. But the little girl was so disappointed as the device got fixed sooner. She needs to put the homework and test papers through a punch code.

As they both continue to read the book, Margie’s mother calls her to attend the classes. Margie attends her class on fractions, taught by the mechanical teacher. But, her mind starts wondering about the fun their grandparents had while attending school in the olden days. In the olden days, the school used to be a special place where all the students of dame age studied together. She started to imagine how the kids from different areas come together and attend the school happily. Thereby, Margie gets strongly attracted to the fun the children had in the ancient time when they went to a real, physical school.

Important Characters

Margie- A 11 year old little girl living in the 22nd century and has a habit of writing diaries. She hates virtual school and her mechanical teacher but is interested in knowing the olden era of school. 

Tommy- He is a 13 year old boy and friend of Margie. He likes reading books and brings an old book to Margie’s house.

Mechanical Teacher-  A robotic teacher which has black and ugly look. All the lessons and questions are asked by him.

County Inspector- A little man with a red face has a box of tools, dials and wires. He fixes Margie’s television quickly.