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.
Symbols & Motifs
Glasses
Enderby’s glasses are a symbol of tradition and nostalgia. They represent humankind’s desire to hold on to the past and the power of nostalgia over storytelling. Enderby’s love of the past is embodied by his choice to wear glasses. He wants to be connected to his ancestors more than he wants the convenience a more modern solution. This choice mirrors his choice to be a Medievalist. He would rather sacrifice population growth and ease of life with technology than give up the romantic notion of returning to the soil. Dr. Fastolfe leverages this desire to his advantage, using Enderby’s mistake with his broken glasses to convert him to the C/Fe cause.
The glasses also serve as a symbol of humanity’s fragility and imperfection. Human bodies age and fail far more frequently than those of robots. Humans cannot easily swap out parts to make repairs. Enderby and Bentley both use vision correction devices. Isaac Asimov uses this common detail to show Daneel and the Spacers’ advancement. The Spacers and Daneel do not even understand the function of these things; they genetically excluded issues like vision problems. Asimov uses this symbol to highlight how nostalgia and traditionalism have held back Earth’s citizens.
Caves of Steel
The titular caves of steel are used throughout the book to describe how humans on Earth are forced to live to sustain the current population. They symbolize the unsupportable nature of human life on Earth if it continues in its present direction. Lije describes the City as “a semiautonomous unit, economically all but self-sufficient. It could roof itself in, gird itself about, burrow itself under. It became a steel cave, a tremendous, self-contained cave of steel and concrete” (21). The progress of humanity is stunted by the lack of available resources. The move to the caves was a means to efficiently feed and house the increasing population. But the Medievalist movement hopes to pull humans out of the caves and back to the Earth.
The Spacers argue that the caves are keeping humanity from progressing. Dr. Fastolfe argues, “But now, Earthmen are all so coddled, so enwombed in their imprisoning caves of steel, that they are caught forever. […] Crossing space to get to a new world must represent impossibility squared to you. Civism is ruining Earth, sir” (122). Fastolfe and the Spacers view the humans of Earth as not fully matured; hence the word “enwombed” rather than “entombed.” According to the Spacers, the full expression of the species requires exploration. This follows the theme of Tradition Versus Technology. Tradition pulls humans back to the Medievalist movement. Technology pulls the species forward. The steel caves represent stagnation and eventual doom. The option presented by the Spacers is a middle road, taking Earth’s traditions into space.
Class Rating
Baley initially takes the case because Julius offers him an increase in class status. Baley’s childhood security was shattered when his father was declassified. Class rating symbolizes security for Lije. For Jessie, class represents a separation between herself and her community. Each luxury causes friction between herself and her peers. The class system has taken over for a dollar economy, and all privileges are tied to one’s occupation. The concept of inheritance remains: Lije is very concerned with Bentley inheriting his status. For Lije, the class system allows his security, for Jessie, the advances are not worth the personal friction they cause. The threat of declassification haunts Lije, especially as he interacts with the man replaced by R. Sammy. He describes Vince, thinking, “he looks lost, half dead—declassified” (183). Lije equates declassification to death. This supports the theme of humans versus machines. The robots taking human-class jobs is the cause of the surge in the Medievalist movement. The complex class rating system embodies this conflict.
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