Cacique-Bojra, Dehumanizing the Human.

Dehumanizing the Human.

The essay, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner written by Michael Heilemann

argues that one of the central themes of the book is “that of dehumanization.” (p.11) Heilemann

describes dehumanization as characters lacking empathy and only acquiring it through a third party

such as the empathy boxes and/or the Penfield Mood Organ. What Heilemann does not appear to

realize is that there is not one sole factor in the composition of a human. While empathy can be one

of those factors, there are still other complex factors that make us human. There is no one word

answer or a definite set of words that is universally agreed to mean human.  

The central point of the novel is exactly the opposite of what Heilemann argues. The book questions

humanity and what makes humanity. When Rick encounters the Toad and becomes excited for the

new life that he is responsible for, he thinks he has found something that has also risen from the

ashes, a living being who shares his journey. Thus he is deeply sadden when Iran tells him that it is

electric. Resigned, Rick replies “The electric things have their lives, too” (pg. 96) ch.22 displaying a

characteristic that an android would be unable to come to means with. The resignation of Rick that

electric beings, are in a way similar to humans is a human thought. It is a human thought because a

mechanical thought process machine would not be able to twist their thoughts to come up with a

mushed conclusion that humans and androids are the same but uniquely different at the same time.

Another example of humanization was Lubba Luft description of humans as “a superior life

form” (p.53) who she strove to be through her mannerisms. She thought humans had a sort of

connection with each other that was impossible to duplicate in the androids. These thoughts can be

categorized as segregation between the races, a unique human characteristic not displayed in any of

the other beings that we share the world with. Lubba’s belief that humans were a superior life form,

gave rise to she herself being a human. Lubba is just another human who fell into the claws of a

social construct that dictates that humans are better than androids.

Philip K. Dick wrote the book not to divide and create disparity in humanity but to question what we

 take for granted, what it is to be human. In the paragraph, Heilemann mentions that most of the

characters, both human and androids alike are “programmable insensitive shell(s)” but what if that is

what humans are. Humans are so self-absorbed with the concept of themselves that they compare

everything relative to them without realizing that variations can also be part of the central figure.

Works Cited

Philip K. Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? New York: Ballantine, 1996. Print.

Michael Heilemann. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner.

Munoz: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

“On the surface, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is about Rick Deckard, his sad life, his hunt for the androids and how he in the end succeeds in finishing his assignment despite the problems he meets underway. Underneath it however larger questions of lost humanity and the individuals perception of reality lurks.” (Heilmann 12)

            Philip K. Dick brings into question a lot of things, one of the most important follows what is reality and how sure can we identify it. Rick Deckard is a dynamic character that learns from his actions and those around him. Yes Rick Deckard can be very challenging and has had his ups and downs but I wouldn’t say it’s a sad life, which he has lived. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is so much more than a bounty hunter, “and how he in the end succeeds in finishing his assignment despite the problems he meets underway”(Heilmann 12) This is just one part of the story an event but not what the story is about. For one, Mercerism plays a bigger role in guiding Rick and his endeavors telling him what is wrong and what is acceptable. The image of social control by either Buster Friendly or Mercer which fight each other to gain control over earth. Thus we come to understand individually each ideological belief, where Buster Friendly is all about commercialism and the promotion of a better life. Mercer gives a sense of collectivism by sharing and connecting with the emotions of all the other humans that used the empathy box.  “Roy and Irmgrad Baty. If they’re dead, then it really don’t matter. They’re my best friends. Why the hell don’t I hear from them, I wonder? She cursed angrily” (Dick 149) Pris one of the Nexus-6 that are being hunted down is not only expressing emotions but as well is telling how this escaping from mars was all for living a better life. “Androids are in other words treated like a piece of property no better than the slaves once brought up from Africa to serve the same purpose in the white mans lands” (Heilmann 10) Dick gives many themes and the purpose of this book is trying to grasp life and showing that everyone wants to live and it doesn’t matter if your a regular, special, or android we all seek the same thing.

            Dick gave a lot of freedom into what the real message of the book was, it gave a wide range of unresolved questions that makes it so intriguing into reading. My two main conclusion of what this book is about is how Rick Deckard realized that there are still people that are human such as Isidore that praises life organic or mechanical, and the most empathetic and human character, which isn’t talked about much, is Iran. Thus also showing the dark side such as Phil Resch, “The beam missed its mark but, as Resch lowered it, burrowed a narrow hole, silently, into her stomach.”(Dick 134) Finally the other conclusion I have is the idea of how reality is something that humans have created to create categories and social classes to feel superior to those who aren’t considered human, which can be perceived in history, such as: slavery, against the American Indians, in religion such as the Crusaders where they could kill Muslims or any other religion who were going against Christianity. I guess it all comes down to how obscure reality is, and how it cannot be defined by one person or society rather it shouldn’t even exist because its creating unbalance instead of a way that everyone could live together in peace. In the book if there wouldn’t be any persecutions against the Androids then there will be no violence considering that they want to just blend and live a “Human” life. They aren’t good or bad they just want to feel and live, and they only have a life span of four years.

Works Cited

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? New York: Ballantine, 1996. Print.

Heilemann, Michael. “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner”. 2001. Web. 13

Mar 2014.

Kunzig – Androids

In the Deckard and Isidore – The Humane Humans section of the essay, Michael Heilemann states that Isidore "is the only human in Do Androids who shows any interest or emotion towards his fellow humans" (9). But there are multiple scenes in the novel that disprove this statement.
From the beginning of the book, in the first chapter, we see humans expressing feelings to each other. Rick Deckard and his wife Iran are arguing from the moment they woke up that morning. "'You're worse,' his wife said, her eyes still shut. 'You're a murderer hired by the cops'" (Dick 1), Iran tells Rick, obviously trying to anger him. Rick's "irritability had risen, now; it had become outright hostility" (Dick 1). These emotions may not be positive ones, but all the same they are emotions; the argument proves that they both still care enough to fight, and that Iran does not have a "lack of emotions towards other people" (Heilemann 6).
There are many other instances throughout the novel that show that humans still care for each other, still have feelings towards each other, still have empathy. But I found the most obvious, important one to be at the end of the book, in the 21st chapter. Rick has flown off on his own to the wasteland that is Oregon, and has been gone for a day, without telling anyone. When he phones his secretary, she immediately says "'Oh, and  Mr. Deckard; your wife phoned. She wants to know if you're all right. Are you all right?'" (Dick 133). This quote alone is evidence of two people who care about Rick Deckard, who show interest towards him: his wife and his secretary. They both want to know if he is okay. And throughout the conversation, Deckard's secretary insists that he "'call [his] wife right away, Mr. Deckard, because she's terribly, terribly worried. I could tell. You're both in dreadful shape" (Dick 133). She wants him to call his wife, because she could tell how worried she was, and it matters, she feels for her. If this isn't empathy, I don't know what is.
But just in case I have one more empathy scene. When Rick finally gets back home with the toad, and Iran discovers it is fake, she notices his disappointment. "'Maybe I shouldn't have told you – about it being electrical.' She put her hand out, touched his arm; she felt guilty, seeing the effect it had on him, the change" (Dick 137); she is obviously feeling empathy for her husband, and doesn't need the empathy box for that.
These last two quotes disprove Heilemann's statement that a "lack of empathy in-between mankind is well exemplified by Rick and Iran" (5).

Works Cited

Dick, Philip. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Doubleplay, 1968. Print.

Heilemann, Michael. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner. PDF

Jordan-Electric Sheep

         Michael Heilemann’s essay  Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner is an analysis on Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.  In my opinion, Heilemann’s point of view is very distorted in what he believes about the novel. In the early stages of his paper, Heilmann states “. . .reality is that androids are the enemy of society and the feelings are something you get through Mercer and the organ, not something that spontaneously arise, and especially not toward androids (Heilemann 7).”  Dick did not create a that shows the world in which feelings come from an object that is independent of human or simply out of their control. He did not create a world full of humans who had drastically lost the empathy that is present in most humans. The devices such as the mood organ or the empathy box do not create emotions for humans, they simply alter the emotion that are already present. A human’s ability to gives them a unique difference from an android because an android cannot exhibit feeling naturally.  
 
       Mercerism is the main religion present in the novel and it is very similar to many modern day religions but more so Christianity. Dick uses this religion as a way to show the other side to of what Buster Friendly is spewing across the media. I believe Mercerism is not meant to devote people to  sheepish contemptment but to help them find their humanity that has been lost. Empathy is the universal measurement, compared between humans and an android's lack thereof.  Through reassurance and communal compassion, the followers of Mercer are kept in touch with their overly passionate human natures. The Nexus-6, superior versions of androids, are constantly being released, gaining ground in crossing the barrier that separates. This is even exemplified by the fact that some humans, do not feel empathy or have a seriously underdeveloped feeling of empathy. Luba Luft criticises Resch openly for his android-like coldness, actively believing he is one. After being given the book of Edvard Munch prints by Deckard, Luft says of Resch “It wouldn’t have occurred to him; as he said, never in a million years.” (Dick 133) The androids are ever so close to crossing the line that makes them indistinguishable from humans. Emotion-like-actions are now prevalent and that is only one small step away from feeling the real thing.
   
       On page 142 of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Rick , while conversing back and forth with Phil Resch, “I’m capable of feeling empathy for at least specific, certain androids (Dick 142).”  This claim by Deckard illustrates a logistical flaw in Michael Heilemann’s belief that “. . .feelings are something you get through Mercer. . . (Heilemann 7).”  Rick is not feeling emotions here due to Mercer and the effects of the empathy box, this is his real and honest human emotions. The empathy that is spread through Mercerism cannot be experienced by Androids, after reading the page 30 quote, “An android, no matter how gifted as to pure intellectual capacity, could make no sense out of the fusion which took place routinely among the followers of Mercerism. . . (Dick 30).”  Empathy is something that is shown by the followers of Mercer but he does not give them empathy because for the majority amount of people empathy, no matter how much or little is present.

Works Cited

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? New York: Ballantine,
            1996. Print.


Heilemann, Michael. “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner”. 2001. Blackboard. Web. 13 Mar 2014.