# XXIV: The Machines—Continued explained — Erewhon

> Chapter companion for Erewhon by Samuel Butler.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xxiv-the-machines-continued
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/erewhon_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/erewhon_se/chapters