The Golem by Avram Davidson is a retelling of a Jewish folklore with a twist that makes it stand out from other science fiction tales. Evident from the title of the story, the story starts with the appearance of a golem at the porch of an old couple’s home. The old couple – Mr. and Mrs. Gumbeiner – react very calmly to the situation, unlike how characters usually react in science fiction stories when they encounter a monster-like or alien-like being. Their indifference towards the golem and the golem’s desperate yet ineffective threats gives the story a humorous spin on usual action-packed science fiction stories.
The story is based on the most famous golem tale The Golem of Prague. Both stories are set in the same universe where golem technology …show more content…
After the golem threatens to destroy Mrs Gumbeiner, her husband struck the golem’s head against their porch pillar in anger, causing the golem to become unconscious. Yet they still do not leave it alone, but attempts to fix the golem instead. Mr Gumbeiner tried to activate it by writing a name on its forehead, which did not work, so he tried to fix the wiring of the metallic golem instead. As a result, the golem becomes somewhat less intelligent and more obeying towards Mr Gumbeiner, who orders it to mow the lawn for him. Rather than killing the monster – and Mr Gumbeiner was already halfway there by knocking the golem unconscious, he chose to make the monster work for him. Unlike stories like Frankenstein where the experiment gone wrong is hunted down, the golem provides an alternative option: why not alter the monster to make it harmless instead? It also offers another perspective that science may not be as scary as everyone sees it to be. After all, humans are the ones who created such creatures through science, and it is entirely plausible that humans can be the one to subdue them as well. If Victor Frankenstein behaved more like Mr Gumbeiner, the gothic story would continue in a very different direction.
However, it is important to note that the setting in The Golem is a very unique one as well. In the beginning, it is depicted to be set in 1920s similar to the settings in the black and white silent movies then. The entire
The story is based on the most famous golem tale The Golem of Prague. Both stories are set in the same universe where golem technology …show more content…
After the golem threatens to destroy Mrs Gumbeiner, her husband struck the golem’s head against their porch pillar in anger, causing the golem to become unconscious. Yet they still do not leave it alone, but attempts to fix the golem instead. Mr Gumbeiner tried to activate it by writing a name on its forehead, which did not work, so he tried to fix the wiring of the metallic golem instead. As a result, the golem becomes somewhat less intelligent and more obeying towards Mr Gumbeiner, who orders it to mow the lawn for him. Rather than killing the monster – and Mr Gumbeiner was already halfway there by knocking the golem unconscious, he chose to make the monster work for him. Unlike stories like Frankenstein where the experiment gone wrong is hunted down, the golem provides an alternative option: why not alter the monster to make it harmless instead? It also offers another perspective that science may not be as scary as everyone sees it to be. After all, humans are the ones who created such creatures through science, and it is entirely plausible that humans can be the one to subdue them as well. If Victor Frankenstein behaved more like Mr Gumbeiner, the gothic story would continue in a very different direction.
However, it is important to note that the setting in The Golem is a very unique one as well. In the beginning, it is depicted to be set in 1920s similar to the settings in the black and white silent movies then. The entire