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.