Analysis of Reason by Isaac Asimov

Raheem Sultan
3 min readNov 26, 2020

The story Reason by Isaac Asimov is about a time where technology was developed to the point where robots have become very advanced. There are stations in space that are soon to become sustainable without much physical work by humans. In addition to this, the story is about a robot who can not come to terms with how the world works and does not believe that humans have created him. Because of this, humans are worried that the robot will no longer be under their control.

The plot of this story begins with the exposition where Donovan and Powell are both in a space station. They are working with very advanced robots(as mention in the introduction), and their space station is using beams to give power to planets. They are trying to make it possible for the space station to function without human assistance. In the next part of the story, the rising action is when Powell decided to explain the existence of the world to a robot named Cutie, who is the first robot to ever display curiosity. Then, the climax takes place when Powell finally does explain existence to the robot, but it does not believe what it hears. This is shown in the story when it is said, “Do you expect me,” said Cutie slowly, “to believe any such complicated, implausible hypothesis as you have just outlined?” Finally, the falling action and resolution are when Cutie decided to try and figure out the world’s existence on its own, and Powell and Donovan realize that the robot is no longer under their control.

This story involves two main characters, Powell and Cutie, with not much being said about Donovan. Cutie is shown as a robot that is starting to show curiosity and independence. Cutie does not believe Powell, as it finds Powell’s explanation to be implausible. Cutie then decides to see and judge for itself. This is shown in the story when Powell tells Cutie, “You’re the first robot to exhibit curiosity.” and also when Cutie says, “planets with three billion people! Infinite emptiness! Sorry, Powell, but I don’t believe it. I’ll puzzle this thing out myself. Good-bye.” The author uses indirect characterization as well as direct to show how Cutie thinks and feels. He also shows how Cutie perhaps does not want to believe its inferiority when it asks Powell what he takes it for. As for the second main character, Powell, he is shown treating Cutie kindly, as well as treating it with kindness even though it is just a robot. This is shown in the story when it is narrated, “He[Powell] felt a sudden strong sympathy for this strange machine.” He even cared to tell Cutie about existence when he probably was aware that it could lead to problems, which it did. This can also show how Powell is not too smart in certain aspects.

The conflict in this story is man vs technology, and it is quite self-explanatory as to why. The robot that was made by man is now no longer under their control, and that is now worrying them. Unlike before, the robot is not accepting what is said or instructed to it and has developed a mind of its own. This story is in the 3rd person, limited point of view. This is because there is no use of I, me, or my in the story unless in quotation marks. The narrator does not know more than one person, or at least it isn’t shown. The global context that can be related to this story is scientific and technical innovation. It is about how scientific and technical innovation can lead to humans losing control as we progress and advance.

In conclusion, this story shows how the advancement of technology and giving power to that which we can not control can very well lead to a negative result. If we are not careful with technology, and robots in specific, they might not stay under our control.

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Raheem Sultan

Studies at Headstart Kuri Campus, Islamabad, Pakistan