58 pages • 1 hour read
Isaac AsimovThe Caves of Steel
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1953A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 13-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary: “Shift to the Machine”
Daneel immediately states that Lije’s assertion is false. Lije ignores him, telling Dr. Gerrigel that he has arranged a laboratory to test whether Daneel has been programmed with the First Law. Gerrigel laughs, stating that he can test Daneel right there. Lije asks him to explain. Gerrigel tells him it would be as easy as checking if someone was blond or dead. The First Law is a base program on which all other functionality is predicated. The fact that Daneel meets basic functional requirements would prove that he is First-Law compliant. Lije continues to argue, asking if Daneel could have falsified the results. Gerrigel explains that robot brains do not function that way; they are binary. Daneel then invites Lije to inspect his blaster. Lije discovers that the blaster does not contain an ignition bud. It is incapable of firing.
Once Lije is proven wrong again, he retires to lunch, treating himself to chicken. He cannot eat it, though, and he sits mulling over the events of the last two days. His mind circles possibilities but reaches no conclusions. He has brief conversations with colleagues. He even posits the idea of new colonies to one of them, who dismisses the idea as lunacy.
Daneel returns to continue the line of questioning into a Medievalist conspiracy. He notes that Lije’s mental state is agitated and contradictory: Lije is at war with himself over his duty and personal feelings. Daneel and Lije argue over the possibility of the Medievalist conspiracy, which Lije denies. Daneel then proposes that Jessie could be involved. Lije at first categorically denies this, but Daneel presses, quoting Lije’s distaste for sending Bentley into danger. He tells Lije, “if Jessie feared for your safety and wished to warn you, she would risk her own life, not send her son” (192). Daneel’s point is that the conspirators would recognize Jessie, but Bentley would be safe. Lije starts to argue, but the pair is interrupted by R. Sammy announcing that Jessie is at the station.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Power of a Name”
Jessie runs to Lije, clearly agitated. She confesses almost immediately, saying she has done horrible things and been a “subversive agent.” Baley tries calming her and tells her they can discuss it in a squad car. Jessie argues but then calms enough to see Lije’s reasoning and reapply her makeup. The three take the squad car on the expressway.
Lije first asks Jessie if she committed the murder. She is shocked and denies it. She then tells Lije how she has been attending Medievalist meetings. One of her friends, Lizzy, was a member and convinced Jessie to go with her after Jessie discovered the true history of her name, Jezebel. Jessie continued as the meetings gave her a thrill and a sense of community. She tells Lije that she has gone to 60 or 70 meetings. Lije asks why Jessie has been in such a panic if she committed no crimes. Jessie tells him that some members think it is time for more aggressive action against the robots and the Spacers. She was afraid for Lije’s safety.
Lije and Daneel then question Jessie about the other meeting attendees, especially the leaders and lecturers. Jessie says that she does not remember names, but they eventually identify Francis Clousarr, an employee of New York City Yeast, due to his distinctive odor. Daneel and Lije drop Jessie off at home and continue.
Daneel then asks Lije about the story of Jezebel and Jessie’s attachment to it. Lije tells Daneel about the Bible and its importance to many of Earth’s citizens. He tells Daneel the story of Mary Magdalen, ending with Jesus saying “Go and sin no more.” Daneel does not understand. Lije tries to tell him about mercy. Finally, the men decide to go to Yeast-town to question Clousarr.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Arrest of a Conspirator”
Lije smells Yeast-town before he sees it. His mind is drawn into a memory of his Uncle Boris smuggling out small treats for him when Boris worked at the yeast factory. Boris died in an industrial accident, but as a child, Lije had imagined that he was arrested and executed for smuggling out the treats. He states that “the myth would always arise in his mind, at least momentarily, at the whiff of raw yeast” (211).
Though Yeast-town is not the technical name for the area, at one time one fifth of the City’s population worked there, and the smell was so distinct that the whole population knew it as such. Daneel and Lije head into one of the office corridors and ask the receptionist for Francis Clousarr. The girl, bothered, states that she will check and puts a line into Personnel. The phone picks up the slight vibration of her larynx so she does not need to say the words above a tiny whisper. Lije demands that she speak up. He only catches the tail end of her message. Prescott of Personnel emerges to meet them. Lije asks for a directional rod to take them directly to Clousarr. The rod is a handheld device that tells you whether you are “hot” or “cold” in regard to a location. All City dwellers learn how to use them in school.
They find Clousarr and ask to speak to him. He resists, saying it is his dinner hour. They insist. They begin their interrogation by establishing Clousarr’s work patterns as a zymologist, or developer of new yeast strains. They try to establish his alibi, but he says he was alone when the murder took place. They confront him about his involvement in the shoe counter incident and his participation in the Medievalist movement, but he denies any involvement. Lije then asks that he shake hands with Daneel. He refuses. He refuses even to touch him.
Clousarr resists any contact with Daneel, then finally breaks down, saying it is because he is a robot. Clousarr tells Daneel and Lije that all the Medievalists want is to get back to the soil. Lije tells him that is impossible. Lije introduces the idea of new colonies with the cooperative mentality that Earth people have now. Lije tells Clousarr that robots could be helpful in the right circumstances. Daneel leaves to call the station, returning to let Lije know that a robot, R. Sammy, has been killed on the premises.
Chapters 13-15 Analysis
This section of the novel focuses on Lije’s character development. This development mirrors The Human Desire to Pioneer and introduces the possibility of the growth of the human race. Asimov’s continued use of anecdotes in this section highlights the evolution of possibility. Lije begins to realize the importance of the stories we tell ourselves and about ourselves. Jessie’s namesake story defines her character for much of her life, but when she learns the whole story, she cannot reconcile herself with that story, causing her to reach out to the Medievalists. The anecdote Lije told himself about Uncle Boris is another example of the power of the story. Clousarr tells himself a story about what life could be like if humans went back to the soil. Lije and Daneel offer him a new story with hope and possibility.
In Chapter 13, Lije faces the false story he created about Daneel’s guilt. He based it on the detail that Enderby did not remember being cerebroanalyzed. When he learns that Daneel does this by merely reading someone’s brainwaves just by looking at them, Lije is stunned. The loss of this story is a crushing blow that sends him reeling for hours after. Daneel’s cerebroanalysis shows what Lije the inner conflict he already knows but is afraid to face: He can’t blame the murder on anyone from Spacetown. An Earth dweller has to be the murderer. Lije must also create a new story when Jessie visits the station and reveals the truth.
Chapter 14 shows that Jessie’s story was also taken from her. The “painted Jezebel” provided Jessie with a reason to be a little wicked and a trickster. The story was core to her sense of self, so it takes her far longer to let it go. Jessie’s involvement with the Medievalists directly results from her loss of the Jezebel story, as she needs a new identity. Asimov uses these two parallel stories to demonstrate the importance of narrative to identity.
Asimov’s point is again underscored with the anecdotal story beginning in Chapter 16. Lije’s story of Uncle Boris illustrates how deeply stories can become embedded in people’s minds, even when we know they are not valid. Lije cannot think of his uncle without thinking about the fantastical story he told himself about his uncle’s death. The myth is more comforting than the truth. The Medievalist movement is built on this foundation.
The Medievalist movement strives to return Earth to its previous connection with nature. The conflict of Tradition Versus Technology comes to a head when the Medievalists are confronted with new or progressing technology. Lije understands that all Earth dwellers are a little bit medievalist. His attitude toward R. Sammy demonstrates this quite clearly. The Spacers are considered hostile and isolationist. While most citizens are terrified of crossing the open country, many still long for a storybook pastoral life. The appeal stems from the human’s sense of myth and nostalgia.
Asimov uses Lije to consistently ground the romantic in the real. Lije’s capacity to stay grounded keeps him separate from the romantics around him. He can see the appeal of Enderby and Jessie’s fantasy of reconnecting with the Earth. He has no love for the robots and would be happier if one of them was the killer. His growth in this section is evidenced by his ability to see past his biases toward Spacers and robots to understand the truth they tell. Like most parents, Lije wants a better life for Bentley. He begins to see that a C/Fe colony might be the best option for his son. He knows that the population growth on Earth and the inevitable progress of robotics mean that Bentley will face the same, if not more dire, challenges than Lije does in the present.
Lije’s belief in this story grows to the point that he cannot stop telling others of the possibility. Daneel and Fastolfe have convinced Lije of the integrity of the option. In this section, Lije relays the possible future of humanity as an anecdote to his coworkers. This seemingly small conversation shows how embedded the possibility has rooted in his mind. He even tells a suspect.
Asimov’s use of anecdote serves to deepen the understanding of Lije, the Medievalists, and Earth’s predicament. Each small, brooding story Lije loses himself in deepens the story’s character development or thematic development. The combined forces of romanticism and nostalgia convince Lije that his son’s best future is on a new planet, and this is possible only with the help of robots.
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