Through New Eyes (Theme)

“These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? He appeared at one time a mere scion of the evil principle and at another as all that can be conceived of noble and godlike…For a long time I could not conceive how one man could go forth to murder his fellow, or even why there were laws and governments; but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased and I turned away with disgust and loathing.”

-p 114

Mary Shelley seems to prefer to reveal a great portion of her thoughts on human life through the thoughts and struggles of the monster. Frankenstein’s creation seems to be used to express Shelley’s themes particularly well due to his relative innocence. He was just born about one year ago; he has only one year’s worth of experience and one year’s worth of understanding of human nature. It would do Shelley little good to convey her message simply through another human; inevitably, that human would contradict their own reflections on humanity because he is, first and foremost, human. Yet by imposing such themes on the monster, Shelley is able to ponder human nature through fresh eyes. Frankenstein’s monster dwells on mankind’s duality of conscience for the first time and in a way that most humans, who are used to this conflict, would not be able to think. Frankenstein’s creation provides Shelley with the only way she could properly convey her themes concerning the paradox of man.

To Be Human Again (Situational Irony)

“ ‘Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil! You reproach me with your creation; come on, then, that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed.’

[…]

He easily eluded me and said, ‘Be calm! I entreat you to hear me before you give vent to your hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery?’ ”

-p 95

I found this passage to exemplify a rather odd case of situational irony. In this confrontation between Victor and his monstrous creation, one would assume that the monster would not actually be able even to communicate with Victor, let alone express human emotions. Yet surprisingly, the monster has learned to speak quite eloquently and seems to express a great sense of understanding of Victor’s rage, as well deep sorrow and misery. Victor, on the other hand, would be expected to be the more human of the two. Instead, however, Victor seems to be possessed by a wild rage against his creation. He makes no attempts to understand his monster, instead savagely threatening to commit the same crime which his creation had committed against his brother. Yet in being consumed by this blind rage, Victor seems to lose some of his humanity and compassion. This loss, combined with the monster’s newfound humanity, creates a reversal of expectation toward this scene. In a clever twist, the human acts like a monster, and the monster displays his humanity. By writing thus, Shelley poses an interesting question as to what exactly identifies man as being human: simple biological status, or true compassion and emotion?

Well, That's a Crummy Ending

“Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”

-p 298

Those last sentences may make up the most depressing end of a novel that I’ve read. Orwell ends his novel rather abruptly, with a quick and painful shot to the gut. Orwell jumps from Winston’s submission to the Party straight to a scene some time later, showing Winston as a blubbery, pathetic shell of the independent man he once was. The reader can only observe in shocked disgust as Winston actually cries with joy at Oceania’s probably falsified victory over Eurasia. Winston has become completely in line with Party ideals, yet in doing so, the physical regression in his body is evident. Winston has become much more bloated and, to be honest, seems to have a somewhat slimy sense about him. Yet he is, as far as his now limited mind can tell, extremely happy over his ability to beat his free will into submission. With the absolute defeat of his protagonist, Orwell leaves a sobering message with his readers: the society of 1984 must be prevented, for if it does occur, no man will be able to stop it, no matter how resolute. Man will lose.

A Breaking Point (Climax)

“The mask was closing on his face. The wire brushed his cheek. And then—no, it was not relief, only hope, a tiny fragment of hope. Too late, perhaps too late. But he suddenly understood that in the whole world there was just one person to whome he could transfer his punishment—one body that he could thrust between himself and the rats. And he was shouting frantically, over and over:

‘Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!’ ”

-p 286

This passage details the climax of Orwell’s 1984. Throughout the novel, Winston has constantly fought with his supposedly unorthodox ideals, beliefs that actually express humanity and a sense of morality. These beliefs fly directly in the face of Party ideals, and Winston tries desperately to hold to his beliefs while hiding them from the Party. As the novel progress, however, it becomes clearer and clearer that such rebellious thoughts simply cannot be kept by a man who expects to live much longer. Yet even when Winston is within the Ministry of Love, Winston still maintains his dwindling beliefs that love, compassion, and humanity are superior to any Party tents. This belief is evident when he breaks down and begins shouting Julia’s name and calling her “his love.” Even when Winston wholeheartedly attempts to lose his beliefs in humanity, he is unable to shake his morals. When he faces the rats, however, his own savage sense of self-preservation takes dominance: he sheds his loyalty to Julia and, in doing so, sheds his hopes in humanity. In this climactic scene, Winston loses the fight to protect his hopes for humanity and effectively succumbs to the inhuman savagery that the Party holds dear.

Common Vice (p. 1461, Question 5)

As the truth comes out concerning the events of the past couple of days, Othello becomes distraught and ashamed. He stabs and kills himself, but before doing so, Othello reestablishes a bit of his greatness through his final speech to Lodovico. In this speech, Othello honorably tells Lodovico to "speak of me as I am, nothing extenuate,/ Nor set down aught in malice" (V.ii.341-342). Instead of trying to cast blame for his deed upon Iago, as he very well could, he admits his guilt, yet points out that he was in truth a good and loving person who simply made foolish decisions and was stupidly influenced (V.ii.343-347). It is this extreme guilt and admission of his faults that brings some honor back to Othello. His acts of murder and revenge are inexcusable, yet he reminds the audience that he was as good a man as he could be, albeit a flawed one. This summary of his flawed humanity strikes a chord with the audience, who can relate to Othello's vices, as they too are viced. In revealing that Othello is no different from any of us, Shakespeare portrays Othello as an example of a great man who fell a long way down.

Bicentennial Man--Now I Remember Why I Liked Science Fiction

Plot

In a few significant ways, the plot structure of Isaac Asimov's "Bicentennial Man" reflects that of a play. The story is broken up into 23 chapters--effectively, separate scenes from Andrew Martin's life. Through this separation, Asimov clearly establishes that the story covers Andrew's entire life, from "when he had first been--manufactured" (p 247) to his eventual death (p 290). Although the action in some chapters occur directly after the preceding chapter (e.g., Chapters 9 and 10), the separation of all action into scenes give the action a more spread out feeling, aiding Asimov in reflecting the length of Andrew's life. It is interesting to note, however, that the storyline is not entirely continuous in one straight line. The story opens in medias res, hinting at "patently a damaging operation" (p 247) which Andrew has decided to undergo. However, this operation is in fact Andrew's final operation to cause "the death of [his] body" (p 289). While this initially may confuse the reader as they attempt to place this scene within the plot line, it serves Asimov's main intent: to immediately establish Andrew's status as a robot who appears to be human. This surprise sets the stage for Andrew's struggle to be recognized as a human.

Point of View

"Bicentennial Man" is written in a rather odd subjective third person point of view. The point of view is limited in that it focuses only the thoughts and feelings of Andrew, the story's protagonist. The audience is treated with insights into Andrew's feelings, such as when Andrew bargains with Dr. Magdescu from U.S. Robots and the narrator includes that Andrew "thought with satisfaction that Paul himself could not have done it better" (p 279). Yet in describing Andrew's emotions, the narrator often uses rather passive, awkward, and impersonal modifiers. He mentions that "Andrew was fond of" Miss and Little Miss, yet immediately qualifies this claim by explaining rather stiffly that "at least, the effect they had upon his actions were those which in a human being would have been called the result of fondness" (p 248). Because Andrew is, at least at first, a full-fledged robot, his emotions are not authentically human, and so Asimov reflects this awkwardness of emotion in his writing. However, as the story progresses, the qualifiers become more and more sparse, as is evident in the passage concerning Andrew's encounter with Dr. Magdescu mentioned earlier. As Andrew becomes more human, the point of view likewise become more subjective.

Characterization

Asimov utilizes indirect characterization in his depictions of the characters of "Bicentennial Man." The characters' attitudes are never expressed forthright but instead are displayed through their dialogue and actions, as well as the dialogue of others, such as when Little Miss explains to Andrew that Sir "may not have seemed friendly to you toward the end, Andrew, but he was old, you know, and it hurt him that you should want to be free" (p 257). Instead of directly stating that Sir felt a tad betrayed by Andrew's natural desire to be officially free, Asimov explains Sir's emotions through Little Miss' direct address to Andrew. The only observations which the narrator directly makes are observations concerning characters' outward appearances, such as the superficial description of Chee Li-Hsing: "the chairman of the Science and Technology Committee was of the East Asian region and she was a woman" (p 282). I think the reason behind this solely superficial characterization lies in the fact that as a robot, superficial observations are the only ones that Andrew is able to make. He is unable to deduce humans' emotions and thoughts; therefore, the narrator does not directly state them, but instead allows the reader to make deductions that Andrew is unable to make.

Setting

Although Asimov never clearly states the time frame of "Bicentennial Man," it is clear that the story occurs sometime in the future, in a time period "when robots in households, or on the planet altogether, had been a rarity" (p 247). It is also likely that the story takes place largely in the United States, as the company which creates robots is called, not surprisingly, U.S. Robots. However, as it is mentioned, "U.S. Robots...has a worldwide monopoly" (p 273) on the robotics industry, so it is not a definite fact that the setting is the United States. However, it is not the location of the story which truly matters, but the time frame. Often, science fiction is able to reflect on deeper aspects of humanity than other fictional genres because of the highly speculative nature of the genre. Science fiction writers are able to create fictional societies that often exaggerate flaws within modern society. Because Asimov sets his story in a futuristic society, he is able to reflect on much deeper themes without creating excessive controversy. This point leads nicely into the final topic of...

Theme

At first, it seems that the primary theme of "Bicentennial Man" focuses on man's right to be free. This theme is expressly summed up in the judge's ruling in support of Andrew's freedom, stating that "there is no right to deny freedom to any object with a mind advanced enough to grasp the concept and desire of the state" (p 256). Asimov could have easily applied this theme to current global situations, such as the many dictatorial governments in the world, yet doing so would have caused readers to brush his message aside. Instead, he applies this theme to a future society, subtly influencing his readers' thoughts instead of shoving philosophy down their throats. Later in the story, however, Asimov delves into the philosophical question concerning what, in facts, defines us as human. Andrew fights a two-hundred-year-long struggle to be recognized as a human, constantly failing as members of the government and society are "unwilling to set the precedent" of dubbing an artificially-created being as "human." Andrew overhauls his physical body, taking on that of a human body, leaving only his positronic brain intact. He already experiences emotions and feelings. Yet still he is not accepted as human. It is only when he essentially chooses to die that he is finally accepted as a human. It is this realization that summarizes Asimov's thoughts on mankind's conception of humanity: "they cannot tolerate an immortal human being, since their own mortality is endurable only so long as it is universal. And for that reason they won't make me a human being" (p 288). To be human is to die. Andrew is so desperate to be accepted as a human that he chooses to let himself die as a recognized human than to live forever as a robot. This desperation to be accepted, combined with Asimov's grim definition of humanity, creates a powerfully melancholy and moving short story.