2001: A Space Odyssey: Chapter 28 Summary & Analysis

Bowman feels the atmosphere being sucked out of the ship. Wondering how such an accident is even possible, Bowman remembers the words of one of the ship’s designers: fail-safe systems are only foolproof against accidents and stupidity, not “deliberate malice.” Realizing he has only seconds before he loses consciousness, Bowman rushes to an emergency shelter. He makes it just in time, breathing in the shelter’s oxygen reserve. Putting on a spacesuit, he leaves the shelter and discovers the three sleeping crew members to be dead. Though he is cut off from Earth and there is not another human being for millions of miles, Bowman reflects that in a very “real sense” he is not alone.

Bowman makes his way to the room containing Hal’s essential circuitry. Inside are the logic banks of his brain and—to Bowman’s surprise—one of Hal’s fisheye lenses. Hal begins talking while Bowman contemplates the tricky operation ahead. Since Hal is so intertwined with the ship’s basic running, Bowman cannot simply turn him off; instead, he must deactivate Hal’s “higher centers” of thinking while preserving his fundamental functions. Hal becomes increasingly desperate as Bowman begins removing his logic banks, begging to him stop. Bowman finds himself surprisingly distraught; Hal is the “only conscious creature in [his] universe,” and he is killing him. Hal regresses into his infancy, his voice becoming increasingly robotic and unrecognizable. Bowman pulls the final memory bank.