The Jewish Golem is essentially an item that was (supposedly) created out of clay, by Rabbi Judah Loew; it was intended, and supposedly succeeded excessively, to protect the city of Prague, really the Jews who resided there, from the government that wanted to kill them. It grew so strong that the emperor who wanted to kill the Jews has to essentially ask for mercy and have Rabbi Loew kill the Golem.
This story is the basis for He, She and It. Yod is the Golem, Avram is Loew. The question is why would Piercy choose this cultural symbol to be the basis for her story and cyborg? There are a number of reasons, but one of the more convincing ones, is that the Jews are historically oppressed and there are few stories of them being protected, especially of them being protected well, but the story of the Golem is one of those. The Golem succeeds in protecting them, just as Yod succeeds in protecting Tikva. She probably also chose the Golem, because it was a being that was created by man, not be god, and because it had powers that human's did not possess. This story actually makes it seem as though the idea of the cyborg evolved from the bastardization of a number of ideas that were lead by the concept of the Golem.
Piercy's use of the Golem provides hope and freedom, through the cyborg Yod, through the effect of the Golem in the original story of Loew's Golem. It was such a successful defender that the emperor had to essentially beg for mercy and promise to allow the Jews of Prague to live how they wanted. The Cyborg accomplishes the exact same thing for the people of Tikva.
This story is the basis for He, She and It. Yod is the Golem, Avram is Loew. The question is why would Piercy choose this cultural symbol to be the basis for her story and cyborg? There are a number of reasons, but one of the more convincing ones, is that the Jews are historically oppressed and there are few stories of them being protected, especially of them being protected well, but the story of the Golem is one of those. The Golem succeeds in protecting them, just as Yod succeeds in protecting Tikva. She probably also chose the Golem, because it was a being that was created by man, not be god, and because it had powers that human's did not possess. This story actually makes it seem as though the idea of the cyborg evolved from the bastardization of a number of ideas that were lead by the concept of the Golem.
Piercy's use of the Golem provides hope and freedom, through the cyborg Yod, through the effect of the Golem in the original story of Loew's Golem. It was such a successful defender that the emperor had to essentially beg for mercy and promise to allow the Jews of Prague to live how they wanted. The Cyborg accomplishes the exact same thing for the people of Tikva.
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