Published in 1950, the book, I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov is a science fiction story based in the 2050’s. This futuristic series of short stories relate the creation and development of the robot. The series, narrated by the protagonist Dr. Susan Calvin, is an adventure about how man creates and deals with new technologies, and the dangers that come with them. It is also about solving the greatest problem facing mankind, that of defining humanity. The theme of this story centers on the interaction between humans and robots, and the moral issues that arise from this interaction.
The book was published when Americans were experiencing the cold war and the nuclear arms race. The bourgeoning fields of science and technology were beginning to show major breakthroughs, with the creation of the first computer and a new field called quantum physics. Asimov’s purpose was to entertain an audience who were reading daily about scientific discoveries. Asimov wanted to engage the reader with possibilities about the future from a political and a moral perspective. For example, the discourse of the times was captured when Dr. Calvin said, “And just for a moment he forgot, or didn’t want to remember, that other robots might be more ignorant than human beings. His very superiority caught him.” Asimov was drawing a parallel between robots and our future; about the issues of scientific discoveries and their impact on our world.
Asimov chose a first person narrative by a female scientist to convey his message. His use of a female was a clever commentary not only about the future of technology, but also a future where women are scientific leaders. For the 1950’s, this was a radical idea, and further served his purpose of questioning societal norms.
His use of a series of short stories allowed Asimov to build the reader’s interest and knowledge, taking them from looking at robots as simple machines toward robots that became power hungry politicos, telepaths, and sentient beings with the intelligence to drive man from existence. Asimov foreshadows this future where robots become equal to humans in the very first story, when a little girl becomes attached to a robot that is destroyed. “The whole trouble with Gloria is that she thinks of Robbie as a person and not as a machine. Now if we managed to convince her that Robbie was nothing more than a mess of steel and copper in the form of sheets and wires with electricity its juice of life, how long would her longings last?" Asimov’s knowledge of his subject allowed him to blend scientific fact and fiction that tapped into the desires and fears of his audience.
Hannah Markisohn:
ReplyDeleteWhen I, Robot was published it was during the cold war. That was a hard time for many people and it impacted many people- like writers, painter, musicians, etc. As Marlow said, “Asimov’s purpose as to entertain and audience who were reading daily about scientific discoveries.” His goal was to entertain people while using something that they were hearing about on a regular basis. It was easier for them to relate to the book, although the book did take place in the future it was centered around scientific advancements. I really like the Asimov chose to make the narrator a female. It shows that he was ahead of his time when he realized that one day women would also become scientists. It also showed that he was okay with not writing to the ‘norm’, where the narratives were usually males and the females were their sidekick’s. I agree with Marlow in that Asimov was ahead of his time not only in his ideas –feminism, artificial intelligence.