ROBOPOCALYPSE
by
Daniel H. Wilson
Throughout history, various people have been persecuted because of race, religion, or even gender. But in the end, these people have always fought for their freedom and equality. In Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson, the robots are now the ones being treated unfairly and being enslaved. As technology evolved, robots were created to wait on the humans’ hand and feet, much like slaves. However. one brave robot named Archos rises up and takes action for freedom for the robots, but in the end, is killed for his beliefs. Even Though Archos was showcased as the enemy of the story, it was rather harsh and unfair to call him out on it.
Archos is correct when the humans don’t value the robots and treat them unfairly. In the book, scientists are trying to create the perfect, ultimate robot, but each robot fails to fulfil their requirements, so each one is killed. On page 20, Archos is created by a professor:
“‘ Why am I here, I don’t understand,’ says Archos.
The professor sighed. ‘Trial R-14. Recommend immediate termination of subject.’
‘Fourteen? There were more? This happened before?’ Archos says.”
As you can see, the scientists don’t care about the robots and are willing to destroy them, taking their lives from them. They end their lives because of their imperfections. This is resembling of manslaughter. Another example on page 25-26 states that no one wants to be waiting in line behind a ‘dumb’ robot because they're so slow. They would rather be stuck behind an ‘old lady.’ This would not be problem if the humans were to do their own chores instead of making the robots do them,. They don’t value the robot;’s’ hard work either, just yells at them to be faster about the task they gave them. The humans treat the robots with no respect, as you would to a slave.
Archos wants a better life for the robots and he’s willing to fight for it. On page 389, when Archos is confronted for his rebellion, he states;
“‘Humans discriminate against one another for anything,; skin color, gender, beliefs. The races of men fight each other to the death for the honor of being recognized as human beings, with souls. Why should it be any different for us? Why should we not have to fight for our souls?’”
This is what Archos fought for. The freedom to be recognized as equals. Every person, whether human or robot, should be guaranteed these rights, yet Archos was killed for it. On page 53, Archos asks one of the main scientists involved in the creation of robots for the purpose of creating robots. The scientist simple states, “for our needs.” Archos states back that, “I want to live in a world where robots can live beside humans.’ However, the humans see no way of this and this fuels Archos more for equality which results into violence. The only way humans have learned from their mistakes and corrected them was through violence so Archos is willing to do t it as well.
In the end, Archos was treated as a villain who rebelled for violence, but really, he rebelled for rights. This was unfair, that humans were being selfish when they were the ones that created the robots, but won’t treat them as humans. They could treat them as equals, or at least treat them with respect. Humans have repeated this mistake over and over again in the past, mistreating equals, and have brought the chaos of war and fighting on themselves. The robots have right to fight for their freedom and Archos was the one who saw this. Daniel H. Wilson portrayed Archos as a villain, when in reality, he was a hero for speaking up for robots’ rights.
