Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up… in a laboratory in Illinois. HAL 9000, a highly intelligent supercomputer with a large red "eye", became operational on January 12, 1992. HAL is capable of everything from playing chess and lip reading to displaying emotions like a human.
Living… aboard the spacecraft Discovery One with the other five (human) members of the crew.
Profession… crew assistant. HAL has been programmed to complete Discovery One’s mission to Jupiter, and he will not let any fallible human being stand in his way. HAL’s job is to be reliable and fix any problems that may arise.
Relationship Status… involved in a “stimulating” relationship with fellow crew members, Dr. Poole and Dr. Bowman.
Challenge… completing his mission. He is willing to reach his goal at any cost, and he is confident that he will succeed. After all, he says he is “by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error.”
Personality… calm, intelligent, and extremely rational. HAL is driven by logic, but unfortunately the world is not always a logical place. HAL speaks in a monotone voice, which is calming and creepy at the same time.
Get to Know him in...
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Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
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Written when landing on the moon was still a dream, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a science-fiction classic that has changed the way we look at the stars—and ourselves. On the moon, an enigma is uncovered. So great are the implications that, for the first time, men are sent deep into our solar system. But before they can reach their destination, things begin to go very wrong. From the savannas of Africa at the dawn of mankind to the rings of Saturn at the turn of the 21st century, Arthur C. Clarke takes us on a journey unlike any other. Brilliant, compulsive, and prophetic, and the basis for the immensely influential Stanley Kubrick film, 2001: A Space Odyssey tackles the enduring theme of man's—and technology's—place in the universe and lives on as a landmark achievement in storytelling.
