Title: Doubt the Sun
Author: Faith Mudge
Date of First Publication: 2015
Place of Publication: Daughters of Frankenstein: Lesbian Mad Scientists
Type: short story
Characters: No Character
Themes: ANDROID; QUEER FRANKENSTEIN; RACE/POLITICS; WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS
Critical summary: This story is told in dual narration, switching between the point of a woman named Maranda, and a robot named Athene. The story opens with 16-year-old Maranda spying on her father during his job at the docks. Here she takes notice of the vast amounts of robot bodies piled around her. She finds a badly damaged robot with a symbol she doesn’t recognize and is intrigued by it. She decides to steal the robot in order to attempt to repair it. Maranda has much experience with repairing robots and the hobby has become a passion of hers. At first the robot is unable to function normally, but eventually Maranda successfully repairs her enough to communicate and learn. Maranda continues to improve her robot, whom she’s named Athene, till she can almost pass for human. They talk while Miranda makes these repairs, and the girl and robot become extremely close. Athene then reveals to the reader somewhat romantic intentions with Maranda, describing a kiss they’ve shared, and confused thoughts on feeling love toward her. Miranda gets accepted into a prestigious institute of technology by showing Athene to the deciding professor who treats Athene as an inanimate object, ignoring her sophisticated ability to think and feel. The two grow closer and romantically involved as Miranda attends the institute. The story then jumps over twenty years into the future, Athene describes her thoughts and feelings while watching Maranda getting brain surgery. Maranda has been shot with a weaponized form of cancer and has severe brain tumors. Athene reveals that they are married and have been that way for many years, yet she is still viewed by the public as an object rather than a thinking feeling entity. The doctors fight with Athene stating that she has no legal right over Maranda regardless of Maranda’s wishes. The story then breaks off into a series of vignettes of Maranda and Athene’s lives together which seem like flashbacks. During one of these vignettes Maranda notices that time is not passing right, she knows that the present they seem to be in is a memory and the time line leading up to this memory is wrong, then she asks Athene why this is happening, and Athene tells her she did not survive the cancer treatments and is in fact dead. The vignettes are revealed to be a simulation of their lives together. Miranda then realizes that her body is not actually her body but instead a robotic body built by Athene.
This story relates to Frankenstein in the creation of an artificial intelligent life, However, it does not show any struggle between creator and creation, as depicted In Frankenstein, but instead shows a loving relationship between creation and creator. This short story challenges heteronormative standards by not only showing a healthy, loving, lesbian relationship, but also a relationship between a human and android, placing it within the theme of “Queer Frankenstein”. The love between women and android can be seen as commentary on the widely held belief that healthy relationships can only be found through heterosexual relationships. It also depicts human prejudice toward the non-human regardless of intellectual and emotional ability, as seen in Athene’s inability to have any agency in the decisions made regarding her comatose wife. In this the author explores the theme of race/politics within the text, showing the injustice at hand. This can also be seen as commentary on the domestic rights of homosexual relationships.
Administrative Notes: Megan Ponce, CSUF; Macy Charles (editing)