Between Man and Slave: BioShock’s Critique of the Great Chain

Introduction: The Icarus Complex and the Digital Frontier

When a discussion on what the future may hold arises, surgical modification, mechanical augmentation, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, and gene splicing inevitably become focal points. Humans have been obsessed with transcending their physical forms and becoming transhuman since the dawn of ancient civilization. This drive—the desire to escape the limitations of the biological substrate—is best exemplified by the story of Icarus, who fashioned wings of beeswax and feathers to conquer the sky. In the modern era, this “Icarus Complex” has found a home in literature and interactive media, ranging from the scientific romances of H.G. Wells¹ to the gritty, high-tech futures of William Gibson’s Neuromancer².

With the advent of computer games, storytelling has moved beyond the passive observation of these myths and into a realm of interactivity. This interactivity has inspired many games that take place in the future or within utopian and dystopian milieu³. Of these, BioShock is a significant foray into the genre, presenting multiple overlapping technological themes. It is not just the presentation of futuristic technologies that makes the game compelling, but the complex philosophical and ideological narratives that run through them. The game engages players in a vast array of choices, where the ramifications of those choices impact how the world and its characters perceive the player. This demonstrates the shift in cultural and power balances based on what is prioritized—be it power or empathy, retribution or forgiveness.

Thesis: The Paradox of Posthuman Agency

The central irony of BioShock lies in its subversion of individualist agency. As a posthuman, will the player choose to hang onto elements of humanity or relinquish that part of themselves?. As Lars Schmeink states, “The autonomy of the self, the questions of agency and free will, are turning into the battlegrounds for the human-posthuman predicament⁴ .” BioShock places the player in the middle of this conflict, forcing them to confront these questions and then act upon them, and again, live with the consequences.

While you will potentially end the game more powerful as an individual, it may be a fitting end for a player who is perceived as a monster. Conversely, if a player chooses a more humane and empathetic approach, some NPCs may be helpful and lend a hand throughout the game. The game asks its audience to consider the risks of excessive power wielded by corporations, the role of technology in our lives, and, ultimately, what it means to be human⁷. As Andrew Ryan repeats multiple times throughout the game, “a man chooses, but a slave obeys .” This discourse suggests that being human is possibly more about what humans can maintain of their humanity rather than what modifications they make to their bodies. The material aspect of existence is not as crucial as decisions and actions.

The Market of the Flesh: DNA Manipulation and CRISPR

One form of transhumanism in the game occurs from gene splicing⁹. While much of the promise of gene splicing has not yet been realized, it has begun to occur in medical technology. An excellent example is CRISPR, a technology that may be used to modify living organisms at their most fundamental level. By introducing modifications to DNA, one may change how living organisms react to their environment and internal stimuli. CRISPR Therapeutics has already released its first treatment, CRISPR/Cas9, based on gene splicing¹⁰.

However, the unregulated nature of this technology in the game serves as a warning. If the market determines costs, will one find themselves taking out a mortgage on their home for an extra fifty years of life?. Will the less affluent resort to illegal activities to obtain the money necessary to expand their lifespan?. Would a person be willing to steal and sell a baby to obtain the funds to live additional years?. This question is at the heart of BioShock, where the player is faced with the option of killing a little girl to harvest maximum ADAM or taking a much-reduced amount and risking weakness¹¹. This raises questions about how these scenarios play out in a market where businesses charge what the market will bear. Currently, the future of gene splicing appears unregulated, much like in Rapture¹². An unregulated market for genetic modification indicates that humans will be left to make choices for themselves, for better or worse.

Cybernetics and the “Will You Kindly” Conditioning

Cybernetics in BioShock allows humans to be modified by large corporations. The most glaring example is the Big Daddy—men modified to act as bodyguards for the Little Sisters. Outfitted with a protective suit and a giant drill, they exude a pungent smell that attracts little sisters and repels humans. The player’s character, Jack, is likewise a product of this cybernetic dystopia, grown in a lab as a clone of Andrew Ryan.

Yet, the most dystopian part of the game is the mental modification. By placing a “limiter” on the mind, the creators of Rapture forced the player to follow commands without fail if they contained the words “will you kindly”. This suggests that human beings might be manufactured and controlled as the perfect enslaved people. If transhumanism is treated as a drug, it creates the ultimate addicts. People will seek to self-modify for physical capability, but the insertion of Pavlovian programming could turn that desire into permanent slavery. The player seems to be in control until the conditioning and false memories are revealed, proving that even the choice of harvesting is an illusion¹³.

Artificial Intelligence and the Ethics of Survival

Throughout Rapture, automated security systems such as flying robots and stationary turrets enforce a lawless order. The game also presents self-service kiosks that allow for the purchase of supplies, yet hacking these kiosks is encouraged¹⁴. In our world, hacking is a crime that usually lands someone in jail, but in the underwater city, the dividends of theft are high. Though AI is not the focal point, the game points to the idea that in a highly automated world, hacking and theft will become tools of survival.

Conclusion: The Persistence of the Human

The city of Rapture presents the player with the promise of Atlantis—a paradise superior in technology and ideology¹⁵. Instead, it is a place of unmistakable terror and violence¹⁶. With its lack of regulation, it is the perfect backdrop to explore the ramifications of technology. It asks questions about the exploitation of workers¹⁷ and the genetic manipulation of children¹⁸. This assumption of progress forgets the long history of anthropocentric oppression of the “other “¹⁹.

At the start of the game, Jack is at his least modified but possesses the least humanity because he has no freedom of choice. Only when he is fully modified and finally breaks his conditioning does he possess his humanity. This sends a message: humanity is not tied to the physical body. One can be a “monster” without any enhancement, as seen in the greed of Andrew Ryan and Fontaine. Ultimately, BioShock suggests that if we can hold onto empathy and social awareness, technology will not take away our humanity. As Ryan stated, “a man chooses and a slave obeys²⁰ “; the true human is the one who chooses to remain so despite the weight of the “Great Chain.”

Link to footnotes and bibliography