Leonardo Quines April 30, 2013 English 11 X3-A Professor M. R. G.

Ancheta Fiction Case Paper: Set 2

This case paper is about Asimovs The Bicentennial Man and Le Guins The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas, discussing their similarities with respect to the theme, and how the writers had gotten to that theme. The theme common to both Asimov and Le Guins works is the concept of the alienated character in exchange of the greater good, which was shown in both the characters and the plot of the story. It was shown in The Bicentennial Man in the form of the main character, the robot named Andrew Martin. He was alienated by the people because he was a robot, even though he had a quality that only humans are supposed to possess, the ability to think for himself. In the story, the robot Andrew fought tooth and nail for him to be recognized by society as a man, and by the time the recognition was given him, he was already dead. The people dont want to give him the same rights as a human, because he was, in fact, a robot. I think that the people were afraid to give him those rights because they think that giving Andrew rights will be tantamount to giving all the robots their rights, thus ending the robots subordination to humans. This alienation started when the US Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation learned of Andrews malfunction, the ability to think and decide for itself and not just on what it was designed to. It was first seen fully in the story in the time Andrew asked his master to give him freedom. His master gave him support, albeit reluctantly, and the matter was brought to the court in order to legalize his freedom. The people and the courts thought at first that only a human being can only have freedom, but through the speech of Little Miss, a law was passed that There is no right to deny freedom to any object with a mind advanced enough to grasp the concept and desire the state. But even after that event, he was still separated from humans, and was not treated as a free man, as exemplified by events such as what two young people did to Andrew, humiliating him and treating him as a servant robot, making him do things such as stand on his head and disassembling himself, because they see him as a violation to the law of nature and as a threat to the safety and superiority of the human race. Still, there were people in the story that gave him the right of freedom, the right of choice, and the credit that he deserves. Those characters were the ones beside him as he struggled to get his freedom, and at last, his humanity. These were the people such as Little Miss, George, Paul and Chee Li-hsing that helped Andrew fight for the cause of his own rights, even though other people at the time were prejudiced by him being a robot. At the end, he was recognized as a human only because he chose to die as a human, not because of his accomplishments that were very helpful in the course of the human existence. Comparing to Le Guins novel The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, the alienated character is the little, feeble-minded child in the basement, who was locked in a dark, dirty and disgusting basement in exchange for the prosperity and beauty of the town of Omelas. He was abused, kicked and neglected by his handlers. The people of the town despise him, hate him, and were outraged by him, even though they knew that the prosperity of their town is wholly dependent on the misery of the child. They were inhumane to the kid, by not having feelings of remorse and compassion to the suffering kid in exchange for the prosperity of many. These are the same in Asimovs novel to the people quite repulsed to give

Andrew Martin his want to be a human even though Andrew did many things for the advancement of the human race. Still, as the people who helped Andrew on his fight for his humanity, there are people in Le Guins novel that left the town because they cannot stomach the inhumanity that the child receives from the people, and they think that they do not want to partake the things the town enjoys due to the childs miserable existence. The difference in the two stories is that while in The Bicentennial Man Andrew received what he wanted due to the help of the people close to him, in The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas the little child was still abused as the story ends. The resolution of both the stories show the effectivity and the clarity on how the stories displayed the themes common to them. These resolutions show that the theme of an alienated character was the main theme of the story in Asimovs work, while it was just a sub-theme in Le Guins work, which had the concept of conscience as its main theme.

I value intellectual integrity and the highest standards of academic conduct. I am committed to an ethical learning environm ent that promotes a high standard of honor in scholastic work. Academic dishonesty undermines institutional integrity and threatens the academic fabric of the University of the Philippines. And because I believe that dishonesty is not an acceptable avenue to success, I affix my signature to this work to affirm that it is original and free of cheating and plagiarism, and does not knowingly furnish false information.

Quines, Leonardo B. 2007-31677