Omar Azam
Two Cultures Seminar
1992
R.U.R.: Blame
The primary ideological conflict in R.U.R. is the question of whether or not the men in the story are to blame for the downfall of mankind, and these men (Domin, Gall, Busman, Hallemeir) debate their morality and motivations so convincingly that even by the end of the play, we are not quite sure who is to blame. In Metropolis, it seemed clear that it was the privileged, ungrateful few who were to blame for their injustice. Likewise, in WE, the Benefactor and the Guardians can be seen as villains, manipulating the society of numbers like gods. Only The Time Machine shares Capek's conviction that there is no one to blame, that things inevitably happen.
To H.G. Wells, the Morlocks and the sand crabs were not inherently evil, nor were the Elois and the butterflies good. Their relationships sprung from biological necessity, nothing more. Capek feels the same way about human technology as Wells feels about evolution: it will run its course, it is inevitable , and there is no one to blame. Although Domin, Gall, and Busman seem to drive production relentlessly, they are only puppets of industrial society, and it is only a matter of time before the human being is "perfected." As a matter of fact, Helena, who is supposedly the voice of human and natural reason, turns out to be the primary reason for mankind's death because of her emotional superfluities: her sorrow leads to the introduction of the "new" and dangerous robots, and to the burning of Rossum's manuscript.
Capek believes in the inevitability of technology, and that it is not completely immoral and dangerous, because machines won't ever reduce the power of human beings. Because the robots can't live without human beings, they are our creations, and therefore our children. This is why Helena and Primus are so important, because they are human beings, and their existence is proof that mankind does live on through his creations, and does not ever really die. We should, therefore, never really be afraid of change, because inside even the robots, a remnant of humanity still survives.
Copyright 2003 Omar Azam