Publishing Data
Originally published in Astounding in December 1938
Collected
in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. I
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| A robot repairman and
a medical doctor modify a robot to give her the capability to learn and
to develop emotions and self-awareness. Then she falls in love with one
of her creators. |
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| Background |
- "Helen
O'Loy" is considered the first breakthrough robot story; it paved the
way for other stories of humanized robots. This story predates Isaac Asimov's
positronic robots and his Three Laws of Robotics.
- Del Rey regarded this story as one of his very best.
- Helen
is technically an android, humanlike in appearance, rather than a robot,
a mechanical being.
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| Navigation Guide |
Matters
of form:
- Note the clear
indication that this story is science fiction in the very first sentence.
- Note that Phil's
absence during Helen's activation allows him to become the reader's
surrogate to find out what is going on.
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| Characterize
Phil, the narrator. |
| Characterize
Dave. |
| This
story is a variant of the myth of Pygmalion. Read about the myth and demonstrate
how this story follows the same course as the myth. |
Compare
Helen to other, more recent portrayals of robots and androids:
- Asimov's robots,
especially R. Daneel Olivaw
- the computer Mike
from Robert Heinlein's novel The Moon is
a Harsh Mistress
- Data from Star
Trek: The Next Generation
- the little boy
in the film AI
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Links