# Chester Pelton — Short Fiction character guide

> Chester Pelton in Short Fiction by H. Beam Piper.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Chester Pelton, Pelton, Chet Pelton

**First appearance:** 0024-time-crime

## Snapshot

An Illiterate firebrand whose name divides the Fraternities, he has spent four generations' worth of bigotry in one loud career.

## Who they are

Pelton never appears in the council chamber, yet his name does all the work: Joyner calls him the spokesman of a hated political principle, and Lancedale uses him as a wedge. His children, Claire and Raymond, are offered Literacy as a gesture that is part generosity and part maneuver, and the vote over them becomes a test of whether the Fraternities can act on anything but spite. Pelton's offstage presence shapes the entire debate, making him the invisible hinge on which the story's political drama turns.

## In the story

### [Chapter I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_24_se/chapters/i)

Recovering from a heart attack allegedly induced by a Literate; his political campaign is threatened by rumors about his daughter's Literate abilities.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_24_se/chapters/ii)

The anti-Literate politician whose store is under attack; Cardon rushes to evacuate him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_24_se/characters/chester_pelton
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_24_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_24_se/characters