In media res means beginning the narration of a story at a crucial point in the middle of the story’s events, then going either backward or forward to cover the rest of the events. The plot of “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” begins with the conflict between the Ticktockman and the Harlequin: “Now begin in the middle, and later learn the beginning; the end will take care of itself” (146). After establishing the threat that the Harlequin poses to the Ticktockman’s sense of order, the story uses flashback vignettes to reveal the history of the society that created both characters, before revealing the end when the Ticktockman catches and punishes the Harlequin. Ellison’s choice to tell the story out of order is itself ironic because it subverts the sanctity of time and chronology.

Voice is the unique personality or point of view of the narrator or author, usually communicated through diction. “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” uses a third-person subjective point of view, in which the unnamed narrator has access to some facts and internal thoughts of characters, but not all of them.