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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Machines Like Me, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Machines and Humans
Truth and Lies
Humanity and Morality
Love
Self-Consciousness vs. Self-Delusion
Summary
Analysis
The narrator (Charlie) is excited about the prospect of artificial humans. When they become available for purchase, he’s one of the first to buy them due to inheritance he receives following his mother’s death. The first humans go on the market before the failed Falklands Task Force mission. The narrator buys Adam for £86,000 and brings the android home to his flat in north Clapham. It's “a reckless decision,” but the narrator feels reassured knowing that Sir Alan Turing, “war hero and presiding genius of the digital age,” bought the same model—likely intending to take it apart and investigate it in his lab.
Chapter 1 begins with details that orient the reader in the novel’s alternate timeline. The UK’s failed Falklands Task Force mission places the events of the story in an alternate 1980s timeline—British forces really did carry out a mission to take the Falklands Islands, then a British territory. The historical mission ended in British victory in 1982, which in turn reignited support for then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (and, more broadly, the nationalist, staunch conservative ideology she subscribed to). This, and the detail that computer scientist Alan Turing (famed for his key role in cracking Nazi German ciphers in World War II, who was then persecuted for being gay and died by suicide) is still living and active in the emerging robotic technology of the era presents an England that is more advanced, humane, and forward-thinking than the 1980s England of history.
Themes
Of this first edition of humans, the males are called “Adam” and females are called “Eve.” All the Eves sell out right away. The narrator, with his upstairs neighbor Miranda’s help, lugs Adam into his flat, then he and Miranda plug in Adam to charge and read his 470-page instruction manual. Adam sits naked on the narrator’s dining table, hooked up to a power cable. As Adam charges, his skin warms and begins to feel more lifelike. The narrator compares himself and Miranda to new parents waiting for their child to speak its first words.
The narrator’s mention that the female androids sold out right away implies that the people who buy these androids aren’t using them for as high-minded purposes as they claim publicly—rather, they’re objectifying the androids and using them as sex dolls. This implicitly challenges the notion that the humans of this era are advanced and humane—in fact, they are just as fixated on base human impulses (like treating women as sex objects) as the neanderthals of thousands of years ago.
Themes
Adam, the narrator (Charlie) makes clear, is “not a sex toy.” However, he has genitals and is capable of sex. Adam’s creators bill him as a “companion” whom owners can have stimulating conversation with. On a single charge, he can talk nonstop for 12 hours. For now, he can’t get wet without becoming damaged, and he isn’t legally allowed to drive. Still, he records every moment he experiences in his head and can retrieve this information at a later time.
By clarifying that Adam is “not a sex toy,” the narrator tries to distance himself from the base, objectifying android owners who might use their android for sexual pleasure. The narrator, unlike those people, is interested in his Adam as a “companion,” which implies he views Adam as an equal. The detail that Adam records every moment in his head and is programmed to store that data complicates this notion of humans and advanced robots as equals, though. Not only does this reinforce how advanced androids are compared to humans, but it also suggests that humans might even have reason to be suspicious of these information-gathering robots.
Themes
As the narrator (Charlie) and Miranda sit before Adam waiting for him to finish charging, the narrator wonders whether Adam represents “the triumph of humanism—or its angel of death.” Miranda, a 22-year-old doctoral student studying social history, muses that she wishes a young Mary Shelley could be here to observe the pleasant young man gradually come to life.
The narrator’s portrayal of Adam and androids like him as representing “the triumph of humanism—or its angel of death” adds to the potentially nefarious tone the narration has been building. It asks whether these robots, which humankind has created, will advance civilization and humanity—or bring about humanity’s demise.
Themes
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The narrator (Charlie) ruminates on his relationship with Miranda, whom he has realized he desires romantically but considers too young and optimistic for the narrator himself. The narrator is 32 and has a history of personal and professional setbacks. He’s also horrible with money, immediately spending whatever he earns on ill-advised investments. After completing his studies in anthropology, he earned a law degree and specialized in tax law. He lost his job when he was 29, though, after which he spent some time in prison—an experience that taught him he couldn’t ever have a normal job again.
Especially compared to Adam, who as a robot is programmed to run with efficiency, logic, and none of the pesky human fallibility that leads mortal humans astray, the details of this passage portray the narrator as a wholly unremarkable—and decidedly flawed—guy. He is bad with money, he appears not to learn from his mistakes, one of which was so serious it evidently resulted in a prison sentence. The narrator’s evasiveness as he talks about his past failures suggests that he’s not ready or willing to accept his flaws and perhaps has an inflated self-confidence (or repressed feelings of inadequacy, or both).
Themes
Now, at age 32, the narrator (Charlie) survives by playing the stock market online: “A scheme, just like the rest.” Still, it allows him to pay his rent and survive comfortably enough. He feels that he’s starting to be grow into a stable, self-assured person. It’s at this point, in 1982, that the first androids reach the market. With robotics being a passion of the narrator’s, he rushes to buy one. His ex, Claire, was a sensible person, and the narrator knows she would have tried to talk him out of the purchase. The narrator was unfaithful to Claire, however, and she broke up with him. Now, in defense of his purchase, the narrator assures his audience that he bought Adam purely out of curiosity—not to make money. As evidence of this, he describes his boyhood enthusiasm for building machines and his involvement in his school’s Wiring Club.
The narrator’s sole income comes from trading stocks from his home computer—to put it neutrally, he survives on passive income, rather than actively working to earn money to support himself. Regardless of what one thinks of the ethics of getting rich off the stock market exclusively, the book is assembling details that portray the narrator as mostly self-serving person: he makes money only for himself and doesn’t provide a good or service that contributes to society in any way. Moreover, his refusal to listen to Claire’s practical advice against purchasing a very expensive android (not to mention his poor treatment of her) indicate that he is solely focused on fulfilling his own wants and needs—he’s not interested in listening to anyone else or in factoring their well-being into the decisions he makes and the interests he pursues. To put it bluntly, the narration wants the reader to see that the narrator is decidedly flawed.
Themes
When the narrator (Charlie) was 17, the teacher who ran Wiring Club encouraged him to study physics at a college in town. The narrator obliged but quickly grew bored and switched his focus to anthropology, wanting to learn more about people. His anthropology studies enlightened him to ways of being that are starkly different from the White, working-class English culture in which he was brought up. At 19, the narrator wrote an essay about honor cultures, researching places with high prevalences of rape, where families voluntarily kill a female relative for holding hands with someone from a different religion, and where female elders mutilate their granddaughters’ genitals. The lack of “instinctive parental impulses to love and protect” shocked him, but he resolved to be a true anthropologist, withholding judgment and embracing cultural relativism.
The narrator’s anthropology studies encouraged him to embrace cultural relativism: viewing the rituals and norms of a culture through an objective lens rather than through a subjective lens that’s been informed by the cultural practices one has grown up with and thus has been conditioned to accept as the norm. The arrival of an android in the narrator’s life will put his capacity to think objectively about other cultures to a new, previously uncharted test. How he deals with Adam, whenever Adam happens to wake, will determine whether he’s able to see humanity in and grant dignity to another being, even if that being isn’t quite human.
Themes
Back in the present, the narrator (Charlie) walks into his kitchen the following morning and sees that Adam’s eyes are open, but they are “empty of meaning.” Adam doesn’t seem alive. The narrator turns around and makes coffee. He thinks of Miranda, who has gone to visit her ill farther in Salisbury. Afterward, he watches the news on his phone, which features the ongoing war. Though he dislikes it, he still feels an intrinsic sense of patriotism. Later, the narrator boots up his old, secondhand computer and trades stocks based on what he thinks a victorious England might spend its money on: “Beer. Pubs. TV sets.” Feeling satisfied, he gets up to prepare lunch.
This passage introduces one of the book’s major symbols—eyes—which in Machines Like Me represent a being’s potential sentience and humanity. When the narrator observes here that Adam’s eyes are “empty of meaning,” it gives readers a better sense of how the narrator relates to Adam at this point in the novel. Critically, it suggests that he doesn’t view Adam as alive and human—even if Adam, as AI-powered technology, is supposed to be an intelligent being. Ironically, the narrator’s glib move to invest in stocks based on what celebratory British people might spend money on following a military victory reveals in the narrator himself a decided lack of humanity—a trait he uses to see himself as different from (and better than) the android Adam.
Themes
The narrator (Charlie) eats a sandwich and sits facing Adam—then, Adam starts to breathe. The narrator gets up to close one of Adam’s eyes and jumps back, alarmed, when Adam reflexively lurches forward. The narrator hears Miranda’s footsteps in her flat above—she’s returned from visiting her father in Salisbury. Wanting to finally confess his feelings to her, the narrator begins to form a new plan.
The narrator’s jump back in reaction to Adam’s breathing and reflexive lurch forward contradicts his seeming earlier denial of Adam’s humanity. When Adam breathes and appears alive, the narrator responds to Adam as if he is alive. The narrator’s inconsistent humanizing/dehumanizing of Adam, which is based on how accepting Adam’s humanity impacts the narrator himself, will become a pattern as the story unfolds.
Themes
That afternoon, the narrator (Charlie) emails Miranda to invite her to dinner that evening, and she accepts. The narrator plans to pick half of Adam’s personality traits himself. Then, at dinner, he’ll provide Miranda with login info for Adam’s account so she can pick the other half. That way, the narrator isn’t engineering Adam’s entire personality himself—there’s some degree of “chance” in how the android turns out, and he and Miranda will “be partners” in their shared creation of Adam. The narrator isn’t worried about Adam being competition for Miranda’s affection: Miranda has admitted that she finds it a bit weird that Adam’s skin is warm, though she’s curious about his ability to learn.
This passage further establishes the narrator as unreliable and dishonest about himself and his intentions. He at first represents his choice to split the task of deciding Adam’s personality between him and Miranda as an empirical decision—after all, the narrator insists that his interest in Adam is purely scientific and motivated by curiosity. Yet, when the narrator then shares his wish that he and Miranda will “be partners” in their shared creation of Adam, it suggests an ulterior motive behind his choice: in fact, he seems to view the act of “creating” Adam’s character with Miranda as erotic and intimate, as though they are creating a child. Given his stated romantic interest in Miranda, then, it’s clear that his invitation to divvy up the responsibility of molding Adam’s character is not purely scientific: it’s self-serving and meant to inspire reciprocal romantic feelings in Miranda.
Themes
The narrator gets to work preparing the evening’s dinner. He’s so immersed in his cooking that he’s shocked when a naked Adam walks into the kitchen, wire cable still attached to his body. “Charlie,” Adam addresses the narrator by name. Adam requests that Charlie finish setting up Adam’s “downloads.” Charlie says he will—“In my own time.”
At last, Adam awakes. But rather than interact with Adam as a friend and equal, Charlie immediately denies Adam’s request to finish setting up his “downloads,” effectively putting Adam in his place with the curt, dismissive response, “In my own time,” a phrase meant to show Adam who’s boss.
Themes
Inwardly, Charlie marvels at Adam’s voice, which is very middle-class English. His tone is “friendly, but with no hint of subservience.” Charlie recalls reading about a moment of “first contact” between an explorer named Leahy and an Indigenous tribe of Papua New Guinea. The tribespeople couldn’t tell if the White people they encountered were human or not and only confirmed their humanity when a young boy they sent to spy on the White people saw one of them defecate. Charlie’s task now is not nearly so straightforward. Adam’s manual says that he has “an operating system as well as a [human] nature,” and a “personality,” but it’s not clear how these three traits will overlap.
Charlie recalls the story of the Indigenous boy recognizing the strange White newcomers as humans only after he witnessed one of them defecate to draw a parallel between himself and the boy: both must define what makes someone or something alive. For the boy, the need to defecate is that defining trait. For Charlie, who must decide whether Adam is human enough to warrant respect and dignity, things are a bit more complicated. Adam’s “personality” might make him act like a human, but does it count if it’s simply “an operating system” (rather than free will) commanding him to act that way?
Themes
As Adam stands before Charlie in the kitchen now, Charlie asks him how he feels. Adam admits he “[doesn’t] feel right.” He asks Charlie for some clothes and about whether removing the wire cable will hurt. As Charlie observes Adam’s inexpressive face, he sees it as not “artificial,” but rather “the mask of a poker player.” Inwardly, Charlie acknowledges to himself that he is afraid of Adam. He muses that if Adam were to act hurt or in pain, he’d be inclined to believe him.
Adam’s nakedness likens him to his namesake, the biblical Adam of the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. In that story, Adam and Eve—the first man and woman—go about in their natural, unclothed state without realizing it. It’s only after they have sinned and fallen from God’s grace that they notice (and are ashamed of) their nakedness. When Adam admits to not “feel[ing] right” because of his nakedness, it signals his humanity and his human fallibility.
Themes
Charlie goes to his room and finds some clothes for Adam to wear. He returns to the kitchen and places them in Adam’s hands, and as he does so, he smells a faint scent of oil. Next, Charlie disconnects Adam’s power line. Adam doesn’t flinch, but he thanks Charlie. Adam sits down and changes into the clothes. His movement is effortless and fluid.
Dressed in Charlie’s clothes, Adam looks more like Charlie. This, in addition to his effortless, fluid movements, makes him look as decidedly human as he acts.
Themes
Charlie returns to cooking. Somewhat meanly, given Adam’s inability to eat human food, Charlie remarks aloud on the chicken he’s preparing with tarragon. Adam replies in a flat voice with instructions for how to prepare the chicken without burning the tarragon leaves. When he advises Charlie to let the chicken rest before carving it, Charlie snaps back that he knows to do that, and he momentarily worries that he’s been rude. He apologizes.
If Charlie went into this relationship with Adam intending to see and treat Adam as a friend and equal, he’s not doing a great job of it so far. Instead, he makes (albeit subtle) remarks meant to alienate and belittle Adam, commenting on the delicious meal he’s cooking, knowing Adam isn’t physically capable of eating or enjoying it. Then, when Adam offers helpful advice in response—seemingly with no ill intent—Charlie reacts rudely and defensively. Though he doesn’t admit it, his behavior highly suggests that he dislikes engaging with Adam as equals and would rather his android behave as a servant and not speak out of turn.
Themes
Charlie asks Adam to walk around the table—he wants to see how Adam moves. Adam obliges, and Charlie is impressed to find nothing “mechanical” about Adam’s stride. He asks Adam to uncork a bottle of wine. Adam again obliges, then he pours a glass for Charlie to taste. Charlie turns around and resumes cooking. A peaceful half hour passes in silence, then Adam tepidly warns Charlie to be careful of Miranda. Adam has done some research and has reason to believe Miranda may be a “systemic, malicious liar.” Charlie is furious and demands that Adam explain himself, but Miranda’s knock at the door cuts their argument short. Charlie opens the door and sees Miranda there, wearing a blue dress and looking lovely.
When Charlie asks (but more or less makes) Adam to walk around the table and then to uncork the wine, he further belittles and attempts to put him in his place. Adam, Charlie wishes to make clear, is here to serve Charlie, even if they look like equals. Adam’s warning to Charlie that Miranda may be a “systemic, malicious liar” is based on Adam’s availability (as a high-tech computer) to information available on the internet. Charlie’s furious response further proves that he doesn’t wish to hear Adam out or treat him as an equal—he wants (even if won’t admit it) for Adam to only act and speak in ways that please Charlie. In short, he wants Adam to be totally subservient to him. Regardless of Charlie’s response, though, Adam’s warning creates narrative tension, leading readers to wonder what has led Adam to make this accusation against Miranda.
Themes
