Punishment Without Crime story
A man is arrested for killing a robot facsimile of his adulterous wife. Directed by: Bruce McDonald. Story by: Ray Bradbury.
15 total · 1 choice · 10 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| killing an artificial person | choice | The viewer is made to ponder whether George Hill should be punished for killing an android replica of his unfaithful wife. |
| android clone of a person | major | George Hill murdered an android replica of his unfaithful wife, Katherine. |
| capital punishment | major | George was sentenced to death for the murder of an android replica of his wife. The story ended with his imminent execution. |
| catharsis | major | If one takes the detached view that the android replica was a mere object, as George and much of his society had evidently done up until that point, George's plan was just to vent his pent up anger and frustration harmlessly by turning some expensive artifice into rubble, and nothing more. |
| dysfunctional legal system | major | Irrespective of what the viewer or anyone may think about AI rights, it is clear that George at the time thought he was doing nothing wrong and was openly helped along by a major corporation, Marriotts Inc. That this could happen and he was then subsequently sentenced to death in a reality show-like trial because of a law that had been whimsically passed is unequivocally a travesty of legislative and judicial process, as George's outraged reaction also implies. |
| extramarital affair | major | Katherine's husband, George, caught her in the act with her young lover. George dealt with the blow by ordering the construction of an android replica of her, which he then killed. |
| facing one's own execution | major | George Hill was on death row for the murder of an android copy of his unfaithful wife. The story is set on the evening of George's execution, and the story is told from his point of view. |
| husband and wife | major | The story turns on George catching his conspicuously younger wife, Katherine, with another man. George dealt with the blow by ordering the construction of an android replica of her, which he then killed. |
| spouse murder | major | George Hill was sentenced to death for murdering an android copy of his unfaithful wife, Katherine. For part of the story, it was unclear as to whether George had murdered his real wife or her android replica. |
| the desire for vengeance | major | George sought to avenge himself, at least in his own fantasy, on his cheating young wife by constructing and murdering a perfect replica of her. Alas, the plan backfired on him in a most major way. He was executed and she inherited his fortune, which she planned to share with her lover. |