What does it mean to be a human being? Everyone has their own opinion and it is rarely as simple as biology. When you bring science and technology into this question the answer becomes even less clear. The question about when giving humanity technology will make them human has been asked in numerous mediums, from films like Her, to episodes of Doctor Who and the Twilight Zone, science fiction has wrestled with the idea of ​​merging humanity and technology. Stanislaw Lem's novel Solaris is yet another source of this fusion, providing in Rheya a character who is a product of alien technology that is inherently inhuman but has human qualities and tendencies Rheya experiences human emotions, as is evident in her horror at discovering that she is one "visitor" and in trying to kill herself (Lem 141). She has human memories of her life before Solaris and her existence is rooted in the human experience Kelvin. If she appeared merely human but lacked the emotional capacity she displays in the novel, Kelvin would not be so tortured by his duality of love and fear towards her. Much like Kelvin's dual emotions, Rheya has a dueling existence. He has experienced humanity, at least in his memories, but currently lives outside the confines of humanity. However, these memories of humanity are not truly its own, as it is made up of the memories Kelvin has of his late wife, it has no true human core. The nature of her existence, as essential projections of Kelvin's memories of her into a living being, as well as the way she identifies herself, are deemed inhuman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The main reason why Rheya cannot be classified as truly human is because she lacks her own identity. Rheya is based on Kelvin's memories of her, and is therefore not a fully formed human. People have different secrets and sides around different people, they are different people around different people. And since Rheya is made up only of Kelvin's memories, she lacks the size of a true human. Kelvin seems to be aware of this at first, while he is convinced that it is indeed the real Rheya the first time she appears to him, he states, "she seemed somewhat stylized, reduced to certain characteristic expressions, gestures and movements" (58). This is because it is stylised; it was made from her memories for him. If Rheya's mother or best friend were somehow on that station, they would all receive different versions of Rheya which in turn would still be different from the deceased human Rheya. Snow realizes this and tries to explain to Kelvin that "she is a mirror reflecting a part of your mind" (154). All of her is a reflection, an image of how Kelvin remembers her without the substance that makes her a real person. Snow’s statement echoes something he said to Kelvin earlier: “We are only looking for Man. We don't need other worlds. We need mirrors” (72). Snow states that humans are not as adventurous and sophisticated as we believe ourselves to be, rather people look at the alien universe through the lens of humanity and expect humanity to look back at them. Kelvin has this reaction in relation to both Rheya and the Ocean itself. When Rheya dies he is distraught and projects human emotions of malice onto the Ocean, whereupon Snow tells him that "You yourself treat him like a human being" (192). Kelvin sees the Ocean as a being with intent, as a human would see it. His inability to see things without projecting humanity onto them can be seen in his relationship with Rheya. He has accepted that she is not his real wife, as he claimsof not knowing whether he would love her if he were (146). Yet even he still cannot consider her truly alien; he fails to see that Rheya's humanity is actually just his memory of her humanity being reflected back to him. Throughout the novel snow is used as a way to force Kelvin to question his feelings towards Rheya. When Kevin argues with Snow about Rheya, he states, "'you want opposition'" (154). Kelvin's conscience is still guilty of his wife killing herself due to him leaving her, and these feelings have carried over to the Rheya of Solaris. He states several times to Snow that he loves her, to which Snow responds, "'Her memory, you mean?'" (153). Even if Kelvin denies it, for some faucets it is true. Rheya's consciousness on Solaris is made up of Kelvin's memories of her. She is, in fact, just a collection of his memories of her projected into a copy of her body. Kelvin still loves her in his memory, so of course when his memories of her seem to come to life in this version of Rheya, he would love her. Snow is not as naive as Kelvin, in fact since the reader never sees his visitor it can be assumed that he regularly gets rid of them when they reappear. Rheya is therefore the only visitor who is allowed to stay for an extended period of time. During this time, Kelvin seems to grow more and more fond of her and see her more and more as human, even admitting to her that he loves her (188). This idea of ​​a humanoid life becoming more human the longer a person spends time with it has also been present in a multitude of science fiction, since Rheya is the person Kelvin spends most of his time with: more the longer he is with her the more human she becomes. to the human. While Kelvin may see her as human, his motivations for doing so, his guilt and his love for her, demonstrate that his perspective cannot be trusted as a correct analysis of her humanity or lack thereof. Even the moments that seem to give Rheya some humanity aren't as simple as they seem. The most human thing about Rheya is her reaction to discovering that she is a product of the ocean and separating her identity from the "real" Rheya who died ten years ago. However, this moment is also inherently one that shows Rheya is not human. She separates herself from the human Rheya of the past, telling Kelvin not to "forget that I am the one who is here, not her" (146). This feels like a human moment, although she is made up of Kelvin's memories and therefore has no identity separate from him, she seems to create one and therefore gives herself a certain level of autonomy. Rheya is embracing an identity, but she is not human. Before this moment in the novel he was blissfully unaware of his origin and took his humanity for granted. Now she knows where she comes from and what she is and she embraces it, taking a step away from the human Rheya and becoming herself. Rheya does not continue with the awareness of being human, nor does she ever state in the novel that she is human. In her suicide note to Kelvin she even crosses out the name Rheya, as if to signify that she knows she is not and never really was Rheya. Her suicide could be seen as another moment of humanity or at least autonomy, sacrificing herself so that Kelvin has a future since he knows he can't have one with her. However, this decision also reflects his inhuman nature. Once again, Rheya is made up of Kelvin's memories and perceptions. The original Rheya killed herself when she and Kelvin were having marital problems, to him suicide would have been the natural response Rheya would have when faced with a disastrous problem. With this in mind, Rheya's final act isn't as self-contained as it seems. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get an essay.