I, Robot

by

Isaac Asimov

Dr. Susan Calvin Character Analysis

The chief robopsychologist at U.S. Robots and Mechanical men and one of the protagonists of the story. At the beginning of the book, a reporter comes to interview Calvin about her time with the company, which began when she was 25 years old until she retired at age 75. She tells the reporter the stories which comprise I, Robot and also features in several of the tales. Calvin is described as a cold, almost robotic woman herself. She is fonder of robots than she is of humans, as she calls robots a “cleaner better breed” due to the fact that they have to follow a strict ethical code. Despite this code, however, Calvin and other humans sometimes have difficulty predicting exactly what the robots might do, or figuring out why they are defective. In “Liar!”, she tells the story of a mind-reading robot named Herbie who tells her that another roboticist named Milton Ashe reciprocates her secret love for him, when in reality the robot is just trying to protect her feelings from harm as per the First Law of Robotics. The revelation that Ashe does not love Calvin devastates her. In “Little Lost Robot” and “Escape!”, Calvin is able to use her deductive skills to solve the problems occurring with Nestor 10 and The Brain, respectively, but not without putting herself and others in danger because she does not fully think through the consequences of her actions. Thus, while Calvin is one of the savvier humans in the book and perhaps the most knowledgeable person in the world about robot psychology, Asimov shows that she, too, can fall victim to her own irrational thoughts when she cannot properly anticipate the logic of robots. At the end of the book, Calvin reveals that she is glad that robots are controlling the economy and would want them as politicians, due to the fact that they are often more ethical than humans. In this way, she becomes a stand-in for Asimov himself, as one of his aims is to show how robots can be beneficial to humanity, even if they eventually become superior to humans.

Dr. Susan Calvin Quotes in I, Robot

The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Susan Calvin or refer to Dr. Susan Calvin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Morality and Ethics Theme Icon
).
Introduction Quotes

Susan said nothing at that seminar; took no part in the hectic discussion period that followed. She was a frosty girl, plain and colorless, who protected herself against a world she disliked by a mask-like expression and a hypertrophy of intellect. But as she watched and listened, she felt the stirrings of a cold enthusiasm.

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin, Robbie, Reporter
Page Number: i
Explanation and Analysis:

“Then you don’t remember a world without robots. There was a time when humanity faced the universe alone and without a friend. Now he has creatures to help him; stronger creatures than himself, more faithful, more useful, and absolutely devoted to him. […] But you haven’t worked with them, so you don’t know them. They’re a cleaner better breed than we are.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Reporter
Page Number: iii
Explanation and Analysis:
Liar! Quotes

But Susan Calvin whirled on him now and the hunted pain in her eyes became a blaze, “Why should I? What do you know about it all, anyway, you…you machine. I’m just a specimen to you; an interesting bug with a peculiar mind spread-eagled for inspection. It’s a wonderful example of frustration, isn’t it? Almost as good as your books.” Her voice, emerging in dry sobs, choked into silence.

The robot cowered at the outburst. He shook his head pleadingly. “Won’t you listen to me, please? I could help you if you would let me.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Herbie (speaker), Milton Ashe
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:
Little Lost Robot Quotes

“All normal life, Peter, consciously or otherwise, resents domination. If the domination is by an inferior, or by a supposed inferior, the resentment becomes stronger. Physically, and, to an extent, mentally, a robot—any robot—is superior to human beings. What makes him slavish, then? Only the First Law! […]”

“Susan,” said Bogert, with an air of sympathetic amusement. “I’ll admit that this Frankenstein Complex you’re exhibiting has a certain justification—hence the First Law in the first place. But the Law, I repeat and repeat, has not been removed—merely modified.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Peter Bogert (speaker), Nestor 10
Page Number: 119
Explanation and Analysis:

“That he himself could only identify wave lengths by virtue of the training he had received at Hyper Base, under mere human beings, was a little too humiliating to remember for just a moment. To the normal robots the area was fatal because we had told them it would be, and only Nestor 10 knew we were lying. And just for a moment he forgot, or didn’t want to remember, that other robots might be more ignorant than human beings. His very superiority caught him.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Cutie, Nestor 10, Major-general Kallner
Page Number: 142-143
Explanation and Analysis:
Escape! Quotes

“When we come to a sheet which means damage, even maybe death, don’t get excited. You see, Brain, in this case, we don’t mind—not even about death; we don’t mind at all.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), The Brain
Page Number: 149
Explanation and Analysis:

She went on, “So he accepted the item, but not without a certain jar. Even with death temporary and its importance depressed, it was enough to unbalance him very gently.”

She brought it out calmly, “He developed a sense of humor—it’s an escape, you see, a method of partial escape from reality. He became a practical joker.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Gregory Powell, Mike Donovan, The Brain
Page Number: 168
Explanation and Analysis:
Evidence Quotes

“Actions such as his could come only from a robot, or from a very honorable and decent human being. But you see, you just can’t differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Stephen Byerley, Francis Quinn, Alfred Lanning
Page Number: 184
Explanation and Analysis:

“I like robots. I like them considerably better than I do human beings. If a robot can be created capable of being a civil executive, I think he’d make the best one possible. By the Laws of Robotics, he’d be incapable of harming humans, incapable of tyranny, of corruption, of stupidity, of prejudice.” […]

“Except that a robot might fail due to the inherent inadequacies of his brain. The positronic brain has never equalled the complexities of the human brain.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Stephen Byerley (speaker)
Page Number: 196
Explanation and Analysis:
The Evitable Conflict Quotes

“Very well, then, Stephen, what harms humanity? Economic dislocations most of all, from whatever cause. Wouldn’t you say so?”

“I would.”

“And what is most likely in the future to cause economic dislocations? Answer that, Stephen.”

“I should say,” replied Byerley, unwillingly, “the destruction of the Machines.”

“And so should I say, and so should the Machines say. Their first care, therefore, is to preserve themselves, for us.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Stephen Byerley (speaker)
Page Number: 222
Explanation and Analysis:

“But you are telling me, Susan, that the ‘Society for Humanity’ is right; and that Mankind has lost its own say in its future.”

“It never had any, really. It was always at the mercy of economic and sociological forces it did not understand—at the whims of climate, and the fortunes of war.” […]

“How horrible!”

“Perhaps how wonderful! Think, that for all time, all conflicts are finally evitable. Only the Machines, from now on, are inevitable!”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Stephen Byerley (speaker)
Page Number: 224
Explanation and Analysis:
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Dr. Susan Calvin Quotes in I, Robot

The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Susan Calvin or refer to Dr. Susan Calvin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Morality and Ethics Theme Icon
).
Introduction Quotes

Susan said nothing at that seminar; took no part in the hectic discussion period that followed. She was a frosty girl, plain and colorless, who protected herself against a world she disliked by a mask-like expression and a hypertrophy of intellect. But as she watched and listened, she felt the stirrings of a cold enthusiasm.

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin, Robbie, Reporter
Page Number: i
Explanation and Analysis:

“Then you don’t remember a world without robots. There was a time when humanity faced the universe alone and without a friend. Now he has creatures to help him; stronger creatures than himself, more faithful, more useful, and absolutely devoted to him. […] But you haven’t worked with them, so you don’t know them. They’re a cleaner better breed than we are.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Reporter
Page Number: iii
Explanation and Analysis:
Liar! Quotes

But Susan Calvin whirled on him now and the hunted pain in her eyes became a blaze, “Why should I? What do you know about it all, anyway, you…you machine. I’m just a specimen to you; an interesting bug with a peculiar mind spread-eagled for inspection. It’s a wonderful example of frustration, isn’t it? Almost as good as your books.” Her voice, emerging in dry sobs, choked into silence.

The robot cowered at the outburst. He shook his head pleadingly. “Won’t you listen to me, please? I could help you if you would let me.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Herbie (speaker), Milton Ashe
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:
Little Lost Robot Quotes

“All normal life, Peter, consciously or otherwise, resents domination. If the domination is by an inferior, or by a supposed inferior, the resentment becomes stronger. Physically, and, to an extent, mentally, a robot—any robot—is superior to human beings. What makes him slavish, then? Only the First Law! […]”

“Susan,” said Bogert, with an air of sympathetic amusement. “I’ll admit that this Frankenstein Complex you’re exhibiting has a certain justification—hence the First Law in the first place. But the Law, I repeat and repeat, has not been removed—merely modified.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Peter Bogert (speaker), Nestor 10
Page Number: 119
Explanation and Analysis:

“That he himself could only identify wave lengths by virtue of the training he had received at Hyper Base, under mere human beings, was a little too humiliating to remember for just a moment. To the normal robots the area was fatal because we had told them it would be, and only Nestor 10 knew we were lying. And just for a moment he forgot, or didn’t want to remember, that other robots might be more ignorant than human beings. His very superiority caught him.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Cutie, Nestor 10, Major-general Kallner
Page Number: 142-143
Explanation and Analysis:
Escape! Quotes

“When we come to a sheet which means damage, even maybe death, don’t get excited. You see, Brain, in this case, we don’t mind—not even about death; we don’t mind at all.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), The Brain
Page Number: 149
Explanation and Analysis:

She went on, “So he accepted the item, but not without a certain jar. Even with death temporary and its importance depressed, it was enough to unbalance him very gently.”

She brought it out calmly, “He developed a sense of humor—it’s an escape, you see, a method of partial escape from reality. He became a practical joker.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Gregory Powell, Mike Donovan, The Brain
Page Number: 168
Explanation and Analysis:
Evidence Quotes

“Actions such as his could come only from a robot, or from a very honorable and decent human being. But you see, you just can’t differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Stephen Byerley, Francis Quinn, Alfred Lanning
Page Number: 184
Explanation and Analysis:

“I like robots. I like them considerably better than I do human beings. If a robot can be created capable of being a civil executive, I think he’d make the best one possible. By the Laws of Robotics, he’d be incapable of harming humans, incapable of tyranny, of corruption, of stupidity, of prejudice.” […]

“Except that a robot might fail due to the inherent inadequacies of his brain. The positronic brain has never equalled the complexities of the human brain.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Stephen Byerley (speaker)
Page Number: 196
Explanation and Analysis:
The Evitable Conflict Quotes

“Very well, then, Stephen, what harms humanity? Economic dislocations most of all, from whatever cause. Wouldn’t you say so?”

“I would.”

“And what is most likely in the future to cause economic dislocations? Answer that, Stephen.”

“I should say,” replied Byerley, unwillingly, “the destruction of the Machines.”

“And so should I say, and so should the Machines say. Their first care, therefore, is to preserve themselves, for us.”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Stephen Byerley (speaker)
Page Number: 222
Explanation and Analysis:

“But you are telling me, Susan, that the ‘Society for Humanity’ is right; and that Mankind has lost its own say in its future.”

“It never had any, really. It was always at the mercy of economic and sociological forces it did not understand—at the whims of climate, and the fortunes of war.” […]

“How horrible!”

“Perhaps how wonderful! Think, that for all time, all conflicts are finally evitable. Only the Machines, from now on, are inevitable!”

Related Characters: Dr. Susan Calvin (speaker), Stephen Byerley (speaker)
Page Number: 224
Explanation and Analysis: