Lawnmower Man
From Metaverse
put brief synopsis here.
Contents |
Characters
Jobe Smith- A mentally deficient yard worker of Dr. Angelo. He is abused by his priest, bullied, and is the butt of jokes for nearly everyone in town. Jobe is experimented on by Dr. Angelo in an attempt to make him more intelligent.
Dr. Lawrence Angelo- Doctor in the field of intelligence enhancement. Utilizes drugs and VR (Virtual Reality) enhance mental acuity, starting with animals and moving on to human testing. Is driven by the desire to succeed, and disregards the moral consequences of his actions.
Peter Parkette- A child who is one of Jobe’s only friend. Abused by his father. Peter is the only person who really notices the changes in Jobe’s personality and mental stability.
Marnie Burke- Whenever Jobe mowed her lawn, she cruelly flirted with him. As Jobe grew smarter, he realized what she was doing and turns the tables on Marnie.
Plot
An overly obsessive scientist, Dr. Lawrence Angelo, is trying to make a breakthrough in intelligence enhancement. He begins his work on chimpanzees, and continues despite experiments causing chimps to become aggressive. The increased hostility comes to a boiling point, and one of the chimps goes on a rampage and is shot. With his experiment in shambles and not wanting his research to end, Dr. Angelo turns to continuing his work at home, taking aim on his simpleton yard worker Jobe as a test subject.
Utilizing drugs and Virtual Reality games, Dr. Angelo succeeds in making Jobe smarter. The doctor does not stop with the enhanced intelligence, and continues experimenting on Jobe. As he continues, Jobe experiences side effects - telepathy, kinetics – at the cost of his mental sanity. Jobe begins to reason that he is more intelligent than everyone else, and as such they are lesser beings. Jobe downloads himself into the computer, attempting to fulfill his twisted scheme - which will pit monster against creator in a final showdown.
Themes, Symbols, Motifs
Humanity and Technology- Humanity can only go so far and only do only so many things without the help of technology
Computer- Symbolizes uncharted territory, something new, unnatural.
Abuse- Jobe suffers abuse from his priest, Peter is abused by his father, Jobe is mentally abused by Dr. Angelo, Jobe then uses his newfound powers to manipulate others.
Power (Playing God)- Dr. Angelo plays god by making job super intelligent. Jobe then uses his powers to act like god in the cyber world.
Discussion Questions
[1]Does being more intelligent make a person happier?
[2]Is it morally/ethically right to alter something beyond what is was meant to be?
[3]At what point will humanity's natural evolution peak, when we will become dependent on technology to evolve further?
