69 pages • 2 hours read
Isaac AsimovI, Robot
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1950A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Literary Devices
Positronic Brain as Deus ex Machina
The positronic brain is the computational mechanism that controls every robot in the story. It is not described in any detail except that it is highly complex. Without positronic brains, the robots and their stories are impossible. In real life, there is no such device, but the author’s job, as a writer of speculative fiction, is to anticipate such technological developments in the future and then consider the effects it might have on society.
Thus, the positronic brain is a deus ex machina, a “god outside the mechanism” that arbitrarily reaches into human history and changes it. This is a standard literary device when an author needs something to happen that will move a plot forward. It is perfectly legitimate—writers through the ages have invoked arbitrary “what ifs” to launch or redirect plot lines—and it is expected in a work of sci-fi. Positronic brains thus serve as placeholders for a futuristic technology that, in some form or another, is likely to appear one day and overturn much of human culture. The stories in I, Robot look at the implications of such a technology and how humans might address them in the future.
The book itself makes sly reference to its own device. Byerley describes how robot work and inventions have changed human society, to which Dr. Calvin replies, “A deus ex machina, then, in a double sense” (201). She means both that the robots are machines standing outside the machinery of commerce and managing it, and that the robots have exercised godlike power to change worldly affairs.
Dialog as Drama
An ever-present danger in sci-fi is that the author might drone on about the engineering and physics of a futuristic technology. This could cause readers to yawn and put down the book. One of the author’s most-used devices for solving this problem is to stage arguments between the main characters. This creates a tension that keeps readers alert and involved.
Much of the dialog in the book is about the technology of robots and how to solve problems that arise in their manufacture and use. Each case of a robot gone wrong requires explanation, but this can slow down the story. Thus, most of the main characters, from Dr. Calvin to Mike Donovan, tend to be smart, impatient, and highly irritable, their hearts on their sleeves and prone to squabbling. This adds drama to a dialog that might otherwise become dreary. For example, using adverbs to pump up the drama, the author concludes a tense discussion:
“Please,” begged Kallner, half in irritation. “Do you insist that nothing further can be done, Dr. Calvin?” “I can’t think of anything, sir,” she replied, wearily (136).
The opposite problem is that readers may not understand the scientific concepts involved unless they are explained, but the characters already know those facts. The author creates situations that give speakers a chance to describe technical details without appearing to instruct people who already are well informed. For example:
She faced them and spoke sarcastically, “Surely you know the fundamental First Law of Robotics.” The other two nodded together. “Certainly,” said Bogert, irritably, “a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow him to come to harm.” “How nicely put,” sneered Calvin (107).
Another method involves the use of the phrase “of course.” This permits a character to explain things already known to another without appearing to talk down to that person, so that the reader can keep up. For example, Powell finds some old robots on a space station and tells his partner Donovan, “They’ve got positronic brains: primitive, of course” (28). This brings the reader up to speed about the limits of the mechanical equipment the two men must work with as well as how quickly robots can become obsolete.
The author also uses “of course” when addressing readers, so as not to insult them. Most of the robots in the book have charming names derived from their production code letters. Asimov enjoys wordplay, but, early in the book, he explains the naming device so readers will not later feel left behind. Of Chapter 2’s fast-moving Robot SPD 13, called “Speedy” by technicians, the author writes, “His name was derived from his serial initials, of course, but it was apt, nevertheless” (34).
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By Isaac Asimov
