Henry David Thoreau, one of the leading philosophers of the 19th century, said that “men have become the tools of their tools.” Machine Man, written by Max Barry, is true to this quote. In this fictional novel, the scientist Charles Neumann surrounds his entire life with mechanical parts for which he replaces his biological parts. Until the end of the novel, Charles can be referred to as a cyborg, meaning that he relies on these mechanical parts to expand his physical capabilities. He increasingly loses his morality for biology, as he allows the mechanical parts to take over his entire body. Even as technology continues to advance and becomes more and more ingenious, it can have detrimental effects. In the case of Charles Neumann, the use of technology is detrimental to his overall health. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay First of all, technology use has a negative impact on Charles' mental health. Machine Man begins immediately with Charles criticizing robots as a child. For example, he states: “Instead of doing one thing right, they [the robots] did everything wrong” (Barry 3). From the first page, readers realize that Charles has a taste for improving machines. Later in his adult life, Charles becomes a scientist and works for an engineering company called Better Future. Ironically, Charles loses a leg in an unfortunate workplace accident because he worries about finding his phone. Unhappy with the choice between several unwanted prosthetic legs, Charles creates his own artificial leg, but he discovers that having one biological leg and one mechanical leg prevents him from reaching his full walking potential. Without delay, Charles begins to build a second leg and, without remorse, he removes his last biological leg from his body. Throughout the plot, Charles is constantly making new parts of his body. In a logical sense, it is not normal for a person to remove their own body parts when they are functional. Not to mention he puts this type of work before everything else, not taking the time to socialize. Isolation and constant need for control are symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which Charles exhibits. According to the New Harvard Guide to Women's Health, "generally, people with this disorder are unduly stingy with time and money, and are often workaholics, valuing productivity or possessions above others" (Carlson , “Personality Disorders”). This description is true for Charles, as he is always focused on his strange job, often forgetting to eat or sleep. Additionally, Charles thinks his mechanical body parts will draw attention to him. Lola Shanks, Charles' prosthetist and love interest, contributes to his desire for more mechanical body parts. For example, she compliments his work by saying, “Oh, Charlie. It's magnificent. It’s completely magnificent” (Barry, 56 years old). Lola makes Charlie feel like he matters, and it's a feeling he's never had, as he mentions that his love life has been non-existent for some time (Barry 9). Perhaps his insecurity is alleviated by Lola's compliments to the point that he believes, ironically, that people will like him as a person if he becomes more of a machine. Of course, in the natural world, a real machine-man might be amazed; However, Charles is only fooling himself into thinking that going through the extremes of changing bodies to the point where he no longer has a body will earn him a love worth having. 2017.