Tom Godwin's Cold Equation

Why It Couldn’t Be
The short story Cold Equations by Tom Godwin takes place on a ship called EDS. The space cruiser is piloted by a man named Barton. He has an order of killing the stowaway who snuck onto the ship because the weight on the EDS is too much for the ship to handle. In the process of hunting down the stowaway, he realizes it was a young innocent girl named Marilyn. Once Barton understands what kind of person Marilyn is, he doesn’t kill her immediately because he knows her reasons were pure. Marilyn only wanted to see her brother, Gerry, again after ten years of being apart and was ignorant to the fact that her life can end with the decision of sneaking onto the ship. Barton begins to feel compassion after being with her and tries
The ending was logical and no other endings would be possible because one the equation that was calibrated delicately, and two Barton could not throw the out the fever serums because that is the main reason for going on the trip to Woden.
A theoretical ending of Cold Equations could have been that Barton sacrifices himself for Marilyn, but since she is lighter than him, the fragile calibrated equation would be disrupted due to the change in weight. On EDS everything on ship is accounted for its’ weight in an equation that takes in all the factors of the ship. “The white hand of the tiny gauge had crept up. There was something in the supply closet across the room, some kind of a body that radiated heat.” (Godwin 164) Obviously, when Marilyn snuck on to the ship Barton already knew something extra was on board and he would have to get rid of it. “Any stowaway
Since the equation is the problem, they can just balance out the equation by having Barton throw off the fever serum to make sure it is still the exact weight. Even though this is an ideal plan, Barton cannot go against his main purpose for the voyage and let all the colonists die just for one girl. Barton tried to think of other possibilities, his boss said there was nothing to be done. “I’m sorry- I can do nothing. This cruiser must maintain its schedule; the life of not one person but the lives of many depend on it. I know how you feel but I’m powerless to help you. You’ll have to go through with it.” (Godwin 169) Although Marilyn would be able to live on we would not know what would happen to them when it is found out that the serum was jettisoned for a stowaway. The laws are strict and all stowaways must be killed. “She had violated a man-made law that said KEEP OUT, but the penalty was a penalty men could not revoke.” (Godwin 174) “Existence required order, and there was order; the laws of nature, irrevocable and immutable.” (Godwin 176) The laws of both nature and of man were strict and nothing could be done. Both of them may end up being killed and thousands of colonists would also die from not getting the treatment because Barton decided to save one life. In that sense, this alternate ending would also be