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The central robot in “Catch That Rabbit.” Dave is a multiple DV-5 robot with six subsidiaries, called “fingers,” that help him in the mines. Donovan and Powell are tasked with testing Dave, and they start to observe some odd behaviors in the mines. When Dave is not watched, he and the other robots sometimes stop producing ore, which concerns Donovan and Powell. Once, using video technology, they see that when an emergency strikes, Dave and his robots stop working and instead they start marching, or dancing. Donovan and Powell try to create circumstances that will allow them to observe Dave under these conditions, but this leads them to trap themselves in a cave-in, and only Dave can rescue them. Ultimately, they discover that Dave’s intentions were not sinister: having six subsidiary robots to control was simply too much for him to handle, and he became overwhelmed and started “twiddling his fingers”—another use of language that shows how the humans can only understand the robots based on human terminology and behaviors.
Dave Quotes in I, Robot
The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Dave or refer to Dave. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Catch That Rabbit Quotes
Donovan pounded the desk, “But, Greg, he only goes wrong when we’re not around. There’s something—sinister—about— that.” He punctuated the sentence with slams of fist against desk.
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After recognizing that Dave and his subsidiary robots fail to do their duties when the humans aren’t watching them, Donovan and Powell interview Dave, and the robot says he doesn’t remember what happens during these episodes. This causes Donovan to grow suspicious of the robots. Unlike Powell, he seems to be concerned about what the robots might up to during this time. His fear and irrationality lead him to propose the idea to create an emergency so that they can observe Dave under the conditions that cause him to malfunction, without him knowing that they are observing him. Even though Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. A
“Remember, those subsidiaries were Dave’s ‘fingers.’ We were always saying that, you know. Well, it’s my idea that in all these interludes, whenever Dave became a psychiatric case, he went off into a moronic maze, spending his time twiddling his fingers.”
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After Powell and Donovan recognize what has been causing Dave’s amnesia, they are still perplexed by the odd marching that Dave and his subsidiary robots, or “fingers,” have been performing during these moments of amnesia. Powell proposes that during these moments, Dave is overwhelmed and all he can do is “twiddle his fingers.” With this statement, Asimov provides another example of how the humans can only understand the robots in terms of human anatomy and psychology. This is a particularly interesting example because it comes from Powell, whereas in “Runaround” Powell has been adamant about not ascribing human behavior to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur
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Dave Character Timeline in I, Robot
The timeline below shows where the character Dave appears in I, Robot. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Catch That Rabbit
Powell and Donovan start to test the new multiple robot DV-5 (Dave) at an asteroid mining station. The two men are arguing because, even though Dave had...
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...some shifts and not watching the robot on others. On the shifts when he watches, Dave and his six subsidiary robots (which they refer to as “fingers”) perform their work perfectly....
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Powell is looking through the “Handbook of Robotics” when Dave comes in. Powell asks him what went wrong with that day’s shift. Dave says nothing...
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Donovan wonders if Dave may be lying, but Powell says that robots can’t knowingly lie. Donovan says there’s something...
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During the next shift, Powell and Donovan watch the visiplate. They see an unusual sight: Dave marching with his six subsidiary robots, wheeling and turning and changing formations. They immediately head...
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...returns and announces that the robots were fine when they were watched. He wonders if Dave might be building an army. Powell stops him, saying that an army would contradict the...
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Powell and Donovan interview one of Dave’s subsidiary robots, which they called “fingers,” even though the robots have bodies and can talk....
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Donovan starts to get skeptical of both Dave and DV-5-2, believing that they are withholding information. Donovan concludes that they simply have to...
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...hours of oxygen, Donovan and Powell decide their only course of action is to attract Dave’s attention to get out of there. They see Dave coming closer to their corridor, leading...
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Powell realizes the problem that Dave had been experiencing: in an emergency situation, he must mobilize all six subsidiaries at once....
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