CTQ on Robopocalypse

How does this text make you think about justice in the world?

In a planet where robots have taken over, and war is everywhere, how can justice even be slightly existent? In the book "Robopocalypse" by Daniel H. Wilson, I truly realized that justice will always exist in this world, even in situations when it seems like all hope is lost. As shown throughout the book so far, I realized justice exists through trust and sacrifice.

Without trust, survival would be near impossible in this war-zone of a world during the apocalypse. There are multiple main characters in this book, one of about seven characters are focused on each chapter. Nonetheless, every character has similarities; they are all heroes. Some of the characters are heroes because they gained or gave trust to other survivors. In one scene in the book, two characters, Jack and Cormac Wallace meet two refuges. At first, the two refugees are skeptical of the brothers, since they were wearing military clothing, and the refugees have been treated terribly by the military. But Tiberius, one of the refugees, thinks otherwise: "Manners, Cherrah. These men are not army. Look at the uniforms. Not the same as those others."(229) Tiberius immediately trusted these two, which ended up wonderfully. As he puts it, "The five of us [two brothers, two refugees, one run-away soldier] make a good team." (235) They later call themselves "Brightboy squad", who have a huge impact on the survival of mankind during the robot-apocalypse. Without trust, this team of expanding heroes would've never existed.

Another factor that helped justice thrive in this book was sacrifice. Some survivors became heroes because they were willing to sacrifice themselves in order to save others. One character, Lurker, said "We [Lurker and Arrtrad] can help. We'll save all those poor sheep out there. We'll save them and they'll thank us for it. Even if it means our lives." (179) These two heroes ended up saving many lives, and they even got out alive. However, if they weren't willing to make the sacrifice, they wouldn't have made it anywhere, and lives would've been lost. This decision to put others before them self, this form of sacrifice, made Lurker and Arrtrad heroes among the struggling survivors.

This text makes me realize that justice will always exist in the world, at any given time. Heroes live amongst us, and I never really thought about that until I read this book. I always thought of heroes as a super-hero, but this book made me realize that a hero is anyone willing to help in a time of need, and be willing to put their lives at risk in order to save others. This book truly brings to light the amount of justice that this world contains. Sometimes I feel like i witness a lot of everyday heroes and justice, yet I pass it by like it's no big deal. Think back – what types of justice have you witnessed in your lifetime that you didn't think much of? 

Robopocalypse Critical Question RR

Recently, I have restarted the book Robopocalypse, by Daniel H. Wilson. I hadn't read it in a while, and decided I should refresh my memory. I have had many "thought-provoking notes/ideas" throughout my reading, but I feel that I can write strongest one critical question from early on in the book. The critical question was, "How can these robots be stopped?"

While reading this book, I originally thought these robots, these evil machines that took over all mankind (or most of it, at least), were invincible. And they practically are. But, using common sense and my experience with Sci-Fi books/movies, I realized there has to be a flaw in the system; there's always a flaw in the system. Then, quickly after my epiphany, the flaws were revealed. Yeah, multiple flaws! Spc. Paul Blanton states "That weak spot under the chin is classified, for Christ's sake." (62). If there's a weakness to anything, it can be defeated. This brought hope upon me as a reader and upon the characters in this book. Then, later on in the book, another flaw is revealed. A flaw that raises the chances of human survival greatly. This is what Marcus Johnson discovers: "They [the robots] keep it [the city] clean so they can operate here. But we can make it hard on them. Hard. Mess up the streets so they can'y get around. Blow some stuff up." (119). Marcus noticed that the robots were killing everybody in sight, but they weren't damaging the city one bit. This only meant one thing; the robots were planning on taking over the entire planet, but saw no need in destroying the land they were going to live on. Marcus decided he wasn't going down without a fight, and he wanted to make life for these robots a living hell. And boy did he succeed. In addition to his success, he was also the heart of human resistance throughout the world. I found this astonishing. So, in the end, hope was found.

Hope was found, in fact, through these flaws in the system, which I expected would happen. I honestly thought there was no possible way of avoiding these killer machines, but I just didn't think hard enough. With a little thinking and some common sense, you can find an answer to almost any question. At least that's what I feel. Have you ever felt so sure about something that you felt no need to investigate it further? That's how I felt about the robots being undefeatable, and I was proven wrong multiple times. Next time, think twice.