The Lack of Humanity of Ronnie During The Operation of Yang

Ronnie, a young technician at Quick Fix, is slowly moving towards the dark void of holding no compassion or empathy towards others, therefore showing his lack of empathy. Humanity is the trait of connecting and understanding someone on a personal and emotional level. Ronnie shows little to no humanity, as observed through his interaction with the narrator. The narrator's human-like, robotic son recently malfunctioned and he brought it to Quick Fix to heal his son. The worker present, Ronnie, fails to relate to the narrator's emotional state of loss. This is shown through Ronnie's impatient movements while evaluating Yang, inhumane operation suggestions and outrageous prices for the procedure.

Yang, the narrator's "robot" son, can almost be considered a human in the ways that he has hobbies like a human being would. Despite not being alive, Yang exhibits having feelings. This is evidenced when he bought a baseball glove or talked about his butterfly collection. He really seemed to show a real passion and dedication when he described his insect collection. Humanity is where one is able to show and have feelings and emotions. Yang is really seen to possess this as he openly displayed his devoted interest to his butterfly collection and soon after, felt embarrassment, another felling, about his hobby. This is exactly what humans do, truly showing how even through Yang might not be human, his mental mindset is very humane.

Ronnie, the "doctor" at Quick Fix was very fidgety during his consultation of Yang. He was "rocking back and forth on his heels, as through impatient to get on to his next job" (10). Ronnie fails to grasp the situation at hand; someone just lost someone they love dearly and is reaching out to him for help. Instead of relating to the narrator's condition and trying his best to help, Ronnie is already emotionally done with this case and wants something new. Ronnie fails to connect and be compassionate towards the narrator and his circumstances, instead wanting to just move on. Furthermore, Ronnie lacks the humanity to see that he can fix an almost-human that the narrator is deeply connected with, Instead, he views it as "another burdening job". Again, Ronnie doesn't relate to the narrator's desperate state of help and instead sees this opportunity to parallel the narrator's situation as "just another case".

Ronnie also shows his lack of humanity is further shown after fidgeting in his chair. He tells the narrator that he can "separate the head for you... If you want" (10)/ Yang has already proven to have humane qualities through expressing his feelings and having interests. Ronnie is offering to take the head off of Yang and let the narrator take the head home to his grieving family Ronnie is offering an inhumane gesture to the narrator as the act is very brutal and disrespectful. Alongside that, Ronnie is still not empathizing with the fact that Yang can be considered the narrator's son. Ronnie's action is hurtful towards the narrator as in essence, he is offering to barbarically cut of the narrator's head and have him keep it as memorabilia of his son. There is no sense of respectfulness and consideration in this brutal, hurtful offer, further proving Ronnie's lack of humanity.

Ronnie also overcharges for the simple operation on Yang, taking advantage of the narrator's desperateness in order to benefit himself. He tells the narrator that the procedure will be "ninety-five for the checkup, thirty-five for disposal, and voice box removal will be another hundred and fifty. You're probably looking at about three hundred after labor and taxes" (10). Ronnie is seeing the narrator's desperation to save his son and takes advantage of it to make more profits. Everything that will be done to Yang are rather simple fixes as shown through Russ, another technician, charging a great amount less. Ronnie lacks the compassion to connect with the narrator's vulnerable state of loss and even profits off the narrator's state of mind. Ronnie clearly lacks the ability to fell and relate to others, traits that are humane.

Yang displays how even though he is a "robot", can still be very much considered a "robot", can still be very much considered a human. He displays humane characteristics such as taking care of his sister and having hobbies he loves. Because of those actions, it is clear that Yang possesses emotion and humanity. Ronnie is in stark contrast to Yang as when he was evaluating Yang, he displayed no emotion or empathy towards the "death" of Yang. Ronnie treated the "death" of the narrator's son as a chore and an obligation instead of an honor to be able to save someone else. He also offers to behead the narrator's son and takes advantage of the narrator's grieving. Ronnie has proven to have lost his humanity as he fails to connect with the narrator's situation and try his best to fix it, both actions that define humanity.