"Robbie"

"Robbie"
by Isaac Asimov
pub. as "Strange Playfellow" in Super Science Stories, September 1940 collected in I, Robot (1950)

Preview

Background
Data

Navigation
Guide

Further
Exploration

Preview

A robot serves as a nursemaid to a young girl until her mother banishes it.

Background Data

"Robbie" is Asimov's first robot story.

The Three Laws of Robotics had not yet been fully worked out, but are implicit in this story

References to the First Law and to Susan Calvin were added to the story for its publication in I, Robot.

Navigation Guide

Describe Robbie's physical attributes, his abilities, and his level of sophistication.

Characterize Gloria. Describe her relationship with Robbie.

Characterize Mrs. Weston. How does she feel about Robbie? Why?

Characterize George Weston. How does he feel about Robbie?

Why is Gloria so attached to Robbie? Is this attachment an unhealthy one? Why or why not?

Why is Mrs. Weston so adamant that Gloria must give Robbie up?

How is Robbie superior to humans?

"Robbie" is about humans' opposition to robots. Why are humans so opposed to robots? How does Asimov deal with this issue?

Further Exploration

John W. Campbell rejected this story because he felt it was too similar to Lester del Rey's "Helen O'Loy" (Astounding, December 1938). Compare these two stories.

Compare "Robbie" to "The Bicentennial Man," one of Asimov's last robot stories. How are they similar? Demonstrate the changes in robots and humans' attitudes toward robots in these two stories.