RUR Power Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Act.Paragraph)

Quote #1

SULLA: I am writing to confirm your order for fifteen thousand Robots.

DOMIN [thinking]: Fifteen thousand Robots. Fifteen thousand Robots. (prologue.3-4)

This could be Domin just musing on what to say next to his secretary. But it also seems like it's Domin thinking how awesome it is that he has an order for fifteen thousand robots. That's a lot of money, which is power—and it's also a lot of servants doing what you tell them, which is power too.

Quote #2

Oh, and you all impressed me so much! I felt like a little girl who had gotten lost among…among…[…]
Among enor-r-mous trees. You were all so sure of yourselves, so powerful. (1.110-112)

Helena is remembering when she first visited the factory. All the men, the scientists, the robot controllers, seems so powerful and sure of themselves. Manliness is here seen as power, but a false power. Ultimately we learn the scientists don't know what they're doing and end up destroying themselves. They aren't enormous (phallic) trees; they're just kind of dopes.

Quote #3

I do not want a master…I want to be the master of others…I want to be the master of people. (1.245-249)

The Robot Radius wants to be a master of people. That makes him broken; robots aren't supposed to want stuff. But it also makes him just like Domin, who wants to be a master of people (and robots too, for that matter). Wanting power is wrong, but it's also what makes humans human (for better or worse.)