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Francis Quinn
The young girl whom Robbie takes care of in “Robbie.” Robbie is not only Gloria’s caretaker, but also her best friend. When her mother, Mrs. Weston, decides to send Robbie away, Gloria becomes depressed and silent, regaining some of her energy only when she thinks that her family is going to New York City in search of Robbie. When Gloria is ultimately reunited with Robbie in a robot factory, she becomes so excited that she runs in front of a moving vehicle, though fortunately Robbie is able to save her. Gloria’s emphasis that Robbie is not just a machine to her, but that he is “a person” and her friend, provides an early example in the book of how human beings tend to anthropomorphize robots and are only able to understand them in human terms.
Gloria Quotes in I, Robot
The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Gloria or refer to Gloria. 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:
).
Robbie
Quotes
“You listen to me, George. I won’t have my daughter entrusted to a machine—and I don’t care how clever it is. It has no soul, and no one knows what it may be thinking. A child just isn’t made to be guarded by a thing of metal.”
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“Why do you cry, Gloria? Robbie was only a machine, just a nasty old machine. He wasn’t alive at all.”
“He was not no machine!” screamed Gloria, fiercely and ungrammatically. “He was a person just like you and me and he was my friend. I want him back. Oh, Mamma, I want him back.”
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It took split-seconds for Weston to come to his senses, and those split-seconds meant everything, for Gloria could not be overtaken. Although Weston vaulted the railing in a wild attempt, it was obviously hopeless. Mr. Struthers signalled wildly to the overseers to stop the tractor, but the overseers were only hu man and it took time to act.
It was only Robbie that acted immediately and with precision.
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Get the entire I, Robot LitChart as a printable PDF.
Gloria Quotes in I, Robot
The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Gloria or refer to Gloria. 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:
).
Robbie
Quotes
“You listen to me, George. I won’t have my daughter entrusted to a machine—and I don’t care how clever it is. It has no soul, and no one knows what it may be thinking. A child just isn’t made to be guarded by a thing of metal.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“Why do you cry, Gloria? Robbie was only a machine, just a nasty old machine. He wasn’t alive at all.”
“He was not no machine!” screamed Gloria, fiercely and ungrammatically. “He was a person just like you and me and he was my friend. I want him back. Oh, Mamma, I want him back.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
It took split-seconds for Weston to come to his senses, and those split-seconds meant everything, for Gloria could not be overtaken. Although Weston vaulted the railing in a wild attempt, it was obviously hopeless. Mr. Struthers signalled wildly to the overseers to stop the tractor, but the overseers were only hu man and it took time to act.
It was only Robbie that acted immediately and with precision.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
