Humanity in Solaris Alicia De La Cruz College

What does it mean to be a human being? Everyone has their own opinion and rarely is it as simple as biology. When science and technology are placed in this question the answer becomes even less clear. This question of when does giving technology humanity make them human has been asked in numerous mediums, from films such as Her, to Doctor Who and Twilight Zone episodes, science fiction has wrestled with the idea of merging humanity and technology. Stanislaw Lem’s novel Solaris is yet another source of this merging, providing in Rheya a character who is a product of alien technology that is inherently inhuman but has human qualities and tendencies. Rheya has human emotions, as is evident in her horror at finding out she is a ‘visitor’ and tries to kill herself (Lem 141). She has human memories of her life before Solaris, and her existence is rooted in human experience. This essence of perceived humanity is why her presence is so haunting to Kelvin. If she simply appeared human but lacked the emotional capacity that she showcases in the novel, Kelvin would not be so tortured by his duality of love and fear towards her. Just like Kelvin’s dual emotions, Rheya has a duel existence. She has experienced humanity, at least in her...