Character Clues

Character Analysis

Occupation

Susan Calvin is a robopsychologist; Powell and Donovan are field technicians; Peter Bogert and Alfred Lanning are mathematicians who work for US Robots. We don't want to be mean, since all of these are useful occupations (especially robopsychologist), but these occupations basically define these people. Calvin is someone who deals with robots and is herself a little bit like a robot; Powell and Donovan are interested in practical matters; and Peter Bogert and Alfred Lanning are very interested in how the company is doing. But let's not miss out where occupation doesn't help: Bogert and Lanning are both mathematicians, but they're pretty different people even so.

Speech and Dialogue

Powell and Donovan might be as educated as Susan Calvin, but you'd never guess it from the way they talk. Calvin doesn't ever quote (or misquote) Shakespeare, as Powell and Donovan do in "Runaround." Calvin doesn't even use contractions or slang the way Powell and Donovan do. Or let's put it another way: how did you feel when you read Calvin's part of the stories? She's so much more serious, something also reflected in her speech patterns. (By contrast, notice how different she talks when she flips out at the end of "Liar!" She may be serious most of the time, but not all of the time. This helps tell us how upset she is.)

Type of Being: Robots and Humans

This is probably the big one: humans are free to be jerks, whereas most robots are programmed to be ethical and good. And that's a pretty big difference.

We could also note that humans have lots of issues. Bogert wants to be Director of Research; Lanning doesn't like being retired; Calvin falls in love with Ashe; Ashe only has eyes for a cute, not so bright woman; etc. Each human has his or her own set of priorities. Even when they agree—like Kallner and Bogert in "Little Lost Robot" agreeing to keep a military secret—they may not agree for the same reasons. By contrast, pretty much all the robots have the same set of priorities: the Three Laws. So humans have many motivations, while robots just want to do good.