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Nick Lam
Professor Flower
UNST: Life Unlimited
28 January 2015
The Windup Girl
The expansion age has come to an end, and the start of the contraction age has began.
This is an age where global warming has made the sea level rise to a large amount, oil has
disappeared, and a start of a new plagues called "cibiscosis. It has murdered food crops and
humans. People are starving and big food companies, such as Agrigen, PurCal, and SoyPro, has
created disease-resistant, sterile strains, GMO crops. The setting is in the heart of Thailand,
Bangkok. In Bangkok, we get to see designed organisms, such as the megodonts, giant
mammoths which are used to provide mechanical power, and the New People. The New
People are artificial human beings and we are introduced with an artificial women, named
Emiko.
Emiko, a genetically engineered being created to delight regular human beings. Being a
engineered being has their advantages because she has disease-resistant, perfect eyesight, and a
long life span. Although she has some advantages than most humans, she also has major
disadvantages because she was made to please people. Therefore, her the number of pores has
been reduced to make her skin smooth. Bangkok has a hot climate, which is why she overheats a
lot and could possibly die if she doesnt have water or ice. People can spot out a engineered
being pretty quickly because of their jerky, unnatural movements.
Although Emiko is a engineered being, it seems like she is thinking like a normal human
and on the outside, her body has been modified. She expresses so much emotions in her mind but

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doesnt really show it. She was designed to be obedience because New People serve and do not
question" (pg. 36). To make her to be obedience, the japanese scientist put dog DNA in her.
In chapter three, Emiko showed some human and modified elements. When Kannika,
Emiko co-worker, molested her and a bunch of men were watching her, Emiko tries to turn her
face aside (pg. 37) because she is embarrassed. She has that human factor and emotions to
consider her as a human. She doesnt want to be humiliated in front of so many people. However,
there is the modified element that separates her being a human. Her body does not obey her
because she is conditioned to react in some sort of way. When Kannika was molesting her,
Emiko didnt want to moan out loud or come in front of so many people, but because she was
designed to do so and her body betrays her. She cannot control it no matter how much she
despises it. The scientists will not allow her even this small disobedience (pg. 37). The dog
DNA has so much control over her. It much be hard to think about how Emiko is thinking and
feeling, but unable to stop her own conditioning actions. It would be an unbearable life if that
happened to us because we, as humans, do that all the time where we can challenge or stop our
own actions. As the story goes on, she is trying to break free from the chains of genetics that is
built within her.
When humans are born, we have some sort of special human element called a soul.
Unfortunately, Emiko was genetically engineered and doesnt have that element within her to
make her more natural. This makes her more of a thing because she doesnt have any spiritual
force within her. A soul is important to a human being, because it is the human mind, that is,
thinking thing lodged behind your eyes. It is the essence of humanity and which makes a person
good and decent. This is what makes a person unique and creates someones personally. The
most important part about having a soul is that it is the quality of being alive. This makes Emiko

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different from most human beings. Sure she is unique because she is the generation of the new
people, but she dont have a soul to make her unique.
In chapter 19, Emiko told Mr. Anderson Lake that My body is not mine (pg. 183). She
is at war with herself. Later she explains that the men who designed me, they make me do
things I cannot control. As if their hands are inside me. Like a puppet (pg. 184). She feels like
someone is controlling her and she cant break free from her chains. The author makes this
description of her like she is a dog. She is conditioned to do things, like how dogs are
conditioned to do tricks. However, she gets no rewards for her tricks. She is trapped in her own
body and doesnt know which parts of her body are hers and which have been genetically
modified. The only thing she can control, 100 percent, is her mind.
Mr. Anderson Lake made a good statement where he wonders if she were a real person
if he would feel more incensed at the abuse she suffers (pg. 184). This is a major example of the
boundaries between the natural and the modified. Anderson might of felt more angry towards her
sufferings, but since Emiko is genetically engineered, he doesnt have the same sympathy
towards her than other human beings. Anderson is seeing her more of a machine than a human.
Emiko has suffered so much and no one is feeling sorry for her. In chapter three, where she is
abused, the group of men are laughing at her and enjoying her suffering because she is not a
human. They think they just people with a toy. If she was a human than more people would
feel sorry for her.
At the end of chapter 21, she shows signs of human elements. Emiko is being chased by
the white shirts. She doesnt want to get caught by them so she decides to running away. While
she is running away, she is heating up and almost near to her own death but she has the will to
live. Even though she is heating up, she is still running with the help of adrenaline. When she is

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at her limit, she is in shock and shaking uncontrollably. Surprisingly, she keeps telling herself,
keep moving, keep moving. This shows that she has the will to live. She is going past her
limits in order to survive. Humans have been fantastic about going past their limits and are
always trying to survive. Many people have been told they couldnt this because of this, but
many people proved them wrong. Emiko showed that anything is possible if you try.
The environment in the windup girl can shape a person personality because how so hectic
it is there. For example, Hock Seng may be a horrible guy because of past he had to suffer. He
lost his family and a very successful business. When he lost it all, he would do anything to get it
back, even if he has to kill someone. If his family and business didnt disappeared then he
wouldnt have done this. Humans are made by nature and nurture, because we make our world as
well as our culture, we are all man made. Emiko is just more man made than the humans. In the
book, people are described in different ways even though they are all humans. For example,
Jaidee describes the Chaozhou Chinese to be smart because they have "woven themselves fully"
into society, whereas, the Malayan Chinese are people who "arrogantly held themselves apart"
(pg. 117). Each person is different from each other, and Emiko is no different. She is just a little
be more different than other people and almost like a normal human being. People are able to
create their own niche that different from other niche. Emiko just needs to from her own niche
where people can accept her for who she is.
Emiko can be more human than other humans. The books describes people in a way that
Emiko can be more human than them. For example, The Environmental Ministry sees yellow
card the same way it sees the other invasives species and plagues it manages (pg. 224). They see
Emiko to be a better human than the yellow cards because invasives species and plagues
damages the their surroundings. Emiko doesnt really hurt anybody. Yellow cards are being

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dehumanized from thailand and they are becoming more like animals. In page 135, a few
yellow cards shuffle the halls people screwing in the halls like animals, out in the open
because they have given up on privacy. These people feel more like animals than human. They
dont care about anything anymore and dont act like humans.