Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author	Philip K. Dick
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science fiction novel
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	1968
Media type	print (hardcover & paperback)
Pages	210 pp
ISBN	0-345-40447-5
Followed by	Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick first published in 1968. The main plot follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter of androids, while the secondary plot follows John Isidore, a man of sub-normal intelligence who befriends some of the androids.

The novel is set in a post-apocalyptic near future, where the Earth and its populations have been damaged greatly by Nuclear War during World War Terminus. Most types of animals are endangered or extinct due to extreme radiation poisoning from the war. To own an animal is a sign of status, but what is emphasized more is the empathic emotions humans experience towards an animal.

Deckard, the protagonist, is faced with retiring six escaped Nexus-6 model androids, the latest and most advanced model. Because of this task, the novel explores the issue of what it is to be human. Unlike humans, the androids possess no empathic sense. By introducing organic and realistically humanoid androids in this novel, Dick asks what qualities, if any, are unique to or are able to define what is human and makes readers question their own humanity.

The book's plot served as the primary basis for the 1982 film Blade Runner.

The summer of 2009 will see the novel transplanted to the graphic novel form by BOOM! Studios.^[1]

[edit] Setting

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? takes place in 1992 (2021 in later editions), years after the radioactive fallout of World War Terminus destroyed most of Earth. The U.N. encourage emigration to off-world colonies, in hope of preserving the human race from the terminal effects of the fallout. One emigration incentive is giving each emigrant an “andy” — a servant android.

The remaining populace live in cluttered, decaying cities wherein radiation poisoning sickens them and damages their genes. All animals are endangered; owning and caring for one is a distinctively human empathic response, a civic virtue, and a social status symbol, per the animal's rarity. People who cannot afford a real animal buy an electric animal for the sake of social status. The protagonist, Rick Deckard, owned a sheep, but it died of tetanus, and he replaced it with an electric sheep, thus maintaining his illusion of animal ownership.

[edit] Androids

Androids are used only in the Martian colonies, yet many escape to Earth, fleeing the psychological isolation and chattel slavery; although organic and indistinguishable from humans, they are considered things. Police bounty hunters, such as Rick Deckard, hunt and “retire” (kill) fugitive androids passing for human. Afterwards, the killed android's bone marrow is tested to confirm it was not a human. Because of anatomic vagus nerve differences, an android can commit suicide by holding his or her breath. Androids live some four years, because they cannot reproduce most life-function cells.

Early androids were detectable, because of their limited intelligence. As androids were improved, bounty hunters had to apply an empathy test — the Voight-Kampff — to distinguish humans from androids, by measuring blushing, involuntary eye movement, and responses to emotional questions about harming animals. Because androids are unempathic, their responses are either absent or fake — measurably slower than a human's; the simpler Boneli Test measures the reflex-arc velocity in the spinal column's upper ganglia.

[edit] Plot summary

The novel follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter in the future San Francisco, through one day of his life as he tracks down renegade androids who have assumed human identities. The story explores the idea of human identity based on the quality of empathy—the only thing that distinguishes humans from their uncannily humanoid counterparts.

In the post-apocalyptic universe of the book, Earth has become polluted with toxic dust as a result of World War Terminus, forcing humans to emigrate to other planets such as Mars. As an incentive to leave Earth, humans are given androids as their slaves. However, as the androids become increasingly more intelligent and less discernable from humans, some decide to rise against their masters and attempt to live as humans. These androids must in turn be tracked down and “retired,” a euphemism for their lawful killing.

The society of Earth operates under a belief system called Mercerism, which is based on human empathy. In place of other religious implements, humans use “empathy boxes” to essentially program themselves to feel emotions. Since animal life is scarce due to the post-war fallout, humans keep animals not merely as pets, but as status symbols. However, since real animals are extremely expensive, many people resort to purchasing artificial animals to give the appearance of wealth and prosperity.

Deckard, an employee of the San Francisco police department, has been enlisted to retire a group a particularly dangerous androids that have recently escaped to Earth. As Deckard suffers from the unhappiness of a unfulfilling marriage, he is easily susceptible to the wiles of Rachel Rosen, a beautiful female android whom Deckard first believes to be human. She deceives Deckard into falling in love with her, and through his pursuit of the other androids, he becomes confused about humanity, morality, and empathy. He projects his human feelings onto the robots, infusing them with qualities they do not truly possess. This foolish kindness proves to be his downfall when Rachel reveals her true nature by killing Deckard’s black Nubian goat and admitting her plot to turn him against bounty hunting.

The story of J.R. Isidore parallels that of Deckard. Isidore has suffered brain damage as a result of the fallout dust, and cannot qualify to leave Earth because of his disability. He works as an artificial animal repairman. He lives alone and has little contact with other humans, using his empathy box frequently. When Pris Stratton moves into the building, Isidore, overcome with loneliness, attempts to befriend her. Pris, like Rachel, proves to be a runaway android that possess no human compassion. She cruelly mutilates the spider Isidore has found, forcing him to drown the animal in a desperate attempt to be humane.

Pris and Rachel, along with the other four androids, show no empathy for humans, animals, or even for one another. Deckard succeeds in retiring most of the androids, but after the murder of his goat, he decides to quit his job and in his hovercraft he travels to Oregon, an isolated desert where nothing is supposed to live. He finds a live toad, an animal thought to be extinct, and brings it home. Deckard’s wife discovers that the toad is in fact artificial, and orders some electric flies to feed to it.

[edit] Analysis

[edit] Technology

In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick explores a future society that is overly dependent on advanced technology. As a result, technology has become a dominant force as it is embedded in every aspect of life. Dick examines the negative impact of technology on human beings and, throughout this novel, he questions who possesses more human-like qualities: the humans, or the androids.^[2]

Throughout the novel, Dick portrays humans as more machine-like than the actual machines. Scholars, such as Ritch Calvin, have picked up on this notion and argue that “Dick was frequently concerned with the ways in which technology swayed beliefs and practices”.^[3] This statement is particularly demonstrated in the beginning when readers are introduced to the ‘mood organ’, a machine found in every home, which allows people to ‘dial’ an emotion. That is, they use this tool to set to the emotion of their choice. This exemplifies Dick’s idea that humans, in a sense, resemble machines more as they are capable to control their emotions by using an electronic device. That is, the technology of the mood organ evokes an emotional behaviour within the human as opposed to just feeling what naturally would come out of the situation: “the mood organ ‘dehumanizes’ because it separates experience and emotion, having them stand on their own instead of blurring together”.^[4]

The primary means of distinguishing humans from androids is that the androids lack the humans’ ability to feel the emotion of empathy, as Ryan Gillis states: “the problem of telling humans and androids apart is once again complicated by authentic humans who either do not possess the ability or refuse to act empathically”.^[5] This is demonstrated on several occasions throughout the novel, but particularly when Deckard seeks Luba Luft to retire her. Deckard questions Luft, trying to prove that she is an android, because she is careless of what happens to other androids; however, she retaliates to this statement and accuses him of being an android because, as a bounty hunter, he kills androids as though he is emotionless.^[6] That is, he is not displaying any form of empathy or guilt towards retiring these machines as Luft points out and thus, in a sense, could be categorized as an android.

As Gillis states, androids are “technological constructs that are not designed to react emotionally”;^[5] however, some androids do not follow this criterion. That is, some androids do exhibit the empathy, although they are not meant to. For instance, Rachael displays an empathic emotional response at the thought of Pris, her identical android replica, is next on Deckard’s retirement list.^[7] Therefore, the defining characteristic of androids — that is, they do not feel empathy — is contrasted. Dick is purposely emphasizing that androids embody human qualities and hence, they are capable of feeling emotions (such as empathy). This further supports the notion that androids’ behaviour resembles that of humans, while humans — with their lack of empathy — are more like machines.

Calvin states that there is an increasing concern in the novel expressing the negative effects of technology upon society.^[8] In a sense, it seems as if technology is a tool that eliminates the characteristics that define humans as humans. In the novel, the capability to feel emotions (such as empathy) is what identifies a human apart from the androids. However, in this futuristic setting, technology has made it possible to allow humans to manipulate with their emotions, causing a separation. What is meant by separation is if these characters ‘dial’ their emotions, the experiences surrounding them do not matter as their emotion is already ‘set’ and hence, the individuals are machine-like and no longer naturally responsive. Overall, Dick is emphasizing that as society becomes increasingly dependent on technology, it will become more like the machines it relies on. It is as Calvin states: “the mechanical or technological beings serve as Dick’s primary metaphor for the loss of humanity”.^[9]

[edit] Psychology

People cope with existential angst using a fictional device called a “Penfield Mood Organ” (reference to neurologist Wilder Penfield), to induce feeling by availing the user of a selection of moods, for example "awareness of the manifold possibilities of the future", the "desire to watch television, no matter what's on it"; the "pleased acknowledgement of husband's superior wisdom in all matters", and the "desire to dial" (each mood has a unique number which must be dialed in to the device). Users schedule their moods — even a depression — which contradicts the mood organ's cheerful purpose.

[edit] Religion

Mercerism is a prominent religious/philosophical movement on Earth. The movement is based on the legend of Wilbur Mercer, a man who lived before the war. Adherents of Mercerism grip the handles of an electrically powered empathy box, while viewing a monitor which displays patterns that are meaningless until the handles are gripped. After a short interval the user's senses are transported to the world of Wilbur Mercer, where they inhabit his mind in an experience shared with any other people using an empathy box at that moment.

Mercerism blends the concept of a life-death-rebirth deity with the values of unity and empathy. According to legend, Mercer had the power to revive dead animals, but local officials used radioactive cobalt to nullify the part of his brain where the ability originated. This forced Mercer into the "tomb world." He strives to reverse the decay of the tomb world and ascend back to Earth by climbing an enormous hill. His adversaries throw rocks at him along the way (inflicting actual physical injuries on the adherents "fused" with Mercer), until he reaches the top, when the cycle starts again, much like the plight of Sisyphus.

Mercer's tomb world is likely a reference to Swiss psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger and his account of Ellen West's personal experiences of anorexia nervosa in which she conceives of the material world as being like a tomb world.^[10]

[edit] Entertainment

The Earth's most significant cultural icon, Buster Friendly, is a jovial talk show host whose simultaneous radio and television programs are broadcast 23 hours daily. Roy Baty identifies him as an android. Buster Friendly ideologically competes with Mercerism, openly attacking it in his programs.

[edit] Adaptations

[edit] Film

In 1982, Hampton Fancher and David Peoples' loose cinematic adaptation became the film Blade Runner. The international success of Blade Runner^[11] helped bring Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and its author into the public eye. For that reason, after 1982 some editions of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? were branded with the title Blade Runner.

[edit] Stage

In 2009, the book will be adapted as a stage play titled Łowca Androidów (Polish: Android Hunter, also the Polish title of the movie Blade Runner) by Polish director Grzegorz Wiśniewski. The play will premiere in June 2009 in Teatr Wybrzeże in Gdańsk.^[12]

[edit] Audiobook

The novel has been released in audiobook form at least twice. A version was released in 1994 that featured actors such as Matthew Modine and Callista Flockhart. It was an abridged version running approximately three hours over two audio cassettess.^[13]

A new audiobook version was released in 2007 to coincide with the release of Blade Runner: The Final Cut. This version, read by Scott Brick, is unabridged and runs approximately 9.5 hours over eight CDs. This version is a tie-in, using the Blade Runner: The Final Cut film poster and Blade Runner title.^[14]

[edit] Comic book

In 1982 Marvel Comics did an adaptation of the film called A Marvel Comics Super Special: Blade Runner. It was written by Archie Goodwin with art by Al Williamson and Ralph Reese.

Beginning in 2009, BOOM! Studios will publish a 24-issue comic book limited series adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.^[1]

[edit] Sequels

Three novels intended to serve as sequels to both Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Blade Runner have been published: Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human (1995), Blade Runner 3: Replicant Night (1996), Blade Runner 4: Eye and Talon (2000). The official and authorized novels were written by Philip K. Dick's friend, K. W. Jeter. They continue the story of Rick Deckard and attempt to resolve many of the differences between the novel and the film.

[edit] Awards

• 1968 - Nominated to Nebula Award, Novel
• 1998 - Locus Poll Award, All-Time Best SF Novel before 1990 (Place: 51)

[edit] Notes and references

• Dick, Philip K. (1968). Do androids dream of electric sheep? New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. ISBN 0-345-40447-5. First published in Phillip K. Dick: Electric Shepherd, Norstrilla Press.
  Zelazny, Roger (1975). "Introduction"
• Scott, Ridley (1982). Blade Runner. Warner Brothers.
• The Electric Sheep screensaver software is an homage to Do Androids dream of electric sheep?.

[edit] Criticism

• Benesch, Klaus. "Technology, Art, and the Cybernetic Body: The Cyborg As Cultural Other in Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", Amerikastudien/AmericanStudies, 44:3, 1999, pp. 379–92.
• Butler, Andrew M. "Reality versus Transience: An Examination of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner", Philip K. Dick: A Celebration [Programme Book], Merrifield, Jeff (ed.) Epping Forest College, Loughton: Connections, 1991.
• Gallo, Domenico. “Avvampando gli angeli caddero: Blade Runner, Philip K. Dick e il cyberpunk”, Lo sguardo degli angeli: Intorno e oltre Blade Runner, Bertetti and Scolari (eds.), Torino: Testo & Immagine, 2002, pp. 206–18.
• Galvan, Jill. "Entering the Posthuman Collective in Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Science-Fiction Studies # 73, 24:3, 1997, pp. 413–29.

[edit] Further reading

• Biorobotics
• Notes on Novels: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?: Detailed literary analysis and criticism.
• From Science Fiction to Postmodernism in Three Novels of Philip K. Dick
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? at the Internet Book List
• Complete publication history and cover gallery
• (Italian) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?