No Woman Born by: C. L. Moore (continued)

            The idea behind robotics goes way back in history. However, interest in the modern concept of robotics didn’t come into play until the late 1800’s into the 20^th century. In particular, Karel Capek’s 1921 play “R. U. R.”  (Rossum’s Universal Robots)—which introduces humanoid robots working as the labor forces in factories—captured public interest in robots. In the play, the robots eventually overthrow the humans, an outcome which no doubt raised certain anxieties about the use of advanced robots. In the early 1940’s, Isaac Asimov’s stories about robots, including a series of stories about Robbie, a robot who cares for and protects a child, helped create the notion of robots with human feelings. Meanwhile, Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics,” which set rules for robots that forbid robots from harming or disobeying humans, reflect a growing fear of the possibility of the power of machines over humans.

            No Woman Born is ripe with a commonly shared idea about robots: whether robots can feel human emotions. Throughout the story, Harris, Maltzer, and Deirdre are faced with the question of her humanity, whether to be human is to simply behave humanly and feel emotion, or to sense the world through all five senses. In the last scene, Maltzer argues that Deirdre “is not wholly human” but instead she “must always be less than human,” for, in having a robotic body, she has “lost the senses of perception that kept [her] in touch with humanity” (pg. 55), and is only left with the limiting senses of sight and sound. Her lack of humanity, he argues, is the cause of her sadness. However, Deirdre argues that she is not “subhuman,” but “superhuman” (pg. 63), and that instead of her lack of senses, the reason for her unhappiness is that she is, in fact, increasingly filled with the very human feeling of loneliness, with nobody else to share her anxieties with: “I wish there could be others like me. I’m…I’m lonely, Maltzer” (pg. 63).

            The story also reflects public fear of robots posing as a danger to humans. In the end, as Maltzer is about to jump out the window, Deirdre rushes to his side and pulls him back inside with inhuman speed “no normal eyes and brain could perceive” (pg. 59). She then proceeds to respond to his belief that she is fragile: “’Do you still think of me as delicate?’ she demanded. ‘Do you know I carried you here at arm’s length halfway across the room? Do you realize you weigh nothing to me? I could…tear this building down…I could tear my way through these walls, I think” (pg. 61).  Deirdre demonstrates how she can make the building shake with her highly tuned sound pitch. However, she decides that she won’t. She could, but she won’t. One could attribute her ability to control herself to her humanity.        

Sources: 

http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_robots

http://www.used-robots.com/robot-education.php?page=robot+timeline