An Analysis of "Dr. Susan Calvin" in "I, Robot", by Isaac Asimov
A hero is defined as a person noted for special achievements in a field. Dr. Susan Calvin, the main character of the novel I, Robot, is made the hero because of her special achievements in the field of robotics. Dr. Calvin is a robopsychologist who uses many different methods of problems solving to solve the problems that other scientists and mathematicians were incapable of doing. Through these many adventures in the field of robotics, Dr. Susan Calvin displays her many character traits to the reader. Dr. Calvin has an excellent combination of many different attributes. In I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov, Dr. Susan Calvin, the main character, reveals much about herself to the reader, and makes the book what it is.
Many times during the novel, Dr. Calvin displays amazing intelligence in tough situations. When analyzing the mind reading robot named Herbie, Dr. Susan Calvin displays great amounts of intelligence. Since Herbie is a mind-reader, Dr. Calvin knows that in order to understand what happens in his synthetic brain, she must analyze it vigorously, and by her intelligence she figures out that in order to stop him from hurting others by what he says to them, she has to out-smart the robot, which is not easy. Since one of the Three Laws of Robotics are that a robot must not hurt a human, she figures out Herbie's weakness and says to him, "'You can't tell them,' droned the psychologist slowly, 'because that would hurt and you mustn't hurt,'" confuses Herbie to the point that he shorts out and "dies," in a sense (Asimov 133). During her many adventures in the workplace, Dr. Calvin displays her intelligence in assorted situations. In Beacham's Encyclopedia on Popular Fiction, it states that, "Most of the robot tales are exercises in problem solving," in which the problems are solved by Dr. Calvin showing that overall she has great intelligence, no matter what situation, and that she can handle it no matter how hard the problem is (Beacham 2064). Many times in the novel,
Many times during the novel, Dr. Calvin displays amazing intelligence in tough situations. When analyzing the mind reading robot named Herbie, Dr. Susan Calvin displays great amounts of intelligence. Since Herbie is a mind-reader, Dr. Calvin knows that in order to understand what happens in his synthetic brain, she must analyze it vigorously, and by her intelligence she figures out that in order to stop him from hurting others by what he says to them, she has to out-smart the robot, which is not easy. Since one of the Three Laws of Robotics are that a robot must not hurt a human, she figures out Herbie's weakness and says to him, "'You can't tell them,' droned the psychologist slowly, 'because that would hurt and you mustn't hurt,'" confuses Herbie to the point that he shorts out and "dies," in a sense (Asimov 133). During her many adventures in the workplace, Dr. Calvin displays her intelligence in assorted situations. In Beacham's Encyclopedia on Popular Fiction, it states that, "Most of the robot tales are exercises in problem solving," in which the problems are solved by Dr. Calvin showing that overall she has great intelligence, no matter what situation, and that she can handle it no matter how hard the problem is (Beacham 2064). Many times in the novel,
Cited: Asimov, Isaac. I, Robot. Bantam Doubleday. New York; 1991. Beacham, Walton. Beacham 's Encyclopedia on Popular Fiction. Beacham Publishing Corp., Osprey FL; 1996.