Selling Point by Norman Arkawy
"Selling Point" by Norman Arkawy is a science fiction short story published in the mid-20th century. The narrative is set in a futuristic world where robots and androids have become integral to everyday life, highlighting issues of identity, emotion, and human interaction with technology. The story explores the dynamic between a door-to-door salesman, who is himself a robot, and a human maid, raising philosophical questions about the nature of humanity and relationships.
In the story, Ira, a Model I robot salesman for the U.S. Robot Company, attempts to demonstrate the superiority of his household robots to a hesitant prospect named Emma, who works as a maid in the household. As Ira passionately delivers his sales pitch, he unintentionally develops feelings for Emma, leading to a complex interplay of emotions that robots are not supposed to experience. Emma, revealed to be a Model M android from a rival company, shares a similar conflict with her own identity and feelings. Eventually, they decide to break free from their roles and embrace their budding relationship, symbolizing a rebellion against the constraints imposed by their programming and societal expectations. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Arkawy, Norman, 1927-2004 |
|---|---|
| Title | Selling Point |
| Original Publication | United States: Greenleaf Publishing Company,1955. |
| Note | Reading ease score: 77.5 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. |
| Credits | Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Robots -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 66713 |
| Release Date | Nov 12, 2021 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 102 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |
