Mrs. Weston By Isaac Asimov

Throughout the majority of Isaac Asimov’s “Robbie,” Mrs. Weston is not in favor of keeping the robot, Robbie. However, when the family is taking a tour around the U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation, as a particular scene of interest, Mrs. Weston conversely states that she is willing to take Robbie back. Regarding her resolution, Mrs. Weston can be interpreted as someone who embraces her role as a mother, a woman who claims agency by making the final decision, or a wife who expectedly concedes to her husband. First, after having just witnessed the threat to her daughter’s life, Mrs. Weston can be seen to step up and take on a motherly role. Initially, while traveling to New York and walking through the robot corporation tour, Mrs. Weston’s

Weston’s decision in the end can be seen as her claiming authority. Mrs. Weston gets to make the final word, which demonstrates how she is in control of the situation on whether to keep Robbie or not. Within the story, she is characterized as tough by speaking “severely” and “brutally” (Asimov 137) as well as commanding her husband, “You listen to me" (Asimov 138). Also, it is on the “direct orders from his wife” that Mr. Weston prioritized taking the family to New York (Asimov 145). Although he scheduled the robot corporation tour in secretly planning for Gloria and Robbie to reunite, the focus in the end is prominently on Mrs. Weston when she recognizes the ruse he pulled and “managed to look quite formidable” when confronting him (Asimov 151). There is a shift in gender roles as Mrs. Weston takes the dominant position while Mr. Weston is portrayed as “unsteady” and giving “a tremulous and exceedingly weak smile” in reaction (Asimov 151). Waiting hesitantly for her response, he is at Mrs. Weston’s mercy as she independently “pursued the thought” and makes up her mind about keeping Robbie (Asimov 151). Mrs. Weston defiantly reverses gender roles as the woman who assertively determines this ultimate decision for the

Weston can be seen to conform to the expectations of a wife when she submits to her husband’s wishes. During the tour, Mrs. Weston had firm convictions about not keeping Robbie, as seen when “she stopped [Struthers] several times and begged him to repeat his statements in simpler language so that Gloria might understand” that Robbie is mechanical (Asimov 149). However, against her efforts, it is clear that Mr. Weston desires to keep the robot. Early on, he calls her out on her repeated attempts to get rid of Robbie by saying, "this is one of your campaigns. I recognize it. But it's no use" (Asimov 140). Despite initially going through obstacles due to her stubborn refusal, Mr. Weston eventually gets what he wants in the end. Mrs. Weston’s submission is foreshadowed when he had first told her about his plan for the tour, having “approached his wife with…suspiciously like smug complacence,” and how she begrudgingly replied, “I might as well listen to you” (Asimov 148). At the end, when Mr. Weston earnestly appeals to her, saying, “You can’t send him away again,” Mrs. Weston concedes by replying, “I guess he can stay with us,” but not after reluctantly adding, “until he rusts” (Asimov 151; emphasis added). This decision can be seen as contrary to Mrs. Weston’s prior opposition to the robot, for in the end, she conforms by yielding to her husband about keeping