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CHAPTER II
'Overcoming Frankenstein': Asimovian Robotics
The first chapter has attempted a study of some definitions of the
Science fiction genre. It has also traced the developments in robotics before
the advent of Asimov. A discussion of the thematic aspects of the robotistic
works of Asimov will now be taken up in this chapter. As has been pointed out
already Frankenstein and Rossum's Universal Robots influenced the
production of a number of robotic short stories during the post World War I
period. These have depicted robots as metallic creatures without soul and
emotion. Asimov comments:
Robots were created and destroyed their creator [...] In
the 1930s I became a science fiction reader, and I quickly grew
tired of this dull hundred-times old tale. As a person interested
in science, I resented the purely Faustian interpretation of
science. Knowledge has its dangers, yes, but is the response to
be a retreat from knowledge? [...]. In other words, Faust must
indeed face Mcphistophclcs, but Faust does not have to be
defeated!^^
The theme of "Robot's Return" by Robert M Williams published in
Astounding Science Fiction (Sept. 1938) has influenced Asimov as it
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highlights the positive aspect of machine culture. In this regard, The History of
Science Fiction Magazines (1975) by Asimov notes that the earlier story
"Robot's Return' marked the start of the new attitude towards robots in fiction,
treating them with sympathy rather than as monsters." Since then Asimov's
mission in writing his robotic stories and novels is to eradicate the
'Frankenstein Complex' and to advocate the merits of machine culture. In
order to achieve these goals, he has formulated the Three Laws of Robotics in
his fictional works. It seems that the themes in his robotistic works gyrate
around these fictional laws and their various interpretations. "Incidentally",
writes William F. Touponce in Isaac Asimov (1991), "the word robotics first
appeared in print in this ["Runaround"(1942)] story, and the Three Laws of
Robotics were first explicitly formulated."^^ The characters Mike Donovan
and Gregory Powell who team together to investigate the cause for the
deactivation of a robot 'Speedy' in "Run Around"(1942), recall the Three
Laws of Robotics:
I Law: A Robot may not injure a human being or
through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
II Law: A Robot must obey orders given it by human
beings except where such orders would conflict with the
first law.
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III Law: A Robot must protect its own existence as long
as such protection does not conflict with the First or
Second Law. ^'
In short, these Three Laws of Robotics advocate human safety,
dutifulness, and self-protection. James Gunn observes that these three laws of
robotics have "revolutionized science fiction". Further, he quotes from
Asimov's autobiography:
Once they were established in a series of stories, they
made so much sense and proved so popular with the readers
that other writers began to use them. They couldn't quote them
directly-, of course, but they could simply assume their
existence, knowing well that the readers would be acquainted
with the Laws and would understand the assumption.
Gunn's The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1988) lists the
following works which under the influence of Asimov uphold the positive
growth of robotics - "With Folded Hands" (1947) by Jack Williamson; "The
Quest for St.Aquin" (1951); "Second Variety" (1953) by Philip K. Dick; Brian
W. Aldis' "Who Can Replace a Man" (1958); Clifford D. Simak's "All the
Traps of Earth" (1960); Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric
Sheep?" (1968), "The Electric Ant"(1969) and "We Can Build You" (1972);
Simak's "A Choice of Gods" (1972), Barring J. Bayley's "The Soul of the
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Robot" (1974). Indian contributions to this list would include Arun Manday'S'
"Ruby"(1984), and Katheyondara Kathe" (2001) by Niranjan Ghate. It may
thus be inferred that the 'three laws of robotics' is the binding force not merely
in Asimov's robotic stories but also in a considerable part of SF written
thereafter. As "theme' forms the central nervous system in a story - particularly
in SF genre - the present study focuses on the thematic aspects of the four
novels and a few of his robotic short stories. In these fictional works, Asimov
has tried to overcome the 'Frankenstein Complex'.
Asimov has written about fifty-four robotic short stories. Basically, the
themes of the robotistic stories centre on the three laws of robotics, and love /
hate of the robots expressed by people of the fictional worid. The themes dealt
with in them could be divided into seven classes as follows: stories which
express machine phobia, which evince preference for metallic robots, which
highlight the three laws of robotics; which depict the ego conflict between
robots and human beings, which deal with the advantages of computers, which
present a plausible solution for the energy crisis and those which delineate the
place of robots in future societies. A few of these stories will now be taken up
for analysis.
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The main issue after the Second World War was to heal the ruptures
caused by the world wars. SF had not faced any technological problem in its
progress but its central concern was to convince people about the positive
aspects of Science. Asimov has tried to fix up a safety valve in these stories in
order to eradicate the 'Frankenstein Complex'. As Gunn rightly points out,
there is no priority to "what happens to the robots" in Asimov's stories; on the
contrary, "what happens to people" through the robots is the central concern of
his stories.^^
The coherent problem in "Robbie"(1940) seems to be the human
resentment of robots. Asimov has christened it the 'Frankenstein Complex'.
Gloria, the daughter of Mr.George and Mrs.Grace Weston has a non-speaking
robot 'play fellow' Robbie. The conservative attitude of Mrs. Weston is
revealed by her utterance, "I won't have my daughter entrusted to a machine -1
don't care how clever it is. It has no soul, and no one knows what it may be •
thinking. A child just isn't made to be guarded by a thing of metal".^°
In contrast Mr. George Weston advocates "A Robot is infinitely more
to be trusted than a human nursemaid. Robbie was constructed for only one
purpose really - to be the companion of a little child. " ' However much he
tries to convince his wife, "You know that it is impossible for a robot to harm a
human being", as a nagging wife she commands him, "You listen to me,
George."^^ Also, she exhibits a kind of'robo-phobia'- "But'something might
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go wrong, some jigger will come loose and the awful thing will go berserk
and-"^^ However, Mr. Weston's view hints at the formation of the First Law of
Robotics,"[...] the First Law of Robotics, You know that it is impossible for a
robot to harm a human being; " ''
In order to overcome Gloria's psychosis, the family first replaces
Robbie with a dog; takes her to 'visivox'; the robot is returned to the USR and
ultimately in order to create a diversion, they take her to New York. But
Gloria exclaims, "We're going to New York so wc can find Robbie, aren't we?
- with detectives."^^
The psychological pursuit that Mr. Weston adopts is to diagnose her
problem and try to find a solution:
The whole trouble with Gloria is that she thinks of Robbie as a
person and not as a machine. Naturally, she cannot forget him.
Now if we manage 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? ^
The Westons, as Touponce observes, "decide to attack the problem
psychologically."^' Like most of the SF stories, "Robbie" also has a happy
ending. When she is in crucial danger Robbie saves Gloria from almost certain
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death. Its action convinces Grace that robots are harmless. Finally, Grace says,
"I guess he can stay with us until he rusts."^ . Thus, Asimov brings out a
resolution that even sceptical beings could also be transformed into rational
people; it is done successfully by polishing the character of Grace Weston.
On the whole, the first robotic story in his writing career deals with a
non-speaking robot Robbie. The girl in the story Gloria is aged only eight.
Often Gladia narrates the story of Cinderella to Robbie. The reference
signifies that robotic technology in those days was in its infancy. In other
words, the infant fantasy is still predominant in modem times. "Robbie" also
convinces the people of this fictional society that robots are harmless.
« o »
Asimov's computers behave as perfectly as his robots because they too
follow the three laws of robotics. Asimov has a strong view that computers
have revolutionised our lives. He states:
[....] there were three steps to salvation. The first one was
speech; then came writing; and then came printing. Each one
represented an enormous revolution in communication and I
was then waiting for a fourth revolution and this had already
started and I didn't realize it. I think the computer is every bit as
important as speech was, perhaps about half a million years
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ago, or as printing was five hundred years ago. I think it has
fundamentally changed the way we communicate, the way we
think and we'll never be able to go back again short of
destroying society by a nuclear war or something like that [...]
In this regard, "Some Day" (1956) centres around the motto that "the
world needs more people who can design advanced computer circuits and do
proper programming." ""'Stylistically, the story shows remarkable
improvement over the first robotistic story "Robbie". In "Robbie", the eight-
year-old Gloria craves for the company of a non-talking robot as her playmate.
Though both the stories are set in the countryside, in "Some Day" the school
going boy aged eleven is older than Gloria. The boy Niccolo Mazetti is in
possession of a story telling automation - ^Bard'. His friend Paul modifies the
'Bard' to tell them new stories. Paul demonstrates that as a tool the computer
could shape their future better. If the Cinderella story is narrated by the girl
Gloria in "Robbie", the story 'Wood Cutter and His Two Daughters' is told by
the robot 'Bard" in "Some Day". If "Robbie" presents an age of talking robot
in New York City, "Some Day" makes further advancement in a country
setting itself. It sketches the character of Paul who exhibits a tremendous zeal
for adaptation of the new technology.
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In "Too Bad" (1989), Amfield the creator of a robot expresses love
towards his creation. The miniature robot Mike sacrifices its own life in order
to save the life of its master. Asimovian robots are incorruptible, dutiful and
innocent. But in "Escape!"(1945), "Little Lost Robot" (1947), and "Risk"
(1955) the robots could not comprehend the orders given by their masters as
the orders were not precise. In this regard, Touponce observes, "Unlike human
beings, a robot cannot correct his own mistakes without further orders. 'Find
out what's wrong' is not an order that can be given to a robot. The Science of
robotics has not yet developed a robot brain that can learn."'°'
Patrouch comments that Asimov often makes use of language
problems to get his stories going. It consists in giving a figurative order to a
robot that understands only the literal meaning of the command. It can be
recalled that in "Little Lost Robot" the order issued to the robot was to 'Go
lose yourself. Patrouch points out that it means 'Go away'. "It does not mean
'Go hide'. In other words, Asimov has his positronic robots able to listen to
and speak Enghsh [...]" without comprehending the idiomatic implications.'"^
Asimovian robots often conceive terms differently from human beings: in
"Risk"(1955), when a robot is instructed to 'hold firmly', it results in the
machine's destruction, as the term "means something different relative to a
robot than it means relative to a human being."'"^ Further, Patrouch points out
that there are errors in the designing of robots at the factory level. The
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factories have despatched the robots without first correcting these linguistic
flaws. In this regard, Patrouch observes, "In the stories Asimov constantly
treats the. symptoms rather than the disease." .
« o »
The whole of SF reflects an attempt to create a carbon copy of the
human form but in vain. The theme of the revolt of the robots against human
masters as depicted in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and R.U.R. by Karel
Capek has also continued to dominate. Though the ongoing experiments of
'Cloning' have become successful it is doubtful whether humanity in future
will accept Xerox copies of the same man. Therefore it is desirable to know
the purpose of creating humanoid robots. A character Dr.Gerrigel clarifies the
point to the protagonist Elijah Baley (Lije) in Asimov's The Caves of Steel
(1954):
Because the human form is the most successful
generalized form in all nature. We are [...] not specialized
animal[s]. Mr.Baley, except for our nervous system and a few
odd items. If you want a design capable of doing a great many
widely various things, all fairly well, you could do no better
than to imitate the human form. Besides that, our entire
technology is based on the human form. [....] It is easier to have
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robots imitate the human shape than to redesign radically the
very philosophy of our tools.
A standpoint such as Asimov's helps us to study the themes present in a few
humanoid stories. In "The Bicentennial Man" (1976) human beings do not
recognise a humanoid robot as a human being at all even though it fulfills
certain standards.
With the collaborative effort of Robert Silverberg and Isaac Asimov,
the novelette "The Bicentennial Man"(1976) was turned into a novel entitled
The Positronic Man in 1995. Herein, Asimov seems to have elaborated the
ideas of his earlier story "Segregationist" (1967) as both the stories exhibit a
preference for a metal heart to a cyber heart. However, the novelette deals
with a central figure, namely, robot Andrew Martin who later becomes an
artist, an historian; and a robobiologist. He gains freedom and works as the
head of many human beings and robots. He ultimately wishes to transform
himself into a complete man. At every stage of his progress, questions. of
human ethics become a barrier to the transformation. Finally, the robot thinks,
"My body is a canvas on which I intend to draw - A man?"'°^ The central line
of thought in the story raises a question, whether humanity would ever accept
a robot as a man.
Although robot Andrew gains freedom, and looks like a human being,
human society evinces a repulsive attitude towards him. The incident in which
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two men order Andrew to disrobe and lie down on the ground is very pathetic
to watch. Robot Andrew reviews the repulsive attitude of humans:
Would we treat an animal so? Even an inanimate object
that has given us good service has a claim on our consideration.
And a robot is not insensible; it is not an animal. It can think
well enough to enable it to talk to us, reason with us, and joke
with us. Can we treat them as friends, can we work together
with them, and not give them some of the fiiiit of that
friendship, some of the benefit of co-working. [...] if the robots
have Three Laws to protect men, is it too much to ask that men
have a law or two to protect robots?" '
After becoming an android and a robo-biologist, Andrew conducts
experiments about the prosthetic devices by which he becomes a
'Sesquicentennial robot'. After gaining practical experience on the Moon he
wonders why he is not a human being. Again, he returns to Earth only to land
in trouble.
Andrew argues with the Director of the USR, "I want not only to be
treated as one, I want to be a human being dejure", because he has the shape
of a human being and the organs he possesses are of organic prosthetized
matter.'"^ Further, Andrew asserts that he has contributed to the fields of art,
literature and scientific aspects of human culture by his creative abilities as
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much as any human being might have done. But the Director of USR argues
that even though Andrew is like a human being, he is not one. Later, the
legislature declares that a human being is defined in context, only on the
possession of an organic cellular brain in contrast to the robot's platinum-
iridium positronic brain. Finally, R. Andrew Martin arranges to transform
himself into a man, but it only brings him death.
At his death he is at last declared a Bicentennial Man by the World
legislatures. As a human being, his last thoughts reflect his gratitude to his
master and the Little Miss by whose encouragement he had attained human
status. Thus, Asimov presents a fictional character in the form of Andrew who
highlights the weakness of man who never takes a robot into his society
however talented it might be and however human it may appear. It can be
inferred that man will tolerate a robot if it can be creative, because it would
always be his servant. But man will not tolerate a created being's claim for
equality and freedom. The story further develops in Robots of Dawn (1983), in
which Robot Andrew and Little Miss are transformed into R. Giskard and Dr.
Vasilia respectively. Asimov has further made use of the idea of humanoid
robots in writing detective stories.
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It was Asimov who first wrote SF detective stories and they include
"Reason" (1941), "Catch That Rabbit"(1944), "Robot AL-76 Goes Astray"
(1942), "Victory Unintentional" (1942), and "Let's Get Together" (1957). S.A.
Cowan's scholarly article entitled, "Five Finger Exercise: Asimov's Plot-
Structure of 'Catch that Rabbit' in Science Fiction Studies (1989), discovers
the plot structure involved in the detective stories in /, Robot.109 The study
mainly supplies the clues that Asimov has used in the early stages of story
telling which facilitate the reader's involvement in the game of problem
solving. If the reader carefully notices the clues provided in the story he would
be able to solve the problem in his first reading itself. The test in each case
prompts the reader to become more careful himself in the problem solving
game in his subsequent readings of other stories.
In "Catch that Rabbit" DV-5 (Dave) a master robot equipped with six
sub-robots is assigned to supervise the excavation processes in one of the
asteroid mines. The subsidiaries are termed as 'fingers', though "it wasn't quite
the perfect analogy to a human finger.'10
Cowan's study reveals that "like a hand with five fingers, DV-5 can
manage five subsidiaries, but the six he has been assigned create a dysfunction
when any kind of emergency arises."111 As emphasised in the story,
"Remember, those subsidiaries were Dave's Tingers' [...] whenever Dave
became a psychiatric case, he went off into a moronic maze, spending his time
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twiddling his fingers."^^^ Commenting on Asimov's narrative technique
Cowan says, "The clues Asimov provides are unified with his theme and are
of two kinds: reference to fingers and hands; and reference to numbers
especially the crucial numbers five and six." "^ Cowan also observes that in
the story:
hands occur 35 times [...] Most of these descriptions show the
hand in motion, as in pulling a moustache, [...] reaching for a
book.[...] groping for a cigarette [...] or scratching a neck.
Through images such as these, Asimov emphasizes the five
fingers - his central image and essential clue.
Finally, he concludes "the detective story plot [....] enables the readers to
appreciate the author's skill in creating a story with form, unity, and verbal
texture.""^
« o »
It could thus be concluded that Robotics is a subset of SF. Themes in
particular form the central nervous system in the art of story telling. Many
readers might not have read all the stories of Asimov. Or even if they have
read all the stories, they might be only faintly imprinted in their memories.
Hence, an attempt has been made in this chapter to review the themes present
in most of the stories. Secondly, it could be observed that the characters he has
sketched are not human but they are robots. Robots are fitted with the Three
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Laws of Robotics even as they are made; yet some problem or the other
appears sooner or later. Even so these problems are raised only by human
beings and not by robots. Asimovian labots are in fact, noble, divine,
incorruptible, innocent, and obedient. His robots have never revolted against
their masters. It can also be noticed that his robots have human interest in their
hearts. That is, their actions are oriented towards the progress of humanity.
The above discussion of the robotic short stories by Asimov marks the
experimental stage of the author in exploring the human follies and finding
possible solutions to overcome the 'Frankenstein Complex'. The motto of his
works is to convince people that machines are the friends of humanity. In his
four novels about robots namely, The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun"^, The
Robots ofDawn"^ and Robots and Empire J '^ Asimov has made a consistent
effort to transform the attitude of people by suggesting that robots too could be
taken as human partners. Further, he has presented these robots as
incorruptible, divine and a better breed.
In these novels Asimov has tried to imaginatively depict changes in
human behaviour in the days to come. Hence, he has projected thickly
populated worlds against thinly populated worlds, and worlds with large
number of robots against robodess societies to study the change in the attitude
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of the Homo sapiens in these novels. The future worlds are also characterised
by great advancements in the fields of science and technology. The base so
formed helps to study the socio-psychological adjustments of the people of the
future. It is evident that future forms of robots decide the destiny of man. The
robots in turn, philosophise and draw a conclusion to the effect that humans
too, should be bound by the laws of humanics. The common denominator of
all these novels is that they bear detective story plots.
Writers like Darko Suvin maintain that SF and detective fiction are
incompatible, because unlike the latter, SF demands a presentation of an
extraordinary fantastic worlds. "^John S. Nania in his article "Exploding
Genres", points out that SF stories may be placed "against a background that
involves a society significantly different from our own. He [Asimov] does not
have to dispense with the structure of classical mystery."'^° Observing that
"[...] the classical detective story is a closed form which affirms the basic
principle that crime is strictly a matter of individual motivations and thus
reaffirms the validity of the existing social order."'^' Nania concludes, "[...]
Asimov can claim it is possible to write a science fiction detective story
because for him science fiction need not necessarily be an open, subversive
form."'^^
All the four robot novels by Asimov share a common denominator
with regard to the development of plot. Patrouch's The Science Fiction of
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Isaac Asimov (1979) has classified them into five sections: the 'initial
situation'- in which the readers are introduced to the major characters, their
relationships, and location; 'complication': wherein a problem or a threat
ar ises; 'conflict': where the detective will make a series of unsuccessful
attempts, which aid him to define the problem sharply; and the final stage
'resolution': where everything returns to normal. Sometimes, the last section
will have two subsections, namely^ solution and resolution. In those cases the
fourth section 'provides the solution' for the main issue, whereas, the fifth
section resolves other problems that the novels had posed earlier. The common
procedure to solve crimes followed by the detective in the first three novels is
to proceed from Motivation to Means and Opportunity. A study of Asimov's
first novel The Caves of Steel (1954) will now be taken up.
The Caves of Steel was serialised in Galaxy in 1953 and was published
in book form in 1954.' "' It seems that Horace Gold first suggested the theme
of the story. As Gunn points out, the theme "was a pure murder mystery set
against a science fiction background."'^'' In Memory Yet Green (1979) Asimov
sincerely asserts that "Science Fiction at Its Peak" occurred to him in 1953
only. He states that thereafter his writings became more direct and spare. In
addition, he reflects that it was The Caves of Steel that lifted him a notch
higher in his own estimafion. It is a dystopian theme, which describes
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contemporary life but is placed three thousand years in the future. At that time
Earth's population has congregated to live in 'Cities'. The agrarian sectors and
the yeast industries are located at the outskirts of the Cities and the terrestrial
metallic robots perform simple jobs there. In addition to the description of R.
Sammy, the office boy robot, the novel presents the robots at the shoe counter
which are programmed to perform certain duties. But a representative woman
of the medievalistic group exhibits her anguish because she complains that
robots had taken away the jobs of the people of that society.
In order to balance this kind of a plot, the novel introduces a space
town in which the spacers had a strong belief in robots for their progress. They
believe in a C/Fe culture - a hybrid of humans and robots in equal number.
The spacers have reached saturation in colonising fifty worlds. In order to
solve the problem of Earth's population explosion, the Spacers recommend the
colonising of the Outer worlds by Earthpeople with the help of robots.
While the spacers peacefully live in an unpolluted uninfected Spacer-
town, Dr. Roj Nemennuh Sarton has designed and constructed a humanoid
Robot Daneel Olivaw who resembles his own maker in appearance. But
Dr. Sarton is murdered when the Police commissioner Julius Enderby goes
there to meet him. During the investigation, it is found that no Spacer is
involved in the murder. Further robots are equipped with the First law and
hence are incapable of murdering a human being. The absence of a weapon in
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the vicinity of the murder place has complicated the case. In addition, the only
check-post at the point of intersection of the two worlds reports that no
intrusion has occurred. Hence, Dr.Fastolfe who is placed in charge of the
investigations suspects that the medievalistic group from the Earth might have
committed the murder. Enderby appoints Elijah a C-5 Plainclothesman to
investigate the murder case. He is provided with a robot partner - a
humaniform robot Daneel Olivaw of Aurora by the spacers. But the Police
commissioner imposes a restriction on Elijah that he alone should solve the
murder mystery case in order to impress the Spacers with the capability
Earthmen.
During the investigation process Elijah tolerates the contemptuous
feeling of superiority that the robot evinces at the shoe counter. Space town, at
his quarters and finally at the Yeast factory. Apart from the professional
detective elements, Elijah has to face the problems posed by the conservative
fundamentalist groups and the labour unions that oppose the use of robots on
Earth.
Elijah suspects that the concept of C/Fe might be the prime motivation
for the opposition to the use of robots on Earth by the Medievalists. They
think that robots would take away their jobs in future. In this regard, Elijah
reflects:
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Your Dr. Sarton was attacking the problem of Earth's
conversion to C/Fe from a new and promising angle. Our
conservative groups or Medievalists, as they call themselves,
were perturbed. They were afraid he might succeed. So they
killed him.'^^
Elijah in his initial investigation suspects that Daneel might be the real
Dr.Sarton. In another incident Daneel tries to save Elijah. On examination,
Elijah confirms that the first law is intact with Daneel. Hence, Elijah is
convinced that the robot partner is serious enough to join hands with him for
further investigation. The description of their cooperative efforts could be very
well traced to the incidents that take place at home, the shoe shop, the
interrogation cell, and the Yeast factory. Finally all these converge in the main
investigation. As time runs out, Elijah is pressurised to draw his conclusions
and he docs so by applying the formula of motivation, means and opportunity.
As per Elijah's analysis, which he arrives at through the circumstantial
evidence of a shattered spectacles lying at the murder scene (detected in a film
screening of the same), it is only Enderby who has not only been motivated,
but also had the opportunity and means to carry out the crime. Since, a weapon
is absent from the murder scene, and since no human being dares to cross the
open space, Elijah speculates that Enderby must have arrived in space town
before schedule and obtained a charger (the murder weapon) from R. Sammy,
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whom he has ordered to pass through the open space to bring and return the
same. However, since Enderby is short-sighted, the medievaHst robot hater
has erroneously killed Dr.Sarton instead of the humanoid R. Daneel Olivaw
since R. Daneel is a robot replica of his maker Dr. Sarton. Elijah ends his
investigation within the stipulated time. Later, Elijah pleads with Enderby to
convert the medievalists to accept space colonization. Finally in his report
Elijah requests the authorities not to convict his boss. As in most of the SF
stories, this novel too has a happy ending.
Asimov has carefUUy and tactfully handled the dystopian fictional
theme in presenting the 'back to soiV movement in this novel. He has
succeeded in blending the detective elements with a SF setting. He has
incorporated the mythical elements pertaining to the etymological and lexical
origins of the words Elijah and Jessica. He has complicated the plot by
presenting the contemporary psycho-social issues in the continuum. In the
process, he has also dealt with medievalistic ideologies in the two symmetrical
worlds that he has presented.
The anti-robotic Fundamentalists here are the extension of the concept
of' Society of Humanity' m "Evitable Conflict". Further, the idea pertaining to
the Fundamentalists has also been elaborately dealt with in "Evidence" where
Stephen Byrley contests an election and is attacked in vain by them. But
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Asimov gets maximum scope to consolidate the ideas presented in these short
stories with regard to the Fundamentalists in The Caves of Steel.
Similarly, the food habits, which were presented in /, Robot also get
detailed treatment in the novel.'^^ Apart from posing the major problems of
humanity on a mega screen, the novel has been successful in presenting
problems of the contemporary society. On account of his professional duties,
Elijah misses his meals. Also, he is worried about the tobacco quota. Elijah is
extra cautious to avoid declassification. In addition, Elijah aspires that he
should prepare his son Bentley to immigrate to Outer worlds in course of time.
Elijah exhibits an extra concern for the welfare of Jessie also. Similarly, each
character contemptuously expresses his or her view about the dystopian World
in which they live.
Frequently, at times of distress, Elijah utters the word, 7ehoshaphat'.
Implicitly and explicitly Asimov has tried to revive ancient myths using the
character of Elijah as his mouthpiece. His choice of the names, like Jessie and
Elijah; his elaborate explanation as to their lexical origin and his frequent
recourse to customary expressions, exhibit Asimov's belief in the "Old
Testament". It also discloses how Asimov is plotting Science against religion
on the graph of life successfully.
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Further, Asimov has made the work less fantastic and more realistic by
inserting certain contemporary experiences. The following details in The
Caves of Steel have contributed to its acquisition of mainstream novelistic
features: the description of men's personal; eating habits; table manners;
humiliation caused by traveling in Expressways; strip running; a woman
losing her purse during transit; a whisper in the bedroom; the description of
the natural Solarium; the public kitchen and the Spacers' ignorance of the
Earthly diseases. Though SF is criticised severely for its thinness of
characterisation, Asimov has fairly sketched the characters of Elijah, Jessie,
Enderby, and Daneel in this novel.
With regard to detective techniques, generally a professional detective
tries to find the culprits in the middle class. Unlike other detectives, ultimately
Elijah is able to locate the culprits among the people of the high society. The •
work thus combines sociological techniques with the detective elements in a
SF novel, resulting in the formation of a new class of SF which could be called
Social Science fiction.
« o »
Unlike The Caves of Steel which deals with claustrophobia, The Naked
Sun (1957) deals with the reverse tendency of agoraphobia'^^. The impact of
the atmosphere as described here might be the cause for the creation of the
59
novel The Caves of Steel. Asimov would sit in the attic at his electric
typewriter and watch the words appear like magic before his eyes. He asserts,
"To minimise distractions, I keep the window-shades down at all times and
work exclusively by artificial light."
In addition, Gunn quotes from Asimov's explanation:
... sometimes twice in one week, when 1 feel I've put in a good
day's work, I go out in the late afternoon and take a walk
through the neighborhood. But I don't know. That thing you
people have up there in the sky. It's got quite a glare to it.' ^
Gunn points out that the glare is the sustaining metaphor in The Naked Sun.
The novel deals with the problems of colonisation, detective elements and
psychology.
Solaria has always maintained a constant ratio of one human being to
twenty thousand robots. In this regard Solaria is the inverted image of Earth.
Hence, The Naked Sun is not constructed on a monolithic structural base. The
theme centres around finding a solution to the murder of Dr.Rikaine Delmarre-
a fefologist in Solaria. The same detectives namely, Elijah and Daneel team
together for investigation in this novel also. They watch a suicide and see a
murder over a trimensional device. In addition Elijah is asked to report to
Earth about the conspiracy that the Outer Worlds have hatched to destroy
Earth.
60
Gladia Solaria wife of Dr.Rikaine Delmarre the prime suspect makes
her debut in this novel. In addition the novel introduces Attlebish- the Acting
Head of Security; Leebig a roboticist; Quemot a sociologist; Klorissa Cantoro
the assistant of Dr.Rikaine; Dr. Thool, a physician and the Head of Security
Gruer.
It seems that Asimovian acrophobic and agoraphobic tendencies are
transferred to the protagonist Elijah. In this regard, Elijah also dislikes
traveling by air. Like Asimov, often Elijah is interested in watching the sky
(open space). The Solarians never attempt to see one another personally
because, 'seeing' is a taboo for them. Instead they meet over a trimensional
device sitting miles apart. This system is called 'viewing'.
Viewing Gladia involves exoticism instead of sex. There is nothing
repulsive about her personality. She tries to entice Elijah under the pretext of
viewing to distract his attention. While viewing over the trimensional device
Gladia's nudity really upsets the mental state of Elijah. "Her eyes rested full on
him, seemed to drink him in."'''° Except for the slight difference in the
illumination Elijah can hardly believe that it is a field view. As a result he
nearly jumps out of his chair. While he views her, Gladia had expressed her
inner desire to 'see' Elijah. But Elijah shifts his thoughts from beauty to duty
consciousness.
On Solaria Elijah is forced to carry out the investigation by viewing
only. To begin his investigation, Elijah views Gruer. The latter is as bald as
the naked sun! Gruer explains to Elijah how the fetologist Dr.Rikaine met his
death. The crux of the problem has intensified, as the weapon of destruction
has not been discovered. Similarly, the motive for the murder is also unknown.
Due to circumstantial evidence, it appears as though Gladia has murdered her
husband. While they are discussing the murder by using a viewing device,
Gruer is also murdered through poisoning. Later, Elijah narrowly escapes from
a poisoned arrow shot by a boy Bik when Elijah is interrogating Klorissa
Cantaro the assistant fetologist of the victim.
During his interrogation, Elijah comes to know that Gladia was the
only human present during the time of her husband's death. Dr.Thool had
attended on her afterwards. Elijah feels that unless he comes out of the
enclosure of his claustrophobic tendencies, he will not be able to solve the
problem. He speculates that the solution is available only outside the walls. He
decides to expose himself to the 'Naked Sun' in order to accustom himself to
its luminosity. Elijah concludes that he cannot overcome his phobia as long as
Daneel is with him: Daneel's possession of the laws of robotics is a hindrance
for Elijah's free movement. Therefore, Elijah stymies Daneel. Thus, in contrast
to The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun is dominated by the character of Elijah
around whom centres plot, characterisation, motive, and the action of the
T,23G
62
novel. Meanwhile, Elijah finds out the clue to the murder mystery
accidentally:
Baley: Give me a hand, will you, Daneel?
Daneel: I beg your pardon, Partner Baley?
Baley: Help me out of the chair.'""
R.Daneel could comprehend only the literally meaning of the
command, 'give me a hand'. It seems that Asimov has elaborately developed
the entire novel based on this point: Daneel's confusion provides a clue to
Elijah to solve the murder mystery of Dr.Rikaine. Therefore, Elijah holds a
conference comprising Gladia, Attlebish, Leebig, Quemot, Klorissa, and
Dr.Thool to analyse the murder case. Elijah analyses the case with three major
detective elements: motive, opportunity and means.
To begin with, motive might be subjective. While mental disharmony
may be attributed as Gladia's motive, Dr.Leebig's relation with Dr.Rikaine
has deteriorated after the latter's public humiliation. Similarly, Klorissa's
motive to murder Dr.Rikaine could have stemmed from a desire to head the
fetology engineering department. Though it may be a minor cause, Quemot
also has a motive, as he has been frequently defeated in chess by the deceased.
Any one of the above could have murdered Dr.Rikaine. But Elijah points out
that motive alone is insufficient to solve the case.
63
Shifting to the point of opportunity, Elijah points out that only Gladia
had an opportunity to murder her husband as she alone could reach him by
'seeing'. Since, motive and opportunity were not convincing enough to deduce
the murderer, Elijah considers the point of means for the murder. In order to
have a better focus Elijah argues and dravi's inferences by means of
eliminating most of the distracting elements. Accordingly, the murder could
have been committed either by Mrs.Rikaine or by others. If she were the
murderess, a weapon should have been identified at the murder scene. By
analysis Elijah infers that apart from the deceased and his unconscious wife, a
robot was also present. Though the robot is not the murderer, it could have
served as a weapon.
In Gruer's murder case, the murder might have been committed by the
combination of the functions of two robots. The robots generally accept the
statements made by human masters at face value. Similarly, a robot might
have handed over a poisoned arrow to Bik to shoot at Elijah in Klorissa's farm.
Elijah had suggested to Leebig in the earlier part of the novel that the three
laws of robotics require modification as follows: "A robot may do nothing
that, to its knowledge will harm a human being; nor, through inaction,
knowingly, allow a human being to come to harm".'^^ Interrelating the three
cases, Elijah points out that the robots were innocent. Each robot is designed
to perform a single function. The murder of Dr.Rikaine is accomplished by the
64
combination of various functions performed by more than one robot
individually. Each robot is unaware of the task done by other robots in this
teamwork. Elijah refers to the incident without mentioning the name of
Daneel, that on the previous day a robot had got confused in comprehending
the implied meaning of the command 'Give me a hand'. In this regard,
Dr.Rikaine was experimenting with a new system of detachable limbs of a
robot. As Gunn points out, in a 'locked room' murder mystery in a special
Science fiction sense, detachable limbs form another ironical example of a
C/Fe culture. The roboticist Leebig is the only competent expert who knows
about robots with detachable limbs. Hence, he is one of the suspects in the
case. He has a double-edged motive. On the one hand, he suspects that
Dr.Rikaine's invention of a robot with a detachable limb might be
ideologically and professionally contradictory to his stand. On the other hand,
it is an opportunity for him to take revenge against Mrs.Rikaine. In fact, she
has previously rejected his offer to work under him. Therefore, Leebig might
have given an instruction to the robot with detachable limbs to hand over one
of its limbs to Mrs.Rikaine whenever the couple quarrels. Though robot
maintenance and repairs are the specialities of Solaria, Dr. Leebig has
deliberately destroyed the evidence, a fact which is the convincing proof to
establish Dr.Leebig's guilt. Further, Leebig has planned to conquer the Galaxy,
by building spaceships with positronic brains. The robots could be informed
65
that only Solaria has human beings and they would smash the enemy's space
ships even if they are human ships.
Shakespeare in his last plays is very generous in punishing his villains.
Asimov has also likewise treated his antagonists. Hence, Dr.Leebig commits
suicide after confessing his guilt. But the writer does not convict Gladia. After
the conference, Elijah meets Gladia. Then she has overcome her Solarian
taboo; hence she prepares to migrate to Aurora.
Back home, Elijah meets Minnim to give an account of the political,
economic, sociological, colonial and psychological structures of his findings
about the Outer Worlds. Accordingly, robots are both the strength and
weakness of Solarians. Further Elijah infers, "Without the interplay of human
against human, the chief interest in life is gone; most of the intellectual values
are gone; most of the reason for living is gone. Viewing is no substitute for
seeing."'"
Thus, the character Elijah upholds the merits of community living.
Also he advocates that life would be happier if Earth could colonise the
uninhabited worlds with the help of robots. If Solaria is the inside out of Earth,
there must be another ideal world where a semblance of harmony could exist.
That is the planet Aurora. The dissertation proposes to discuss the merits and
66
demerits of such a special setting in the next subsection by analysing The
Robots of Dawn {{983).
«o»
The Caves of Steel (1954) and The Naked Sun (1957) were written for
magazines. Asimov had made use of the incidents as chapter headings in the
earlier novels. But for the first time he uses the names of characters as chapter
headings in The Robots of Dawn (1983)''''*. In addition this novel has adapted
its content, narration and techniques to suit new wave writing. Stress has been
laid on the psycho-sociological theme and characterisation instead of hard
core SF elements. Hence, Asimov asserts:
What I needed to do next was to form the perfect topper
to my vision of the future by setting the third novel of the
trilogy in Aurora, and depicting the complete fusion of man and
robot into a society that was more than both and better than
cither.
In the summer of 1958 I even started the novel, and
then, somewhere in the fourth chapter, between one page and
the next, something happened.'''^
Gunn infers that the 'something' was the successful of launching of the
Sputnik. It is deduced that Asimov might have continued the fourth chapter
67
beginning with the dialogue, "under these circumstances," she [Lavinia
Demachek - the Undersecretary] went on, "we could scarcely take the risk of
sending you to Aurora, the leading Spacer world, and having you perhaps do
something that could create interstellar tension." For the first time there is a
culmination of robotics with psychohistory in this novel as it deals with the
Laws of Robotics and the prediction of mass behaviour. Elijah also expresses
his anguish, as his relationship with Gladia was not fairly projected in the
Hyperwave drama based on The Naked Sun (1957). Another emotional link
between the earlier one and The Robots of Dawn is that formerly Elijah was
perspiring at the end of The Naked Sun. Elijah continues to perspire in the
opening scene of The Robots of Dawn.
Mythologically, the city of Eos' represents the ancient Greek Goddess
of 'Dawn'; similarly Aurora was also the ancient Roman Goddess of Dawn.
Elijah is teamed up with his Robot partner Daneel Olivaw and a metallic robot
Giskard for his investigation on Aurora. Elijah is authoritatively ordered by
Undersecretary Lavinia Demachek to investigate the murder case of a
humaniform robot. At the same time he is asked to defend Dr.Fastolfe of that
planet because the latter favours Earth's interests. Soon after Elijah's landing
on Aurora Dr.Fastolfe paradoxically states to Elijah that he is the only one on
the planet capable of immobilising R.Jander, a humaniform robot whom he
had designed, but he has not done so. Further, Gladia admits that she has had
68
sexual relations with Jander. She lays stress on the importance of the
investigation, as she feels sorry for having lost her human husband on Solaria
and then iier robot bed partner on Aurora. In this regard, Jander and Daneel are
the only humaniform robots in the entire galaxy.
During his investigations, Elijah infers that Dr.Vasiha daughter of
Dr.Fastolfe is not on good terms with her genetic father as he had turned down
her wish to have an incestuous relationship with him. Also she abuses her
father as he has only treated her as a specimen to explore the unpredictable
part of her brain pattern. Hence, she joins the Auroran Robotic Institute,
founded by Dr.Amadiro. The aim of establishing the institute is to create
humanoid robots, but it has not succeeded in its attempt till then.
In other words, the Globalist Dr.Amadiro thinks that the people of
earth would spread earthly diseases if they were allowed to colonise the Outer
Worlds. Optimistically he expresses his (and the Auroran) desire of colonising
the Outer Worlds with the help of humaniform robots. On the way back to
Dr.Fastolfe's establishment, the team of investigators discovers that their
airfoil is damaged. Elijah speculates that it might be a malicious act of
Amadiro. While concluding the case Elijah speculates, "To put it briefly, no
machine can be of secret design if the machine itself is available for sufficient
1 T7
intense study." As Elijah suspects, Amadiro intended to study the only
living humaniform robot R.Daneel Olivaw at that time as he thinks that
69
examining Daneel at close quarters would provide sufficient impetus for
reproducing humaniform robots at his institute. Hence, Elijah deduces that
Amadiro might have delayed their departure by spoiling the airfoil. Therefore,
Elijah orders Giskard to take Daneel to a safe place in preference to his ov n
safety. As per his order Giskard takes Daneel to Gladia's establishment.
Meanwhile Elijah, who becomes unconscious in a grove of trees, is also
carried to Gladia's establishment. Having been thrilled by his mere touch on
Solaria in The Naked Sun (1957), Gladia offers herself completely to Elijah
that night. By then she has psychologically overcome the Solarian taboo
regarding the human touch.
On the following morning, in the presence of the Chairman,
Dr.Fastolfe and Dr. Amadiro, Elijah solves the murder mystery by taking up
the three aspects, motivation, opportunity and means. At first, Elijah
eliminates all Earthmen, as he was the first to foot on Aurora. Secondly, he
infers that no Spacer of the 'other worlds' would confuse a humaniform robot
and a human being as in the case of Sarton. Thirdly, the murder has not been
committed by any ignorant or inexperienced Auroran. Hence, he eliminates all
children. If it were Earth, people would have given orders to the robots to
deactivate themselves either by asking them to smash their own heads or
otherwise as in the case of R.Sammy. But it was Aurora. Hence, C/Fe culture
has prevented them from giving such orders.
70
In the story "The Mirror Image"(1972) the younger scientist surpasses
the achievements of the aged and experienced scientist. Likewise, in The
Naked Sun, Elijah speculates that the murder could have been committed by a
younger roboticist fresh from the University v ho might have surpassed the
brilliance of Dr.Fastolfe.
As Asimov has concluded in the novel, "If a conclusion is not
practically balanced, it cannot be scientifically true."'^^ After reviewing the
previous day's experience at the institute, Elijah recollects that Jander would
be alone at home while Gladia and Gremionis went on long walks. Also Elijah
speculates that accidentally Dr.Amadiro might have prompted Jander to
roboticide over the trimensional device during his routine analysis. His
speculation and logical calculations prove to be true. Thus, Elijah solves the
mysterious murder case of Jander. Another remarkable political compromise is
also established in the meeting when Dr.Fastolfe agrees:
I propose again a compromise whereby Aurora, the other
Spacer Worlds, and Earth, too, all have freedom of settlement
in the Galaxy. In return, I will be glad to join the Robotics
Institute, put my knowledge of humaniform robots at its
disposal, and thus facilitate Dr.Amadiro's plan, in return for his
sole agreement to abandon all thought of retaliation against
71
Earth at any time in the future and put this into treaty form with
ourselves and Earth as signatories.
In the resolution part of the story, Asimov thrills the readers by
narrating Elijah's discovery that Giskard is a telepathic robot. Elijah discovers
Giskard's hand in Jander's murder: Giskard has influenced Gladia, Dr.Fastolfe,
and the Chairman in bringing Elijah to Aurora. The investigator from Earth
also discovers that the telepathic robot wished to test whether Earthmen could
ever come out of their phobias. Through his experience, Giskard concludes
that Earthmen have the capacity to colonise the other Outer Worlds. At the
end, Dr.Fastolfe also assures Elijah that he would provide all the technological
support to Earth in the process of colonisation.
In conclusion, the novel presents perfect symmetry in its plot structure.
There are two detectives namely, Elijah and Daneel. There are two women-
Gladia and Vasilia who are identical in their appearances. There are two world
leaders who are also robot experts- Dr.Fastolfe and Dr. Amadiro. Gladia has
lost two partners- her husband and the bed partner. Gladia is carrying on
perverted sex with Jandcr whereas Vasilia on the same lines wishes to have
sex with her genetic father. Earth and Aurora must depend upon each other
for a harmonious progress of humanity as life exists on both.
From the structural point of view, the novel is similar to the earlier
detective robot novels as all these novels have the initial incident, the.climax,
72
solution and resolution. Therefore, most logically, Elijah proceeds in the
process of investigation by his formula method, namely, motive, opportunity,
and means.
The novel could be rated an excellent example of SF because it has
equally blended earthly experiences vi ith imaginative incidents. It has
presented global problems for v hich it has suggested plausible solutions.
From the sociological perspective it has dealt v ith the population problems,
sexual taboos, food habits, table manners, the description of 'Personals'; and
the social customs of the two worlds. By employing robots of telepathic
capabilities the novel unfolds the inner thoughts of human beings. The novel
also deals with psychological problems like agoraphobia, claustrophobia and
Oedipus complex. Further, the novel probes into each layer of the human mind
rationalistically by means of dialogues and interrogative techniques. The
method is similar to the techniques adapted in a 'case study' in psychology.
The problem solving method involves the process of probing into one's own
mind deeper and deeper till successful.
Asimov has depicted how disturbed a detective's mind can be. In this
regard the protagonist asserts, "I 've been desperate enough to play long shots -
that is, to gamble on events of low probability."''*'' Even so, Elijah succeeds in
the assignment given to him. Apart from the professional investigation
processes, Elijah has clearly perceived the sociological problems of the
73
Spacers. As per his observations, Aurorans could not progress as they lacked
able leadership. Elijah is the first Earthman who comes out of the 'Caves of
Steel' and hence, he succeeds in finding a positive solution. Thus, he could
open a way for the Earth people to colonise the Outer worlds. The complexity
of this epic sized novel might be due to its narrative technique. Usually a
character narrates a story. But analysis becomes difficult as the story in this
novel is told from diverse angles.
To cite an example for one such varied angle of study is to recall the
technique adapted in the narration of the Indian oral tradition based series of
stories namely, "Vikram and Bethal". The ghosts in these stories test the
ability of the Monarch Vikram to make value judgments objectively.
Similarly, the robot Giskard tests whether the Earthpeople can withstand a life
in the open and are capable of colonising the outer Worlds. For the purpose of
experimentation, Robot Giskard uses Elijah as a specimen.
In this regard, Elijah at first works under tremendous pressure fearing
the loss of his job and social status. Being bom and brought up in a middle-
class family, Elijah handles the people of the higher class or his own superiors
most tactfully. Frequently, he has feared declassification. Earlier, he has
handled the situation very well with Enderby, Minnim and others. In The
Robots of Dawn he has to handle Drs.Fastolfe, Amadiro and Vasilia as also the
Chairman and the intelligent robots on Aurora. At the same time on Earth, he
74
has to face his new boss Wilson Roth, and the Undersecretary Ms.Lavinia
Demachek. Often, he has overcome his own claustrophobic and agoraphobic
tendencies. As a human being Elijah does not always succeed in his attempts.
Elijah has even once told Gremionis, "I feel sure that I'm going to lose my
position here."''" In this regard, no formal C-7 grade experience helps him
solve the problem. He gets the clues to solve the problems either by intuition
or by common sense.
Finally, Robots of Dawn reflects on the nature of Asimovian robots in
general:
They would not knowingly say anything that would
harm a human being, nor could they be badgered, bribed, or
cajoled into it. They would not openly lie, but they would
remain stubbornly - if politely - insistent in giving useless
answers.'"*^
The novel pivots round the loss of Jander, which is a humaniform robot. In
this regard, 'humaniformity' is a step towards psychohistory and also serves as
a base to develop these ideas in Asimov's last robotic novel Robots and
Empire (1985). Thus, Asimovian robots in general exhibit a human interest in
their making and functioning. However, his robots also reiterate the need for
human beings to be bound by some laws like the robots are. The above aspect
75
emerges as a salient issue in the last robot novel by Asimov - Robots and
Empire.
In Robots and Empire (1985)''*'', Asimov deals with plausible worlds
where the humaniform R.Daneel Olivaw and the telepathic metallic R.Giskard
Reventlov, strive hard to save humanity forever as Elijah has entrusted to them
the responsibility of protecting humanity in posterity. They are forced to carry
out these tasks because Elijah has been dead for a long time and they have to
reshape the futuristic human world. The initial conflict of the novel is to judge
whether Spacers or Settlers should shape the future. The novel also basically
tackles the problem of colonisation. In this regard, telepathy serves as a device
to solve the problems of both the classes of the society. In addition, Robots
and Empire elaborately deals with contemporary social problems and their
solutions for the progress of humanity by projecting visions about the future.
Further, Asimov links Robotic Science with Psychohistory in this novel, as his
"Franchise'"(1955) and "The Last Answer" (1979) have described the
encounter of humanity as a single entity with a 'Super- Computer' or the
'Voice' respectively.
Structurally, the novel presents two symmetrical halves pertaining to • .
the Spacers and Settlers. Unlike the Spacers who attempt to colonise fifty
76
uninhabited worlds in vain, the Settlers practically succeed in implementing
the techniques of colonisation as Elijah has advocated. The Settlers establish
the Elijah World that is identical to Aurora and Solaria.
Further, the characterisation is perfectly balanced in presenting on the
one hand the noble lady Gladia Solaria and Deejee Baley (D.G.) of the Elijah
World as the main human characters and on the other hand, the Spacers
Dr.Amadiro and Mandamus as villains. The noble robots namely the
humaniform R.Dancel Olivaw and the metallic mind-reading R.Giskard are
sketched as the central characters of the novel as they determine the destiny of
mankind. In contrast to their noble characters the novel also presents the
villainous robots like Landaree and R.Emett. Dr.Vasilia and Gladia Solaria are
identical in appearance. But the former is an embodiment of evil, whereas the
latter turns out to be a global leader who in turn attempts to establish global
peace.
With regard to narrative technique, on a parallel to the 'Sutradhar'
(commentator) in the Indian folklore theatre such as 'Yakshagana', Daneel and
Giskard recall, interpret and link the course of action of the past with the
present and also plan for the future. Meanwhile, Daneel and Giskard establish
the 'Zeroeth Law' or the 'Law of Humanics'. By team effort, Gladia, Daneel
and Giskard try to establish global peace at the end of the novel.
77
In Robots and Empire, Earth has succeeded in her attempts to colonise
the Settler Worlds. Particularly, Elijah World is established with the persistent
efforts of Elijah's son Bentley after the death of his father. With Earth as its
base, Elijah World carries on trade with the Outer worlds.
The meeting of Gladia with Elijah in the Auroran orbit is among the
prominent flashbacks of the novel. Elijah aged about fifty is on his way to
settle in Elijah town and has an affair with her. At that time, he instructs her to
trust Giskard and to take Daneel as a protector. Later on, when Gladia is 233
years old, she inherits Fastolfe's property, namely, Giskard and Daneel as per
his will.
The second flashback describes the meeting of Daneel with Elijah on
Elijah World when the latter is on his deathbed. Elijah's viewpoint expressed
here might be an extension of ideas as described in Asimov's "Does A Bee
Care...?" (1957). In this novel Elijah advises Daneel to understand the thread
of individual contributions and follow the human tapestry that is, the logical
events and the development of ideas in the history of human society for the
survival of the human race.
Asimov introduces a new character Daneel Giskard Baley (D.G.) - a
trader cum settler. D.G comes to Aurora seeking the help of Gladia who alone
can get him the ownerless robots from Solaria so that he can sell them in Outer
78
worlds. Though the Solarian robots are ownerless, they are supervised by a
dangerous gynoid leader Landaree. But Gladia with her childhood experience
is able to make proper gestures by which she could manoeuvre the harmful
gynoid robot Landaree easily. Thus, Gladia becomes a demi-god for the
Settlers. For a triumphal celebration, Gladia along with the loyal robots is
taken to the Baley World.
In a powerful speech on the Baley World, Gladia gives a call for the
establishment of galactic peace. She tries to bridge the gap between Spacers
and Settlers. During the course of her speech, a robot makes an attempt on the
life of Giskard. But it is nullified by the spontaneous response of Daneel. It
may be recalled that Vasilia is the maker of robot Giskard which possesses
telepathic powers. Vasilia thinks that mere possession of the robot by any one
will bring fortune. She speculates that it might be the reason for the success of
Dr.Fastolfe, Elijah, and Gladia in all their endeavours. With Macbethian
ambition she tries to recapture the telepathic robot. For this vicious act she
seeks the help of Amadiro. Later, the intelligent robots sense a danger to their
own existence and to Mother Earth. Hence they succeed in reaching Earth
with Gladia and D.G.
With the help of Sophia Quintana, Daneel and Giskard locate the
"Three Mile Island" where the spacers had planned to trigger the nuclear
intensifiers to destroy Earth gradually. Dr.Amadiro the greater of the two
79
villains meets his end. Mandamus, the other villain, convinces the robots that
his course of action would gradually result in colonising the fifty uninhabited
outer worlds by the Earth people. At the end of the novel the Zeroeth Law is
framed. Ultimately, Giskard transfers his extra-ordinary power to Daneel so
that he could look after the progress of humanity in the days to come.
In conclusion, the novel Robots and Empire has predicted the destiny
of man in the Asimovian fictional world. The writer has cautioned humanity to
be dynamic and modem. Ultimately the novel has hinted that man should
colonise the Outer worlds. Mother Earth serves as a model for humanity
whether they are Earthmen, Spacers or Settlers. It is not pleasant for any of
them to live in 'Caves of Steel'. Another extreme model is Solaria, which has
also declined due to its ideology of living apart. There is lack of co-existence
among the people of the planet. On the one hand, an all robot-society is
dangerous. On the other hand, the Spacer Worlds may also decay due to their
feeling of superiority. In addition they fear contamination and possess an
unhealthy desire for long life. Hence, the novel suggests that harmony needs to
be established between men and robots. In this regard, the Zeroeth law or the
laws of humanics promotes the process of colonising the Outer worlds.
Therefore, Daneel remarks that "[...] there are many times that human
reactions do not seem to follow logically from events."''*'* Reflecting on this
remark Giskard says that it is one of the reasons why it seems to him that "the
80
three Laws of Robotics are incomplete or insufficient."''*^ Analysing the
behaviour of Landarcc drives the robots to recall what Elijah has said before.
Elijah has concluded that every single thread of individual human progress has
contributed to the progress of humanity. After Elijah the robots had shouldered
the responsibility of uplifting the status of humanity. Hence, Giskard
speculates that the Layvs of Robotics will merge with the Laws of Humanics.
But humanity is an "abstraction' for Daneel, because always there are excuses
and justifications for the crimes committed by one tribe against the other. In
this regard, Daneel and Giskard exhibit human qualities rather than robotic
ones. Hence, they formulate the Zeroeth Law of robotics, which in turn
merges the Robotistic works with Psychohistory. On the one hand they display
loyalty to Gladia; on the other hand, they protect themselves when Dr.Vasilia
proposes to dismantle Daneel. Finally, Daneel formulates the Law of
Humanics by substituting 'humanity' for 'a human being' in the first law of
robotics. It states, "A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction,
allow humanity to come to harm. 1 think of it now as the Zeroeth Law of
Robotics."''*^ Even then the concept of humanity is an abstraction for them,
because human beings are in the attire of Spacers, Earthmen and Settlers.
Hence the robots redefine humanity:
We define human beings as all members of the species. Homo
sapiens, which includes Earth people and Settlers, and we feel
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that the prevention of harm to human beings in groups and to
humanity as a whole comes before the prevention of harm to
any specific individual.'''^
Asimov postulates the three laws of humanics in Robot Visions (1985).
They state:
I law: A human being may not injure another human being, or,
through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
II law: A human being must give orders to a robot that preserve
robotic existence, unless such orders cause harm or discomfort
to human beings.
HI law: A human being must not harm a robot, or, through
inaction, allow a robot to come to harm, unless such harm is
needed to keep a human being from harm or to allow a vital
order to be carried out.
Thus, the Three Laws of Robotics merge with the Zeroeth Law.
However, Asimov has exhibited a strong hope about the survival of humanity
in these fictional works. With this kind of optimism the character D.G. in the
novel generalises, "Humanity will survive, whether it will be in the form of
Settlers or Spacers or both [....].""'^
« o »
82
In the previous chapter the dissertation has presented varied forms of
definitions and the themes of the genre SF. In addition it has also briefly
discussed Robotics before Asimov. Both these aspects of study have provided
a platform to analyse the themes present in Asimov's works. Theme' forms
the central idea in a literary work and SF also validates progression of ideas. It
can be inferred that the themes in these stories and novels ultimately aim at
overcoming the 'Frankenstein Complex'. Therefore, the study has tried to
classify his short stories in accordance with their themes such as machine
phobia, love/hate of robots, robo-computer stories, as also humanoid robots.
Before the Asimovian era, SF writers had mainly presented robots as
Trankenstein monsters'. The central concern of Asimov's works, however, is
to demolish the Prometheus/ Frankenstein Complex. Gunn observes that the
root of the resentment of robots lies in "unthinking people, religious fanatics,
short sighted labor unions."'^" In other words, human resentment of robots is
not due to the manufactured robots themselves. As Gunn points out, "Blind
emotion, sentimentality, prejudice, faith'in the impossible, unwillingness to
accept observable truth, failure to use one's intellectual capacities or the
resources for discovering the truth", were the sources of human misery and
evil in the days of the Campbellian era. '^'
83
Asimov's aim is not only to eradicate the Frankenstein Complex, but
also to advocate the merits of the machine culture because SF has emerged out
of the impact of the industrial revolution. Hence, Asimov's thesis is as follows:
The Machine is only a tool after all, which can help humanity
progress faster by taking some of the burdens of calculations
and interpretations off its back. The task of [the] human brain
remains what it has always been; that of discovering new data
to be analyzed, and of devising new concepts to be tested.
In order to adjust himself to this kind of a machine era man has to understand
his own limitations. Asimov expresses that though all machines are dangerous
they are fitted with safety devices. Hence it is up to man to use them safely.
Just like Shakespeare was in search of a perfect human being in his
plays, Asimov was also in search of perfect robots. Hence, "Robbie"
introduces the first law of robotics. "Runaround" states the three laws of
robotics. The three laws respectively advocate human safety, dutifulness of the
robots and safety of robots. The production of a number of works under this
theme is due to the varied angles of interpretation of these laws. The
computers behave in a similar manner to robots in Asimov's stories as they
follow the three laws of robotics. In all these stories Asimov has tried to
demolish the Frankenstein Complex. The only flaw in the make of the robots
in "Escape", "Risk" and of Danccl Olivaw in The Naked Sun is that they
84
comprehend the literal meaning of the commands in English. Robots cannot
comprehend the implied meaning of the expressions, 'Give me a hand' or 'Go
lose yourself. Similarly, il is unnecessary to order a robot to hold anything
Tirmly'. In all these works robotics is presented as normal science. The stories
in the first two anthologies namely, /, Robot and The Rest of the Robots exhibit
a crude make up in its settings, characterisation, and points of view. In other
words, they form the germination period for the emergence of the later stories
with robots.
The cover story article "Creation of the Humanoids", by Bridget Mintz
Testa in Popular Mechanics (CD ROM-1995) deals with the question how
human these humanoids are. Gregory T.Pope in "Back When It was Only
Science Fiction", observes "clanky, metal clad machines, such as Robby of
'Forbidden Planet' and C3P0 of 'Star Wars', are good guys. But most
humanoid robots - Yul Brynner's Gunslinger from 'West World' and the
'Terminator' assassins - arc sinister"'^^ The above ideas are concretised in the
creation of humanoids by Asimov in his works. Among the humanoid theme
stories, "Evidence" (1946) and "The Tercentenary Incident"(1976) form a base
for creating the award winning story "The Bicentenial Man"(1976). "The
Bicentennial Man" narrates the story of a robot Andrew Martin who is gifted
enough to create art, who acquires the position of a robotist, biographer, and
ultimately becomes a man. But humanity commands that as a man he has to be
85
mortal. He is declared a Bicentennial man at his death. Again the story
highlights the super ego of man in the process of elevating a robot to a human
status.
Before Asimov, one can observe a Faustian make up in the creation of
Robots in SF. The scene does not change even after the invasion by robots
from factories as is described in R.U.R. Until 1940s robots were created and in
turn they murdered their masters in a number of works. Asimov was tired of
reading these stories. He portrays them as friendly since his motto is to
overcome the 'Frankenstein Complex'. Hence, he formulates the three laws of
robotics in his works. These laws work out well with other writers also. With
this single line of thought and its varied interpretations Asimov has produced
fifty-four short stories and four novels. In a fictional world of robots, his
characters could also feel the merits of the machine. But Asimov has also
explored in his works how the laws could be misused. Under these two
extreme conditions, Asimov could convince his readers of the merits of the
machine culture.
In addition, Asimov is the pioneer to use detective elements in SF
writings. In this regard, the 'Five Finger Exercise' as adapted in the stories
"Reason"( 1941),"Victory Unintentional"(I942) and "Catch That Rabbit"
(1944) creates an impetus for the writers of the future to adapt this kind of a
mode in their writings. Thus, the robotic stories form a base for Asimov to
86
develop these ideas in his robotistic novels on a mega scale. Thematically, the
novels present various interpretations of the three laws of robotics, of human
nature, of the noble characteristics of robots and of their status in human
society.
Spatially, the novels present empirical worlds with thickly-populated
human worlds like Earth, under populated worlds like Solaria, worlds equally
populated with humans and robots like Aurora, the all human world the Baley
World, the fifty worlds already colonised by Spacers and the Outer worlds
which are open for the earthmen to colonise. Temporally, the novels are
placed three thousand years from now. The linking character in all these
novels is Baley the plainclothesman of Earth. He tries to solve the murder
mysteries of Dr.Sarton, Dr.Rikaine, and R.Jander. After his death the
humaniform robot R.Daneel Olivaw and the telepathic metallic robot Giskard
jointly carry forward his line of thought in the problem solving game in the
last novel. Generally the motives for the murders of Sarton, Dr.Rikaine and
Jandcr arc all individualistic rather than societal. They depict the vicious
motives of Enderby, Leebig and Dr.Amadiro.
The structure of the first three novels is derived from the study of the
five sections namely, initial situation, complication, conflict, solution and
resolution. Further, the investigation techniques take up the formula of
motivation, opportunity and means to solve murders. In the final novel of the
87
robot scries, Asimov thematically uses the conflict between Spacers and
Settlers. In this regard, the Settlers are dynamic because they do not want to
burden the already thickly populated Earth. Further, colonisation of the Outer
worlds is the need of the hour. Hence, the central concern of these works is to
test the survival instinct of Homo sapiens.
Fictionally, the study of the above works confirms that humanity will
survive. But it may be either in the form of Spacers or Settlers. Earth is not the
only place to live. Moreover, in Asimov's fictional world Earth has already
been destroyed by the Spacers. Hence, man has to adapt to live in Outer
worlds in order to solve the earthly problems. In the meantime humanity
locates other weaknesses and adopts the laws of humanics for a better future.
Chapter II
End Notes
^'^ Asimov, The Rest of the Robots (1964), Introduction. (Great Britain:
Grafton, 1986), 13-14.
^ Asimov, The History of Science Fiction Magazines vol. (1936-
43), (Chicago: Henry Regenery, 1975), 24.
^^ William F. Touponce, Isaac Asimov, (Boston: Twayne, 1991), 36.
This story "Run Around" first appears m Astounding, March 1942.
^' Asimov, "Run Around", /. Robot (1951;New York: Bantam, 1991),
44-45.
^ James Gunn, Isaac Asimov: The Foundation of Science Fiction,
(Oxford: Oxford UP, 1982), 59.
^'^ Gunn, 66.
° Asimov, "Robbie"(1940;, /, Robot, 9.
' Asimov, "Robbie",/i?o6o/, 9.
^ Asimov, "Robbie",//?o6or, 9.
^ Asimov, "Robbie", I Robot, 9.
^^ Asimov, "Robbie", I Robot, 9.
^^ Asimov, "Robbie",/i?o6o^ 17.
^ Asimov, "Robbie", I Robot, 23.
89
^ Touponce, 35.
'^^ Asimov, "Robbie", I Robot, 28.
''•' Mukul Sharma ed., "High-Tech Interview-Isaac Asimov", 2001,
(Bombay: The Times of India, Nov 1988), The interview was held by Indian
scientists in collaboration with the USIS, New Delhi, on September 22, 1988.
"'° Asimov, "Some Day", Robot Visions, (London: VGSF, 1993),
317..
'"' Touponce, 41.
'°^ Joseph F Patrouch, Jr, The Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov, New
York:Doubleday, 1974, 55.
'°^ Patrouch, 55.
"" Patrouch, 55.
'°^ Asimov, The Caves of Steel, (1954; New York: Bantam, 1991), 172.
Herein after The Caves of Steel is abbreviated as Caves in end notes.
'°^ Asimov, "The Bicentennial Man" (1976), Robot Visions (1990),
(London: Victor Gollancz, 1993), 300.
" ^ Asimov, "The Bicentennial Man", Visions, 285-286.
'°^ Asimov, "The Bicentennial Man", Visions, 285-286.
"" S.A.Cowan, "Five Finger Exercise: Asimov's Clues to the Plot
Solution of 'Catch That Rabbit". Science Fiction Studies 16.1 (1989)
''° Asimov, "Catch That Rabbit", /, Robot, 95.
90
'" S.A.Cowan, "Catch That Rabbit", /, Robot, 90.
"^ Asimov, "Catch That Rabbit", /, Robot, 109.
' ' S.A.Cowan, "Catch That Rabbit", /, Robot. 90.
"^ Cowan, 92.
"^ Cowan, 93.
'"'Asimov, The Naked Sun, (New York; Bantam, 1957).Herein after
The Naked Sun is abbreviated as The Sun in end notes.
" Asimov, The Robots of Dawn (1983; London: Harper Collins,
1994). Herein after The Robots of Dawn is abbreviated as Dawn in end notes.
" Asimov, Robots and Empire (1985; New York: Ballantine,
\99\).Robots and Empire is not abbreviated as the reader may
confuse this work with any of the Empire novel series.
" ' Darko Suvin as quoted in John S. Nania, "Exploding Genres:
Stanislaw Lem's Science Fiction Detective Novels", Extrapolation,
25:03:1984,266
' ° John S. Nania, "Exploding Genres: Stanislaw Lem's Science Fiction
Detective Novels", Extrapolation, 25:03:1984, 266.
'^' Nania, 267.
' ^ Nania, 268.
' ^ See end note 100 for details.
' '' Gunn, Isaac Asimovj, 110.
91
' ^ Asimov, Caves, 64-65.
126 Asimov, "Catch That Rabbit", I Robot 90.
' ^ See end note 111 for details.
' ^ Gunn, Isaac Asimov, 124.
' ^ Gunn, Isaac Asimov, 125.
' ° Asimov, r/ze Sun, 62.
'^' Asimov, 77ze Sun, 233.
' ^ Asimov, r/ie 5wn, 195.
'"Asimov, r/?e5w/j, 260.
' ^ See end note 112 for details.
^^^ Gunn, Isaac Asimov. 137.
' ^ Asimov, £)aw«, 28.
' " Asimov, Dawn, 443-444.
' ^ Asimov, Dawn, 134.
139 Asimov, Dawn, 454.
"'° Asimov, £)aw«, 324.
141 Asimov, Dawn, 320.
"* Asimov, Dawn, 180.
'' ' See end note 113 for details
^'^'^ Asimov, Robots and Empire, 17.
145 Asimov, Robots and Empire, 17.
92
''* Asimov, Robots and Empire, 353.
'• ^ Asimov, Robots and Empire, 463.
"* Asimov, /?o6or Visions (1985;London: VGSF, 1993) 488-490.
Herein after Robot Visions is abbreviated as Visions in the end notes
''' Asimov, Robots and Empire, 246-247.
' ^ Gunn, Isaac Asimov, 59-60.
'^'Ounn, Isaac Asimov (1982), 60. The Campbellian era is also known
as the Golden Age of Science fiction.
'"Asimov, "The Evitable Conflict"(1950), /, Robot, 265.
'"Gregory T.Pope, "Back When It Was Only Science Fiction",
Popular Mechanics, CD-ROM, 1995.
Chapter III
The Portraiture of Women in Asimovian Robotics.
The feminist movement is a revolt against the system of patriarchy and
its inhuman ways of treating the female. Sheila Rowbotham's Women in
Movement (1992)'^'' defines feminism as a proposal for social transformation
as well as a movement that strives to end the oppression of women. In general,
the history of the human race depicts the domination of the male over the
female. But the women's movement mainly aims at bridging the gap between
the male and female order. Ruthven's Feminist Literaiy Studies: An
Introduction (1984) marks the central hypothesis that "gender is a crucial
determinant in the production, circulation and consumption of literary
discourses [...]."'^^ The work distinguishes between biologically given sex and
socially constructed gender. Feminist criticism invariably focuses on the
invisible component of 'gender' in all its discourses. Gender is a human
invention like language, kinship, religion, and technology. Women and men
are different but not unequal. In this regard, Ruthven points out, "It is not a
question of deciding what a woman Ms' by nature, but of examining what she
is assumed to be in the society, or culture in which she lives, how those
assumptions came about, and whose interests they serve."'^
The word 'feminist' was first coined by a French socialist Charles
Fourier in the nineteenth century. But much earlier Mary Wollstonecraft's