Essay/Term paper: The terminal man

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Book Reports

The Terminal Man was about the

neuropsychiatric section of a hospital doing a breakthrough

surgery to help reverse the effects of psychomotor epilepsy.

The patient's name was Harry Benson. Harry had

psychomotor epilepsy because he hit his head in a car

accident and it resulted in brain damage. Harry was a good

subject for the operation because he was brilliant, being a

computer programmer with top level government security

clearance. The type of epilepsy that he had caused him to

black out for periods of time and during his blackouts he

would become extremely violent and when he woke up he

remembered nothing. The operation would envolve the

inserting of two electrodes into the brain along with a

microcomputer in his neck and a plutonium power pack

located under his shoulder near his armpit. Harry had his

operation soon after he was admitted to the hospital. The

operation took roughly three hours and in that time they

drilled into his head and inserted the electrodes. They also

put in the microcomputer and the power pack at this time.

After the operation was over Harry was heavily sedated and

put in a room. After the sedatives wore off Harry snuck into

a closet and stole an orderly's gown and left the hospital. He

was picked up by a lady named Angela Black, who Harry

killed when they got to her apartment. After the investigation

of the murder of Angela Black Dr. Ross went home to take

a shower. When Dr. Ross got out of the shower she found

Harry standing in her living room. The computer in Harry's

neck was somehow malfunctioning and shocking him every

few minuites. When the computer shocked him enough times

it would cause a siezure. After a few minuites of talking to

Dr. Ross, Harry had a siezure and attacked her. While

Harry was choking her she reached and turned on the

mircowave, which messed up the atomic power pack in his

shoulder and caused him to pass out. When all of the

doctors got back to the hospital they got a phone call from

Harry that came from inside the hospital. They soon figured

out that he was in the basement near the main computer. The

cops and Dr. Ross went down to the basement to find

Benson. When they found Harry he took off running so the

cop went after him. Dr. Ross went into the computer section

and found the main computer smashed. Suddenly Benson

came into the room and saw that Dr. Ross had his gun which

she had found near the computer. Harry asked for the gun

and Dr. Ross said no. Harry came up to her and tried to

take it and she shot him in the chest and he died. 3. One

personality trait in Harry is that he is smart and knows a lot

about computers. This effects the story line because he felt

that computers were taking over the world so he went and

smashed up the main computer at the hospital. 4. "I'm a

fallen man," Benson said. "I've succumbed." "To what?" "To

the process of being turned into a machine. Or a time

bomb." Harry is telling Dr. Ellis about how he thinks

machines are taking over the world. 5. I feel I am most like

Harry. I am like him in that we are both somewhat intrigued

by computers. I don't, however, share in his idea that

computers are concious and are trying to take over the

world. 6. The biggest surprise and dissappointment of this

book is when Harry died. I thought that he would live and

the doctors could fix the computer and Harry would be fine

but Dr. Ross shot him and he died. 7. One thing I would

change is harry dying. I would have had Harry live and get

the computer fixed so he would be alright. 8. My one

sentance moral would be not to take computers for granted.

I say this because they can easily have glitches and those

mistakes can be costly and even fatal. 9. Yes, because it

wasn't boring and it has a good story line that was exciting.