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

36

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.

37

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

38

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.

39

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

40

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

41

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

42

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.

43

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

44

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

45

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

46

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

47

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.

48

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

49

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

50

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

51

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

52

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

53

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

54

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:

55

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,

56

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

57

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.

58

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