Esto

1)

The characters of Kuno and Vashti are quite different, not only physically, but also because of their attitudes to the Machine.

As for the physical aspect, on the one hand, Kuno isstrong, healthy and muscular. His strength is due to his concern about training his body (“and so I exercised my arms, day after day I went through ridiculous movements, until my flesh ached and I couldhang by my hands…”p.146) as he is aware that having at hand all those things they need makes people become weaker, for they don’t have to move nor make any kind of muscular effort to get what theywant.
This, coupled with his intelligence, curiosity and disbelief, made him a threat to the machine (“His was not a type that the Machine desired to hand on.” p.145).

On the other hand, Vashtidistinctly contrasts with her son. As the writer describes her, she is first noticed as a “lump of flesh” (p.126), and then as a woman.
With this, the narrator’s intention is to portray Vashti asa sedentary person, who has remained moveless through all her life and has, consequently, lost her characteristic human shape.
Her entire life takes place inside her cell, for she has everythingshe needs around her.

Regarding the attitudes of both characters to the Machine, the writer fully shows how different Kuno’s and Vashti’s postures are.

While Kuno realizes that the Machine isa human invention which should not have any kind of power over society (“Men made it, do not forget that… the Machine is much but it is not everything.” p.128), his mother shows a strong devotionto it (“how we have advanced thanks to the machine!”) and to The Book, which she seems to worship and consider a bible (“Thrice she kissed it, thrice inclined her head, thrice she felt the deliriumof acquiescence.” p.132)
However, she tries to deny this admiration since religions and beliefs are seen as obsolete (“I worship nothing! I am most advanced … there’s no such thing as religion...