Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in I, Robot, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Morality and Ethics
Human Superiority and Control
Irrationality, Fear, and Folly
Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, and Humanity
Summary
Analysis
U.S. Robots is in competition with a company called Consolidated Robots, and both companies are trying to build an interstellar engine, which will allow for travel faster than the speed of light. Consolidated Robots approaches U.S. Robots with a proposition: they have a set of calculations and equations for an interstellar engine and hope that a positronic machine U.S. Robots has built called The Brain will be able to execute the equations in exchange for a generous fee. Consolidated had a positronic machine, but it broke because it could not handle the equations to build an interstellar engine.
The Brain is one of the few robots in I, Robot which does not have a humanized name, nor a humanized body (two facts which are likely interrelated). However, that does not mean that the humans do not think of The Brain in terms of human qualities and behaviors. As the end of the story indicates, The Brain’s consciousness and emotional status as a kind of child is what enables Calvin to understand The Brain’s dilemma.
Themes
Robertson (the head of U.S. Robots), Lanning, Bogert, and Calvin are discussing whether they should accept the offer. They worry if the equations might also break The Brain. Lanning says it is likely that the issue that arose was due to some dilemma concerning the Three Laws, because robots can short out if faced with a problem where they are commanded to provide a solution, but where that solution may involve the death or injury of humans.
By this point, the humans have become very familiar with conflicts in the robots’ ethical programming. However, the rest of the story demonstrates how difficult it still is for them to predict the consequences of their actions in trying to control the robots.
Themes
Calvin chimes in, saying that a human caught in an impossibility will often “retreat from reality,” and robots can do so as well. The Brain is different from Consolidated’s robot, Calvin explains, because it has a kind of childlike personality, not fully understanding what it is doing. And so it is slightly more resilient, because “life isn’t so serious.” She says it’s difficult to explain in “lay language,” but that the mathematics of the situation back her up. Robertson agrees to take the deal.
Calvin’s explanation of the robots’ psychology reinforces how humans often can only understand the robots in terms of human psychology. The robot is not literally a child, but the way it is programmed gives it a behavior that Calvin can only explain as childlike.
Themes
Calvin goes to visit The Brain, a two-foot, globe-shaped machine. Dr. Calvin tells The Brain that they are going to give it a complicated set of equations. She warns that the solution may involve “damage to human beings,” but assures him that they don’t mind if that happens, “not even about death.” The paperwork is then fed into The Brain over the course of several hours. Calvin worries when they reach the end that something might be wrong with the Brain, but he assures them that, using the information, he can build them a hyperspace ship in two months.
Calvin again falls into a trap of her own making. She believes that she is trying to circumvent the problem with the robot at Consolidated, which became too caught up in the fact that an interstellar jump represented the death of humans, and so it shorted out. But instead, Calvin puts Donovan and Powell in danger by suggesting to The Brain that he doesn’t need to worry about the men dying, essentially trying to eradicate the First Law. Just as Bogert and Kallner ignored the consequences of this action in the previous story, so too does Calvin in this one.
Themes
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Once the ship is built by robots following The Brain’s instructions, the company brings in Donovan and Powell to test it. Donovan and Powell are led into the ship, but they realize that the ship has a key problem: there is no pilot room, and no engines. When they try to leave, they find the door is locked. The men return to a room that has two chairs, a window, and a speedometer, hoping to draw attention. But they realize that the window shows a view of space: the ship took off without their knowledge or control. Back on Earth, alarms are going off, and Calvin and Lanning realize that the ship has taken off.
While in other stories, the humans lose a degree of control over the robots, this is the first story in which the humans lose full control over their own fates. As the robots become more and more advanced and have superior capabilities to the humans, they become harder to control and start to act of their own volition.
Themes
Calvin interviews The Brain, asking what happened to the ship. The Brain tells her that the two test pilots were inside, so he sent them off to test it. Calvin asks, trying to remain calm, if they’ll be all right. The Brain assures her that they have food and will be comfortable, though the trip will be “interesting” for them. Lanning whispers to her to ask if Donovan and Powell might die, but Calvin tells him that if she brings up death, it might worsen The Brain’s dilemma and then they would never get the men back.
It is here that Calvin starts to realize the foolishness of her actions, and the fact that she has placed the two men in grave danger. Not only have they lost control of the ship, but she has also allowed Donovan and Powell to be placed in the hands of a robot that has been told not to worry if they die. Her inability to see the logical conclusion of her statement is what puts the men in grave danger.
Themes
Donovan and Powell start to panic, realizing that The Brain is running the ship by remote control and they have no way of getting themselves back. Suddenly, they hear voices come over the intercom system, telling them to report their position and try to return to base—but they have no way to answer the call. They search the ship and find a bathroom, but no showers. They find food, but it is only beans and milk. They eat in silence before returning to the room with the chairs, staring at the gauge.
As Calvin explains later, these actions mean that The Brain is acting as a kind of practical joker, because humor is the only way it can cope with the fact that the men will cease to exist in the hyperspace jump. But this coping mechanism still puts the men in grave danger, as they have little sustenance and unhygienic conditions—not to mention the mental hardships that they will undergo on the trip.
Themes
Back at U.S. Robots, Calvin is trying to figure out how to get The Brain to bring Donovan and Powell home. But when she tries to talk to The Brain, he becomes “sullen.” Bogert realizes the problem: when the ship goes faster than the speed of light, making an interstellar jump, “life can’t exist.” The ship would temporarily “kill” the two men, and that’s what is causing The Brain’s erratic behavior, because he cannot break the First Law.
Bogert’s revelation illuminates the complexity of the situation: they have asked the robot to go against its ethical code. Because the interstellar jump would only cause temporary death, it begs the question of whether that actually constitutes death as per the First Law. In another scenario, the robot would not be able to carry out this order, but it is starting to recognize the nuance of these ethical questions.
Themes
Back on the ship, Donovan and Powell are starting to lose hope. They are tense and worried that they will go mad. The ship then starts to shake, and they realize the ship is starting on the interstellar jump. The jump comes suddenly and painfully: Powell feels like he has died, and loses consciousness. Vaguely he hears an advertisement for coffins, then the “piercing shriek of a hundred million ghosts of a hundred million soprano voices,” then he understands that he is line to get into hell.
Even though Donovan and Powell are not going to die, this does not mean that the interstellar jump is not going to cause them harm. As Asimov’s descriptions illustrate here, the interstellar jump is both painful and terrifying, and Calvin’s instructions that The Brain not care so much about hurting the men is what allows it to happen.
Themes
Suddenly, Powell is dropped back into consciousness, shaking. He looks over at Donovan, who similarly felt dead, and had heard a sermon about hellfire and torture. Both men are sweating profusely, their voices croaking as they recount what they experienced. Then, they start to see a blue-white light gleaming through the port, and realize that they must have traveled to another galaxy. They start to realize that they will have to “die again” in order to be brought back.
This terrifying experience demonstrates just how helpless the two men are in the situation. They essentially have to relinquish all power to The Brain, and will have to do so once more in order to return to Earth.
Themes
Back on Earth, Calvin is again talking to The Brain. Calvin asks if the interstellar jump will hurt Powell and Donovan. The Brain is silent, asking if he has to answer the question. Calvin tries to stay positive, but The Brain tells her, “You spoil everything.” Calvin leaves The Brain alone.
Asimov emphasizes the childlike nature of The Brain, demonstrating how difficult it is to not ascribe human qualities to these robots. It is statements like, “You spoil everything” which hint at the explanation Calvin eventually finds: that The Brain was trying to conceptualize its actions as playing a prank.
Themes
The next day, the ship returns to Earth as silently as it left. When Powell and Donovan leave the ship, they kiss the ground and immediately head to shower. Afterward, they recount their tale. Calvin admits to them that this is her fault—that she told The Brain not to worry about causing death, because she was trying to assure him that the men’s deaths were only temporary.
Here Calvin admits the irrationality of her actions. She was trying to subvert the Three Laws of Robotics, but in doing so did not fully think through the consequences of what she had told The Brain. This put the men in grave danger and caused the mental and physical hardship that they suffered aboard the ship.
Themes
Calvin also reveals that The Brain accepted the solution, but that it was “enough to unbalance him very gently.” He thus developed a sense of humor, a partial escape from reality—he became “a practical joker.” He meant no harm, she says. Donovan and Powell are furious, but Lanning quiets them. Bogert says that they will have to find a way to improve the interstellar jump. Donovan suggests that they send Consolidated the ship to enact a “just and proper” revenge for the pain the company caused them.
Calvin once again reveals that the only way she is able to understand The Brain’s behavior is on human terms, as its coping mechanism was to understand its actions as a prank. Additionally, it is worth noting that Donovan and Powell wished to give the same fate to the people at Consolidated. This highlights a contrast between the robots, who would never actively try to hurt humans, and the humans who are not as strongly compelled by this ethical code and find it far too easy to harm and seek revenge on each other.
Themes
