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Francis Quinn
The young girl whom Robbie takes care of in “Robbie.” Robbie is not only Gloria’s caretaker, but also her best friend. When her mother, Mrs. Weston, decides to send Robbie away, Gloria becomes depressed and silent, regaining some of her energy only when she thinks that her family is going to New York City in search of Robbie. When Gloria is ultimately reunited with Robbie in a robot factory, she becomes so excited that she runs in front of a moving vehicle, though fortunately Robbie is able to save her. Gloria’s emphasis that Robbie is not just a machine to her, but that he is “a person” and her friend, provides an early example in the book of how human beings tend to anthropomorphize robots and are only able to understand them in human terms.
Gloria Quotes in I, Robot
The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Gloria or refer to Gloria. 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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Robbie Quotes
“You listen to me, George. I won’t have my daughter entrusted to a machine—and I 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.”
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Two years after Mr. and Mrs. Weston buy Robbie to help take care of Gloria, Mrs. Weston starts to express some doubts about Robbie having charge of her daughter. Mrs. Weston’s fears stem from several sources: first, her fear of the robot, which she implies with the statement, “no one knows what it may be thinking.” She worries about what the robot might do to her daughter, a fear she expresses later as well, even though she knows that it is physically impossible for a robot to harm a human being based on the First Law of Robotics. This irrationality 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. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero
“Why do you cry, Gloria? Robbie was only a machine, just a nasty old machine. He wasn’t alive at all.”
“He was not no machine!” screamed Gloria, fiercely and ungrammatically. “He was a person just like you and me and he was my friend. I want him back. Oh, Mamma, I want him back.”
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After Gloria returns from the visivox, she discovers that Robbie is gone. Her parents have gotten rid of him, though they tell Gloria that he simply walked away. Gloria’s quote here demonstrates how she has begun to think of Robbie not as a robot, but instead as a being that is just as alive as she and her parents are. Robbie was deeply compassionate and cared for Gloria, and Gloria understands this empathy as something that only a highly intelligent and advanced being would be able to do; she doesn’t realize that these are functions for which Robbie was expressly 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. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupt
It took split-seconds for Weston to come to his senses, and those split-seconds meant everything, for Gloria could not be overtaken. Although Weston vaulted the railing in a wild attempt, it was obviously hopeless. Mr. Struthers signalled wildly to the overseers to stop the tractor, but the overseers were only hu man and it took time to act.
It was only Robbie that acted immediately and with precision.
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At the end of the Westons’ trip to New York City, Mr. Weston proposes that they take Gloria to a robot factory so that she can see that Robbie was just a machine, not a person. But he secretly plants Robbie in the factory in order to reunite them, and when Gloria sees Robbie, she runs to him just as a moving vehicle is speeding in her direction. Unlike the human adults, only Robbie’s reflexes are quick enough to save her. With this ending, Asimov proves the key point that robots are actually more ethical than the humans are. Robbie 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. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a
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Gloria Character Timeline in I, Robot
The timeline below shows where the character Gloria appears in I, Robot. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Robbie
Robbie and Gloria are playing hide and seek together in their yard. After Robbie finds Gloria easily, Gloria...
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After their ride, Gloria begins to recount the story of Cinderella to a rapt Robbie until Mrs. Weston, Gloria’s...
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...vents her frustrations about Robbie, saying that she doesn’t want it to take care of Gloria anymore. She says, “It has no soul, and no one knows what it may be ...
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...human being. Mr. Weston adds that it would be difficult to take Robbie away from Gloria. Mrs. Weston explains that this is part of the problem: she refuses to play with...
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At the end of the week, Mr. Weston takes Gloria to the “visivox show,” and when they return, Gloria finds a new dog greeting her...
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Gloria is distraught, refusing to accept the dog. She sobs and wails, and Mrs. Weston tells...
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Over the next few days, Gloria stops crying but remains silent and depressed. Mrs. Weston sends the dog back, and complains...
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The Westons go sightseeing around New York City throughout the month, and Gloria does seem happier, though only because she thinks they are there to employ detectives to...
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...waiting for the engineer to return so that she can ask the robot more questions. Gloria enters the room cautiously, and asks the robot if he has seen Robbie, another robot....
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...then, Mrs. Weston bursts into the room, along with the engineer, who points out that Gloria is not allowed in the room without an attendant. Gloria sobs, saying that she just...
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Mrs. Weston, Mr. Weston, and Gloria take a tour of U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men the next day. Mr. Struthers, the...
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...be so violent, and that she can’t send Robbie away again now that he’s saved Gloria’s life. Mrs. Weston sees how happy Gloria is embracing Robbie, and concedes that he can...
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