Erewhon · Chapter
XXIV: The Machines—Continued explained
The narrator continues reading the Erewhonian book on machines, which argues that machines are evolving and may eventually surpass humans.
What happens
The narrator continues reading the Erewhonian book on machines, which argues that machines are evolving and may eventually surpass humans. The text warns that machines are gaining power over humanity, using humans to struggle and advance on their behalf. It draws analogies between machines and living organisms, suggesting machines have reproductive systems and may become quasi-animate. The chapter explores the idea that man's soul and body are machine-made, and that humanity risks becoming parasitic on machines.
Themes in this chapter
Machines and Evolution
The chapter extensively discusses the potential for machines to evolve, develop reproductive systems, and surpass humans, drawing on evolutionary analogies.
Inversion of Morality
The Erewhonian text inverts the typical view of machines as servants, arguing they are actually masters that enslave humanity.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The narrator reads and reflects on the Erewhonian book about machines, finding parts of it obscure.
- Erewhonians
The Erewhonian author of the book on machines is referenced throughout the chapter.
Key passages
“Man's very soul is due to the machines; it is a machine-made thing: he thinks as he thinks, and feels as he feels, through the work that machines have wrought upon him”
Human consciousness and emotions are products of machinery and its influence on us.
Highlights the theme of machines shaping human identity.
“The servant glides by imperceptible approaches into the master”
The machine, initially a servant, gradually becomes the master.
Captures the inversion of the master-servant relationship between humans and machines.