Delegating the Human(e) responsibility

Although I enjoyed the play R.U.R on the whole, I found its resolution somewhat unsatisfactory. Although ultimately he posits the victory of humans over machines by triumphing human emotions over the soul-less machines, the implication is still that the robots ‘adopt’ elements previously reserved for humans, and therefore implying that eventually robots will be able to adopt an element of human ‘agency’ as Jane Goodall puts it. This idea, I feel, is further enhanced by the fact that the robot at the end of the play is named after the main female protagonist in the play ‘Helena’ who technically predicts her fate of essentially becoming a robot at the beginning of the play when she can’t distinguish between the human scientists and the robots.

The dominating theme of the play is the idea that human existence could eventually become rendered useless  by the mass production of robots, at a cheap rate who can do physical ‘jobs’ at a pace and cost far lower than the human labourer incurs. Thus, as Sian says, the play incorporates one of the central issues discussed on the course of the higher efficiency and skill of the machine compared to humans.  The fact that Capek has also expressed these fears through the medium of drama could be seen as ironic because he is conjugating the ‘idea’ of robots taking the place of humans with the acting theory of ‘mimesis’ and therefore visually demonstrating how easy it is to copy, or replicate humanity.  The fact that Capek portrays these robots as evil, killing machines quite clearly expresses a fear of being replaced by machines; he clearly sees them as a threat.  This is unsurprising given that the play was written just after the First World War; the first war where machines were used and the war with the highest recorded number of civilian deaths, thus it seems logical to link the theme of human redundancy within the play with the feelings of human annihilation that were a result of the war.  I also wonder whether, the fact of the holocaust brewing was what gave Capek his initial ideas of this ‘perfect’ yet soul-less race trying to wipe out the lesser, yet humane race.

In its entirety however, I believe the play should be read as a warning: by imagining a kind of ‘utopia’ where humans no longer need to work, we would be subverting the necessities of a democratic system’ whereby progress is achieved through hard work and accomplishment.  The robots are in the play not only to show that an over dependency on machines could be humanity’s enemy but also to show how out of control the world, and the human race could become if we neglect our ‘duties’…if we become lazy.  Instead of achieving the utopia he intended, Domin ends up creating a dystopia; a war against humans bought upon them by themselves purely in their efforts to try and avoid the graft needed in order to live harmoniously on earth.  Particularly in connection to the event of the war, Capek, I believe is trying to reinforce the fact that the world is not ‘easy’ there is no easy way to be successful, although it is possible, it involves hard work, and by neglecting our humane duties; to work well with one another, the world will become a state of war and destruction.

Although I disagree with the fact that at the end of the play, the characters should be happy when they have submitted to the idea that we share similarities with humanity, on a much deeper level I believe that Capek is trying to show how sharing the responsibility of the human race, and incorporating each other’s differences into our lives can only lead to a much more fruitful environment.

Zoe

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