tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8573136768377847579.post7144832271791807253..comments2023-12-28T17:51:10.368-06:00Comments on Spiral Galaxy Musings: Insanity and Happy FrankensteinsKaren Burnhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803309172414793939noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8573136768377847579.post-10808630801391420642011-01-21T10:00:15.739-06:002011-01-21T10:00:15.739-06:00Ted - that's a good point. Thinking about it t...Ted - that's a good point. Thinking about it that way, I could read "Microcosmic God" as subverting the monster-kills-creator trope in such a way to make us question religion. Kidder (a telling name) creates these beings and tortures the hell out of them, cheerfully killing bunches of them randomly to keep them from getting out of hand. Yet they act to defend him in his time of need. If you take that as an answer to the religious question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" (ans: because God is an egotistical git out to oppress His creations for His own ends), it definitely makes you think twice about the relationship between God and creation.<br /><br />Although I've never thought about Asimov's robots in that context. Maybe because they're industrially mass produced instead of being the product of lone genius; maybe because while they are exploited they are rarely abused; maybe because Susan Calvin sincerely cares about them and their issues. I never connected them with the Frankenstein trope, but you're right--those stories are a nice rejection of that default. I guess it's a bit analogous to Weinbaum's "Martian Odyssey" as an antidote to the pervasive "ZOMG IT'S AN ALIEN KILL IT!!!" trope of much 20's/30's pulp fiction.Karen Burnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16803309172414793939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8573136768377847579.post-80639395809510577392011-01-20T15:59:52.251-06:002011-01-20T15:59:52.251-06:00I'm not sure that it's a sign of the hubri...I'm not sure that it's a sign of the hubris of Golden Age writers that the characters in these stories aren't punished. As noted in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia entry on the Three Laws of Robotics</a>, the idea of a scientist being destroyed by his creation was already a cliche by 1940; Asimov wrote his robot stories in direct reaction to that. So when "Microcosmic God" was first published, it might have seemed refreshingly innovative that Kidder wins in the end. <br /><br />This doesn't excuse the creepiness of "Helen O'Loy," though.Tedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.com