Fear - I, Robot Theme Of Fear | I, Robot by Isaac Asimov- Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

In I, Robot, one of the most common responses to new technology is fear. Asimov doesn't spend a lot of time in these stories looking at people who are afraid of robots but don't understand them, like labor unions and religious people. But we do spend a lot of time with people who understand robots, and even these people sometimes seem a little afraid of them, like Calvin (in "Little Lost Robot") and Powell and Donovan (in "Catch that Rabbit" and "Escape!"). So it would be tempting to say that fear of technology is silly, but fear is still a response that a lot of people have to new technology.

Questions About Fear

1. Is fear of robots ever reasonable? Or is it always an irrational response in these stories? If it is reasonable, what are people afraid robots will do? Is it just a fear that robots will kill all humans? Or is there something else that robots threaten?
2. How do different characters respond to fear? It might be interesting to look at characters who don't know about robots (Mrs. Weston), people who do know (Calvin), and even robots themselves (like Robbie).
3. Is fear ever a useful emotion? Does it ever alert people that something is wrong? Or does it just lead people to the wrong conclusions?

Chew on This

Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.

In I, Robot, many characters have fears about robots—both people who don't know about robots and those who do—but those fears are never legitimate. So while fear is understandable as a human emotion, it's not a helpful one in these stories.

In I, Robot, fear is a very human emotion—which is why one of the first times we see fear is Robbie being afraid of Mrs. Weston. This lets us know that these robots are very human.