Galapagos

Mandarax is a small computer device that Zenji Hiroguchi invented. The machine can translate between many thousands of languages, providing literary quotes from throughout history and diagnosing a broad range of medical conditions. The device represents the peak of human technological knowledge but, more importantly, symbolizes the limitations of such knowledge. Created by one of the world’s smartest men, Mandarax works well—but only in specific circumstances and to a limited degree. The device isn’t itself intelligent; it reflects human intelligence. Mandarax isn’t as clever or as advanced as humans think it is, and its inherent limitations cause social strife, such as when Zenji and Hisako become convinced that Andrew has mental illness because the machine misdiagnoses his mental health. Zenji, the “genius” who created the device, is still confused by the information he received from his own invention. The device symbolizes the potential of human achievement but also that potential’s hubristic limitations, in which humans don’t realize how limited it (and they) truly are.

Mandarax isn’t the first device of its kind; it’s the second iteration of Gokubi. As the second generation of the device, Mandarax symbolically exemplifies technological evolution. Unlike in natural evolution, however, an inventor’s hand guides this form of evolution. Zenji plays the role of God in this symbolic recreation of evolution, directing the advancements of his intelligent design along chosen and planned avenues. This kind of technological evolution is evolution in name only, a corrupted version of the concept that Charles Darwin originally posited while visiting the Galapagos Islands. Importantly, however, the novel’s characters still regard this development as a form of evolution, symbolizing how humans have corrupted and misconstrued the original Darwinian concepts such as natural selection. For all his genius, Darwin’s ideas have become tangled in the complexity of human culture and how it has come to view itself. Mandarax reveals human limitations by showing the misuse of humans’ self-awareness of their own evolutionary history to describe technological development processes. Humans’ misunderstanding of the difference between technological and natural evolution symbolically demonstrates the species’ desire to play God, the kind of hubris and arrogance that nearly brings about the species’ end.

Once the group is stranded on the island, Mandarax becomes an important tool. The translation capabilities allow Hisako and Selena to form a meaningful relationship and allow Mary to expand her knowledge of literature. However, the device’s limitations quickly become apparent. For all its capabilities, the device can’t speak the Kanka-bono language, so the orphans remain alienated from the others. Similarly, the device can provide only literary quotes, not examples of literature. Mary receives only snippets of famous authors’ quotes rather than the actual books, so she sees only a small portion of the whole. Rather than Mandarax, a human mind is needed to resolve these problems. Mary becomes bored with the machine’s limitations and begins to experiment, while a child is born who learns to speak Kanka-bono and finally bridges the cultural divide. As the characters come to depend on the Mandarax, they reveal its limitations and the need for humans to free themselves from reliance on technology.