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 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “Afternoon of a Plain-Clothes Man”
Lije and Daneel head back into the City and go to a new section. Lije has requested a place for the two to stay since Daneel’s presence is so uncomfortable for Jessie. In the depths of the City, Lije recalls an urban legend about a ghost of a man lost in London’s city streets. Daneel brings him out of his pondering by asking if they can be overheard. Lije protests that it would be impossible. They discuss the case and the viability of the Commissioner as a suspect. Daneel agrees it’s impossible; the Commissioner did not have a blaster, and every blaster in Spacetown has been accounted for. Daneel also divulges that the Spacers cerebroanalyzed the Commissioner, describing that it “gives us information concerning the temperamental and emotional makeup of an individual. In the case of Commissioner Enderby, it told us that he was incapable of killing Dr. Sarton” (131). The Spacers excluded Julius Enderby from the suspect pool.
The squad car returns the pair to the station, and the two head upstairs. Daneel goes to records looking through the files of known Medievalists. Lije asks R. Sammy about the Commissioner’s whereabouts, and R. Sammy relays that he is out. Lije sits thinking at his desk until R. Sammy returns to tell Lije that the Commissioner will see him now. The two sit in his office discussing the case, Lije’s debunked theory, and whether or not the rumor of R. Daneel’s presence in the City is out. Enderby says they have no corroboration of a widespread rumor in the City.
Lije then tells the Commissioner about the C/Fe goals of the Spacers and the hope for more planetary colonies. Enderby dismisses the idea as impossible. Changing the subject, Lije asks Enderby if he is familiar with cerebroanalysis; Enderby is not. Lije leaves to call Washington to ask a robot specialist to visit New York, but first, he calls Jessie to tell her he is staying elsewhere and won’t be home for a few nights. She is worried, but he assures her he is not in danger. At 16:55 (4:55pm), the Commissioner and the rest of the day shift leave, and the night shift arrives. Daneel then returns from records with a list of Medievalists worth investigating further. Lije then asks Daneel if he is capable of eating. Daneel says that he is but that he will have to remove the food from his storage area after the meal. The men then leave the station to go to their new section apartment.
The two go to the communal kitchen and procure food. They are eating in a section that is not their home section. Due to the communal allocation of resources, this causes inconvenience to the kitchen workers there, as Lije knows from Jessie’s time working in a kitchen. The two eventually get their food and begin to eat. As Lije eats, he ponders the possibility of colonization and the opportunities Bentley might have on a new world. Daneel interrupts his meal to tell Lije that some people in the kitchen are watching them eat. He recognizes some of the faces from the shoe counter riot.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Escape Along the Strips”
Lije and Daneel slowly make their way out of the dining hall, knowing that they are being followed. Lije knows that saboteurs would not plan a riot in the closed space of the kitchen; it would have to take place in the City streets. As they exit the kitchen, the clicking sounds of the badges remind Lije of the first time he took Bentley to the zoo. There, Bentley saw cats, dogs, and birds for the first time.
Once out of the kitchen, the two begin to “run the strips” (148), trying to lose their pursuers. The game played by kids involves getting “from point A to point B via the City’s rapid transit system in such a way that the ‘leader’ manages to lose as many of his followers as possible” (148). Lije was exceptionally skilled as a young man but hasn’t played in ages. Lije and Daneel begin to hop from accelerating strip to accelerating strip, moving backward and forward, aggravating the commuters on the lines. They make their escape, Lije regularly checking with Daneel to assess their followers’ progress. At one point, Lije loses his balance, fears he will be trampled, but is hauled up by the unflappable Daneel.
The two dart off the strips and into a power plant. Lije warns Daneel to avoid the radioactive areas. Lije then questions whether the radiation would affect Daneel at all. Daneel tells him that the Gamma radiation would destroy his positronic brain. Lije tells Daneel that he never knew the truth about robots, and Daneel tells him that Spacers want Earth’s people to understand the robots’ strengths, not their flaws. Then he tells Lije that he should be aware of his strengths and weaknesses as his partner. Lije clears his throat and exits the plant.
The two enter their apartment furnished with two small beds. Daneel removes the food pouch from his stomach by opening a cavity in his chest and disposes it into the trash tube. The sight horrifies Lije, but he acts politely. Then the two begin discussing the day’s events. They are interrupted by the door signal. Blaster in hand, Lije opens the door to find his son, Bentley. Lije questions Bentley at length, discovering that Jessie is at his mom’s house. Lije needs to send Jessie a message about the possible danger she faces. Daneel suggests sending Bentley back. Lije replies, “Among us, it is not customary for a man to send his young son into possible danger, even if it is logical to do so” (156). The trio settles down for the night, Bentley attempting to remove his contact lenses, but having no case, he must sleep with them on. Daneel asks about them, but Baley is too busy brooding to answer.
The chapter closes with Lije dreaming of Jessie falling into a fission chamber. Lije helplessly watches as she plummets to her death. His dream-self is aware that he has pushed her.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Words from an Expert”
Lije and Daneel return to the station the next day. Lije meets with the Commissioner, but Lije does not tell the Commissioner about the race through the City. The two discuss the roboticist Dr. Anthony Gerrigel coming in from Washington. Enderby tries to talk Lije out of the interview; he’s worried having a roboticist at the Department will make people suspicious. He gives in to Lije’s judgment, questioning him about Daneel, who is still looking through the Medievalist files. Later, Daneel shows Lije that he has identified some people from the shoe counter and kitchen incidents. One is Francis Clousarr, 35, arrested for inciting a riot, and the other is Gerhard Paul. Lije says they do not have enough evidence for an arrest even though Daneel remembers their faces from the riot. Lije tells Daneel no court would believe a robot. He then takes Daneel as he goes to interview Dr. Gerrigel.
Lije begins his interview with Gerrigel, asking about his journey. He then asks if he would walk cross country for half a mile or more. Gerrigel firmly states that he would be very opposed to the prospect, even if it were a matter of saving his own life: He has agoraphobia. Lije then tells him that a murder has occurred that required the murderer to walk cross country. Lije asks if a robot could do it. Gerrigel answers that “there are two acts involved: walking cross country, and murder. A human being could commit the latter easily, but would find difficulty in doing the former. A robot could do the former easily, but the latter act would be completely impossible” (168). He believes that a human would be more likely to walk across the farmland than a robot kill a human. The men then discuss the Laws of Robotics.
Lije turns the conversation to the possibility of programming a robot without the Laws of Robotics. Just then, Daneel chimes in and asks the doctor about his theory. Gerrigel states that coding such a machine would take more than 50 years and that humans have a “Frankenstein complex,” so they’d be reluctant to try. Gerrigel does admit that people on the Outer Worlds might try to create a robot without the Laws. Lije asks the doctor a series of questions about why robots were made to look human and asks the doctor if he could identify one if he saw it. The doctor then realizes that Daneel is a robot.
Lije asks if Daneel may have been programed without the First Law: He finds it impossible that Daneel could have pointed the blaster at the crowd if he was adhering to the First Law. Baley then accuses Daneel of the murder, positing that he shot Sarton and then hid the blaster in his stomach compartment.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
This section of the novel furthers the themes introduced earlier in the work. Asimov also develops Daneel and Lije’s characters in this section, adding nuances to the question of The Core Difference Between Robots and Humans. Lije’s constant brooding offers a glimpse into his past and Jessie’s. Lije and Daneel’s escape from the Medievalists further the thematic exposition of tradition versus technology. The section illuminates the relationship between humans and machines, showing their blurred lines.
Elijah Baley is initially presented as the stereotypical noir detective. This trope relies heavily on the hang-dog, brooding mentality of the typical plain-clothes man. Asimov draws this connection more explicitly, naming Chapter 10 “Afternoon of the Plain-Clothes Man.” The chapter follows a usual police schedule down to military time specifications. Lije conforms almost entirely to the brooding detective stereotype; he even has a long, sad face. When they arrive at the kitchen, the stereotype breaks down as Lije considers Jessie’s past and the work involved by the people working in the kitchen. The characteristic detective would continue working, eating, and smoking at his desk or, if forced to leave, would be contemplating the case alone. Lije thinks of others, both his family member and his fellow humans in the broader sense, showing him in a more sympathetic light.
Lije’s pondering of the kitchen workers ties back to Jessie’s class background and her desire to belong. He recalls her complaints when forced to feed those visiting from another section and the complete disarray it caused in the kitchens. This small memory shows more of Jessie’s character. She once worked and took pride in it. She was a member of a community team providing for the most basic needs of her neighbors. Jessie valued the kitchen’s efficiency and felt frustrated when things did not follow their proper procedure. This small story underlines Jessie’s fierce desire for community in the face of increasing technological advances.
Daneel’s development shows the technology of robots and how increasingly humanoid they are becoming. Daneel unabashedly shares his weaknesses with Lije. He knows that this puts not only himself but all robots at risk. Nevertheless, Daneel trusts Lije, even if that trust is based on cerebroanalysis and loyalty data. Daneel even saves Lije’s life on the express strips without hesitation. This action may be due to the Laws of Robotics, but the effect on Lije is one of increasing his trust in Daneel. When the meeting with Dr. Gerrigel occurs, even he cannot immediately tell that Daneel is a robot. Daneel supports the thematic narrowing between humans and robots, as he develops as a full character, unlike R. Sammy, who performs one specific task and remains in the background.
The kitchen scene further blurs the lines, highlighting the theme of Tradition Versus Technology. The state of efficiency in which humans must live in the City is so precise it mirrors robotic precision. The development of zymoveal, the lab-grown yeast-based meat, separates humans further from the Earth. It is more nutritional fuel than food to be enjoyed. The precision of portioning for a large group, the inability to select from multiple options, and the highly processed nature of the fare all contribute to the further separation of humans from their traditional, natural state. When contrasted with the fresh food and open-air environment in Spacetown, Asimov makes the case that the Spacers are possibly the more natural humans.
The Medievalists also feel the pullback to nature, but they desire to go back rather than go forward. The men who chase Lije blame robots for their distance from their idealized civilization. The chase scene further highlights how technology easily outpaces humanity. The robot is the most capable at navigating the strips; Lije can only stay at pace because of the robot’s help, and the men without robot support quickly fall behind. Asimov uses this metaphor to show the situation of the human species on Earth, pulled to the edges of the capacity of the Earth to support the population. In this section, Lije considers the possible benefits of colonization, highlighting The Human Drive to Pioneer. The more he interacts with Daneel, the more he realizes that technology can be a good.
Despite the interpersonal progress Lije and Daneel make, this section of the book closes with Lije again accusing Daneel of murder. Though Daneel has saved his life, stayed at home, and slept beside his son, Lije cannot accept that this robot is not the killer. Asimov uses Lije’s suspicion to show man’s mistrust of machines further. His use of metaphor illustrates the book’s central thematic elements and conflicts.
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