If we compare "Checkpoint" with the other science fiction stories presented in this course, we come to the conclusion that it's not a true member of this domain. After a surface reading, many of us think of it as an ordinary short story written from a "communist" point of view, if we may say so. But, on a deeper level, one can discover the real science fiction scenario. The main novum of this story is the wall, viewed as prison, as a way of constraint, as an object of the division of mankind. The use of this theme, in such a radical way, causes a sensation near to claustrophobia, to the ordinary reader, making him feel insecure and afraid. The story is based on extrapolation, starting from an actual point not far from the one found in reality.

The author chooses to skip any exposition, starting his story with the narrative hook. Ben, a waiter in a bar in West Paris, has a closer meeting (closer that he wanted to in that situation) with an American Sergeant, who came to have a drink in his bar. The situation gets more complicate, as he and his friend Denis Lebrun were about to attempt an escape from the "prison", to the East-side of Paris, on the other side of the wall, using fake documents.

The climax of the story is reached when, trying to pass security, they realise that the officer on duty that night at the border was none other than the sergeant who had been at the bar earlier. The whole story is emotionally charged at full capacity, as both Ben and Denis fear for their lives, during their attempt. The resolution of the story comes as a well-deserved reward for the two darers. They could hardly believed their ears when Sergeant McCarthy gives them the green light to pass the border. As the author remarks, that was probably the first brick pulled out from the wall (the first of many others still to come).

The author describes Ben as an young man eager to make the attempt but, at the same time, afraid for his life. Regardless of his state of mind before the attempt, he manages to keep calm during the meeting with the guard, a fact that amazed even himself. It was a point during that meeting when he even asked himself what in the world was he doing there, as he risked being executed without trial.

The story takes place in West Paris, the border of the "great" Western Civilisation, a world controlled by the Americans, filled with corruption and sorrow, as described by the author. The night was like their souls, dark and silent. Even the River Seine, was calm beyond recognition. Faith was about to take it's course, and that thought frightened even more our two heroes.

In constructing the two characters, the author uses the third-person point of view, omniscient as we call it, making the situation more stressful and demanding for the two heroes. Their actions are doubled by the author, step by step, by revealing their every thought. This gives the reader a certain sensation of control over the situation.

The theme of the story is the separation of the world, following a scenario as if inspired from the modern Cold War. The two major economic and military giants, the East and the West, are awoken again, demanding loyalty. People are forced to choose quickly, many of them obliged to leave their families, in a desperate struggle for survival. The story is a cry against the globalisation that tends to have more and more followers.