Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
Written by Philip K. Dick
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“Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?” is a post apocalyptic, dystopian, scifi, bounty hunter novel written by the great Philip K. Dick. It has inspired the scifi masterpiece “Blade Runner”, which is a very different story but almost alike. It was a Nebula Award nominee and a winner of the Locus Poll Award. It has inspired radio programs, theater productions and comic books. It is arguably the most influential novel relating to bio-robotics, ethics and climate issues written. “Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep?” is a masterpiece. I loved this book more than I loved the movie “Blade Runner” , which remains one of the top ten scifi films to date.

Do Androids Dream…? Amazon webpage

Do Androids Dream …? Goodreads webpage

The story takes place in the not-too-distant future from the time when the book was published, year 1992, on a world that has gone to pot from nuclear war and extreme environmental irresponsibility. Most animals, insects and vegetation types are mostly gone. People instead buy bio-robotic pets, because that´s all they can afford and real pets are a luxury and a status symbol. The stars are no longer visible at night because of the toxic atmosphere and people are encouraged to leave Earth and head to the colonies like Mars. The Earth is a place where the environmental problems are so severe nobody seems to look for any kind of solutions. In some ways I got the impression that humanity has resigned itself to extinction.

A slave race of people is created to do the worst jobs and absorb the impact of humanity´s mistakes. They are stronger, faster, smarter, better able to handle adversities of all kinds and despised by their creators. They also suffer from certain deficiencies like a shorter lifespan, of 4 years, and a lack of empathy that hinders self sacrifice, in their communities. Androids, also known as `andies´, `organic robots´ among other names, are routinely hunted down and killed when they try to escape their lot in life by police and bounty hunters. These bio-robotic people are made from organic material so similar to people only bone marrow tests can really confirm whether someone is an android or person. With lifespans of only 4 years they are made to serve people. Equally, with such short lifespans they are emotionally underdeveloped and can be found out with a special personality test that measures empathy. They live mostly on Mars under horrible conditions doing the worst most dangerous jobs. Many use drugs to cope with their terrible lives.

The main character is a bounty hunter named Rick Deckar who is hired to find and kill a group of androids with the model name of Nexus-6 that have fled Mars to Earth in hopes of finding a better life and finding a way to increase their lifespans of 4 only years. Rick has an electric sheep pet but wants the status of owning a real pet. His wife, Iran, seems to love him at times but is in many ways a basket case and I get the impression sometimes that they are together out of convenience rather than love. Rick is a man who knows his job and does it well. He has done it for a long time and eventually makes the record for the most Nexus-6 killed in a single day, which is sad as far as career or life achievements go. His job and the relationships in his life seem to have also made him cynical and a man ready to retire at the first chance he gets. He is a deeply cynical man who we see throughout the story undergo an internal transformation that has him not only want to leave his miserable profession but find love with an android.

The characters are all complicated from the cynical Rick to the desperate Rachael to the sadistic, overzealous Phil Resch. But the story really takes place at the end of a transformation Rick has undergone. If he was once a believer in what he does, by the end of the story his beliefs are in serious doubt thanks to his growing feelings for Rachael. If he was once zealous about his work, he is no longer. At the end of the story he stills thinks that androids, especially the newer models, are a threat to humanity but questions what he does.

It´s important to note that the company that creates androids, the Rosen Association, is feverishly trying to create robots that are indistinguishable from real people. Why is that? That will not make them more marketable and their job duties don´t require it. If the androids have plans to take their freedom they are certainly getting help from the Rosen Association. You can wonder if Eldon Rosen is not an android himself or have some very deeply hidden android sympathies.

There is a very interesting scene near the end of the novel where one of the remaining androids tortures a spider that they find. It is that act that seals their fate and is the reason John Isidore turns them in. Apparently, the androids have sociopathic tendencies. This is disturbing and points to a real problem with androids. If many of them lack empathy that is a big problem for their assimilation into human society, should that day ever come. I wondered if that was a case because the androids were properly nurtured during their short lives or if it was a fundamental mistake missed or ignored by their creators. If the new world, the new humanity, should ever be android what kind of a world will they build? The idea should be to build a better world than their predecessors, to outshine their cruel tormentors. Right? I mean it would be nice to know that our betters were also smart enough to build a society where respect for life and quality of life actually meant something. Right?

“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is a masterpiece for many reasons. You will ponder the enormous responsibility that comes with the creation of life in our image. How will such life be treated and nurtured? We cannot fool ourselves into thinking that the creation of such life is a solution to the problems of slavery or exploitation of each other either. The idea is to rid society of cruelty not transfer it onto other forms of life, especially life we have ourselves created.

Either way I assume of course that the androids replace us.

I highly recommend “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” because it is a classic and a masterpiece.

John Ink2Quill

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