Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Selfish Gene, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Gene’s Eye View of Evolution
Selfishness, Altruism, and Cooperation
Culture and Memes
The Unit of Evolution
Summary
Analysis
Richard Dawkins suggests that the reader imagine his story is “science fiction.” It is science, he says, and it’s very strange, but it’s no fiction. Dawkins admits that he is still astonished by his core claim that humans are “survival machines” programmed to preserve little molecules inside us called genes. He hopes the reader will be astonished too.
Dawkins imagines his audience. First there is the general reader, or “dedicated layman,” for whom he avoids using technical language in the book. In fact, he wonders why scientists don’t do this more often. He hopes he has managed to distill technical ideas into everyday language, but he’s not sure how well he succeeds. To Dawkins, biology is a mystery story, and he hopes at the very least that he’s able to convey some of the excitement someone feels when reading a good mystery.
Dawkins draws another parallel with fiction when describing biology as “mystery story.” He favors literary devices like metaphor and personification (which are more common in fiction) over technical language (which is more common in science). He thinks a more literary approach to his topic will help readers accept a somewhat counter-intuitive claim: that humans are essentially just by-products of genes trying to survive.
Themes
The second reader Dawkins imagines is the expert. Dawkins knows full well that experts will find his use of non-technical language frustrating, but he has to tell his story his own way. Perhaps, he suggests, this way of telling it will reveal something new about the topic that even an expert might not have seen yet. If not, he hopes it will at least be good reading for a train ride.
Dawkins aims to engage the reader’s imagination, which is unusual in scientific discourse. He thinks that his somewhat radical claim that genes (and not species) evolve is easier to digest when communicated through personification and metaphor, so he encourages scientists to tolerate his nontraditional writing style.
Themes
The third reader is a student. Dawkins hopes the book will encourage students to become interested in zoology, because he thinks it’s fascinating. For students who have already decided to study zoology, Dawkins suggests that his simple language might help them digest the more technical scientific papers he discusses.
Dawkins wants to shift the direction of research in zoology toward one that factors genes into the picture. He baits students with the promise of making technical material more digestible, but he also wants to get students on board with his view so that some of them might conduct research on genes in the future.
Themes
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Dawkins characterizes himself as an ethologist, and he says this is a book about animal behavior. He believes most animal behavior makes sense if one thinks of it as the result of genetic traits that arise through evolution. Dawkins aligns himself with scientists who think that it’s actually genes, and not species, that evolve. These “gene’s eye view” scientists are George C. Williams, John Maynard Smith, William D. Hamilton, and Robert L. Trivers.
Dawkins names the scientists who function as “protagonists” in his story. These scientists think, like he does, that genes (rather than species) evolve. The phrase “gene’s eye view” alludes once more to the literary device of personifying genes that Dawkins will use to get his argument across.
Themes
