Exit Strategy

As the protagonist and first-person narrator of the novella, the self-named Murderbot is a partly organic and partly mechanical Security Unit that has hacked its own governor module. Murderbot is a dynamic and round character whose journey of self-discovery forms the central arc of the narrative. Its characterization explores the tension between its programmed function as a killing machine and its developing consciousness, which craves autonomy and emotional connection, Defining Personhood Beyond Biology and Programming.

Murderbot’s primary character traits are its profound social anxiety and the self-imposed alienation it uses as a defense mechanism. When confronted with the need to shop for clothes, it experiences “an agonizing level of anxiety” (19), a state that underscores how even mundane human activities are fraught with emotional challenges. This anxiety is not a simple character quirk but a deep-seated fear of being controlled, misunderstood, or re-subjugated, rooted in its history as corporate property. It constantly retreats into the consumption of entertainment media, particularly the soapy serial The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, which serves as a buffer against the complexities of real-time human interaction.