Title: He, She, & It
Author: Marge Piercy
Date of First Publication: 1991
Place of Publication: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. New York
Type: Novel
Characters: No Character
Themes: ANDROID; POSTHUMAN; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; RACE/POLITICS; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER; WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS
Critical Summary: Set in a mid-21st century dystopia, He, She and It, casts a phenomenal vision of the future where powerful multinational corporations own and rule the world, information has become a commodity more valuable than gold, and the only escape from this bleak reality is artificial reality simulations.
Shira Shipman, is a “psychoengineer” who works with artificial intelligence. Shira decides to leave the “multis” controlled enclave to return to her hometown Tikva, a Jewish town that is free from the multis’ control and is where her grandmother Malkah resides. She then finds the opportunity to work with a brilliant scientist named Avram who needs Shira’s assistance due to her experience as a psychoengineer. She helps Avram create Yod, a true cyborg man that will help defend Tikva from information pirates as well as a conspiracy against Tikva from the multis.
Yod is a superior cyborg in that his programming contains an element of human self-determination in order to prevent Yod from being completely dominated and programmable by its creator. Shira gradually realizes that Yod is not quite a man and yet much more. Yod is superior in strength as well as intelligence and speed while lacking the weakness in men such as moral weakness and vanity. By the end of the novel, Yod’s presence becomes a controversy among the town of Tikva, and it is decided that he must fulfill the purpose for which he was created: to protect Tikva. This is a conscious decision that Yod also makes for himself, choosing to sacrifice himself in order to destroy the multis.
Although the plot structure might differ greatly, Piercy’s narrative embodies the spirit of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in many ways. Both narratives share common motifs like the creature/android, an exploration of gender roles, and the question “what makes us human?” Like the creature in Frankenstein, Yod also proves to be a very complex and intelligent character, exhibiting human-like qualities that blur the lines between creator and the created, while also exceeding what man is capable of. Frankenstein considers humanity in the creature through a consideration of its emotional and intellectual capacity. He, She and It also mimics these qualities through Yod as Shira becomes romantically involved with him and as he champions his purpose of his life.
Piercy’s work is just as progressive and groundbreaking as Shelley’s due to her inclusion of feminist programming in Yod as well as the social, economic, and political structures of the multinational corporations. While Shelley incorporated the breakthrough of new sciences and a new school of thought, Piercy incorporates the exponential growth of technology and its effects on society.
Administrative Notes: Paul Jae Yi, CSUF; Alexandra Roman CSUF (editing)