i,Robot (Introduction to pg. 67)

Summary:

In the introduction of i,Robot, the narrator starts out by talking to Susan Calvin whom was a Robopsychologist. Dr. Calvin was one of the early creator and supporter of the robots. Dr. Calvin was retiring and was leaving the narrator in charge of Robbie's case, although she never got to know Robbie because he was dismantled the year before she joined the company. Robbie was a robot that could not speak, and was bought and sold in 1996. In the exposition of the story we meet Gloria, a nine-year-old girl, who Robbie serves as a companion to. They start out by playing hide-and-seek and Gloria complains because Robbie did not follow through with his promise to wait for Gloria to find him before he ran. Robbie immediately 'feels' hurt at the feable accusation by Gloria that he 'peeked.' Weston is a neighbor who believes that robots are to be more trusted than nursemaids. We meet Gregory Powell and Mike Donovan when Donovan was upset about no having had Speedy return from the sublevels.
Quote:

"hard-hearted, Robbie paid scant attention to this dreadful possibility, and shook his head a third time" (Asimov 4).

Reaction:

I chose this sentence for several reasons. The first being that is composed in a strong sentence structure. The second being that it contained a moderate level of vocabulary words such as, 'scant' and 'dreadful.' Ultimately, the third, and most interesting thing that I noticed about this sentence was that Gloria noticed results after Robbie's third and final shake of his head. After she threated that she will not tell him any more stories, he gave in and began to frantically nod his head. I found it particularly interesting how this 'thrice' superstitious concept is carried out in yet another work of literature. From Julius Caesar, refusing the crown 3 times, to him being warned about the Ides of March three times, the number 3 symbolizes the beginning or end of something. In this case, Robbie did not shake his head more than 3 times for Gloria to get the ride from him that she wanted.