Waldo by Robert A. Heinlein.
In Waldo & Magic, Inc. New York: Signet, 1970. First published in 1940.

Review copyright 1999 by Janet Abbate

This novella introduced the term "waldo" to refer to a remote-controlled prosthesis. The title character is a brilliant but disabled man who creates mechanical hands ("waldos") that allow him to manipulate the physical world just as well as an able-bodied person--or better, since the hands come in various sizes and strengths that can be adjusted to the task at hand. The concept as well as the term were adopted by subsequent science fiction writers such as James Tiptree, Jr., whose story "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" features a woman who operates an entire biological body through a remote computer hookup.

In Heinlein's portrayal, the integration of man and machine allows Waldo to use his will and intelligence to overcome the limitations of his body. "He saw himself not as a crippled human being, but as something higher than human, the next step up, a being so superior as not to need the coarse, brutal strength of the smooth apes" (25). We see here a common theme in cyborg fiction: the idea that cyborgs will come to despise ordinary humans for their gross physicality. (This could provide an interesting footnote to the cultural history of the body.) However, the story is not, ultimately, a celebration of the cyborg state. Waldo is portrayed as embittered by his sense of physical inadequacy, and in the end he discovers a source of energy from a parallel universe that allows him to discard his mechanical aids in favor of his (newly-strengthened) biological body.

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