The Walking Purgatory of Desire
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Graves probes Data about pain, desire, and other primal feelings, rattling off emotions and directly asking if Data knows 'desire,' shifting the conversation from metaphor to a pointed examination of Data's experiential lack.
Data admits he will likely never truly know desire, answering with near-sadness; Graves seizes the moment to pity Data, calling his state a 'walking purgatory' and crystallizing the moral and existential gulf between them.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Bittersweet contemplation masking desperation
Graves attends to a computer terminal while whistling, probing Data's understanding of human emotions with melancholic intensity. He reflects on the irony of mortality and artificial existence.
- • To expose Data's emotional limitations and deepen his existential crisis
- • To assert his intellectual superiority and moral ambiguity
- • Existence without emotional depth is a form of purgatory
- • Human mortality gives life meaning, even in suffering
Thoughtful with undertones of sadness
Data engages with Graves' written material before being drawn into a profound conversation about human emotions. He admits his inability to understand desire, revealing vulnerability.
- • To comprehend human emotions through Graves' philosophical interrogation
- • To reconcile his artificial nature with human experiences
- • Understanding emotion is key to approaching humanity
- • His limitations are inherent to his artificial existence
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Graves whistles 'If I Only Had A Heart' as a melancholic accompaniment to their conversation. The song's lyrics about yearning for emotional capacity mirror Data's quest for humanity, adding layers of irony and pathos.
Graves' written materials serve as physical manifestations of his intellectual legacy and existential angst. Data interacts with them at superhuman speed, underscoring the contrast between Graves' mortality and Data's artificial cognition.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Graves' laboratory provides a claustrophobic arena for this existential confrontation. The sterile precision of the space underscores the thematic tension between Graves' organic deterioration and Data's artificial stillness.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Graves quietly whistles 'If I Only Had A Heart' while Data studies his work (intimate, symbolic bonding); later Data behaves cryptically and programs Graves-triggered holodeck behavior—the earlier musical/moment motif prefigures Data's becoming a living conduit for Graves' persona."
"Graves quietly whistles 'If I Only Had A Heart' while Data studies his work (intimate, symbolic bonding); later Data behaves cryptically and programs Graves-triggered holodeck behavior—the earlier musical/moment motif prefigures Data's becoming a living conduit for Graves' persona."
"Graves' metaphoric identification with mechanical longing ('If I Only Had A Heart' and 'We're much alike') resonates with Data's philosophical detachment when Picard asks if Graves' death unsettles him—both beats explore mortality, identity, and the blurred human/machine line."
"Graves' metaphoric identification with mechanical longing ('If I Only Had A Heart' and 'We're much alike') resonates with Data's philosophical detachment when Picard asks if Graves' death unsettles him—both beats explore mortality, identity, and the blurred human/machine line."
"Graves' metaphoric identification with mechanical longing ('If I Only Had A Heart' and 'We're much alike') resonates with Data's philosophical detachment when Picard asks if Graves' death unsettles him—both beats explore mortality, identity, and the blurred human/machine line."
"Graves' metaphoric identification with mechanical longing ('If I Only Had A Heart' and 'We're much alike') resonates with Data's philosophical detachment when Picard asks if Graves' death unsettles him—both beats explore mortality, identity, and the blurred human/machine line."
Key Dialogue
"GRAVES: "Pain... Lust... envy... pleasure... desire. Do you know what desire is, Data?""
"DATA: "No... I do not suppose I will ever know what it really is.""
"GRAVES: "I feel pity for you. Your existence is a kind of walking purgatory -- neither dead nor alive, never really feeling anything. Just existing. Just existing.""