Usually I am not one to read science fiction, but on this occasion I am extremely glad I did.  Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick is a story about the future of Earth, where most of the humans have gone to live on colony planets and what remains of our 3rd rock from the sun is nothing but the radioactive dust and scorched sky, presumably from some sort of nuclear fallout. However, Earth is not completely devoid of life: humans still inhabit the planet, forming two distinct groups: People who have stayed behind by choice/for work, and those known as “specials,” rather people who were affected by the fallout and therefore not allowed to immigrate to one of the space colonies.  Here we join Rick Deckard, a human who has stayed behind on Earth to fulfill his role as a bounty hunter, charged with the duty of finding and “retiring” (read: killing) a group of androids who had escaped o their servitude on the Mars colony and reached Earth.

While the book is, at face value, the tale of 24 hours in the life of a bounty hunter, it’s resonance is on par with other similarly themed books about a dystopian future society and the long string of moral and philosophical questions that tend to follow, such as 1984 by George Orwell, or Anthem by Ayn Rand.  In this future Earth, androids have been made for the servitude of mankind, and made so much in our likeness that they are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing… all except for one thing: empathy.  This key difference between ourselves and androids is what forms the primary theme of the novel, and the ultimate question: what is it exactly that makes us human? If you create a machine that’s very components are organic, so much so that it can sweat, bleed, eat and sleep; and whose “brain” is capable of logical, intelligent thought, where do you then draw the distinction between man and machine? Have you then created the very essence of what makes us human?

According to the author, no.  Androids in the novel are incapable of the very basic human emotion of empathy, which is used as the definition of what truly makes us human, not only in separation from these fictional androids but also from other species on this planet as well.   Quite brilliantly done, each of the characters encountered in the novel are shaded with just enough ambiguity that we question as to whether or not they are human or android.   Phil Resch, another bounty hunter who joins forces with Rick for a brief time, is shown to have no remorse in retiring androids.  In an almost sociopathic glee, he cuts down opera singer and android Luba Luft, much to Rick’s surprise and leaving both Rick and us as the reader questioning the character of Resch, despite the interludes in which he describes his love and feelings for his pet squirrel.  In the end, Rick administers an empathy test used to distinguish human from android to Phil, and he tests as human.  It is at this point in the novel we find Rick questioning his own motives: why retire Luba Luft? Android or not, Luft is an opera singer, posing no threat to society.

The character Rick himself is quite ambiguous as well, and it’s never revealed whether or not he is an android.  In my personal beliefs, he is human, however there is a lot of evidence to the contrary.  As example, when he buys a goat for himself and his wife, his wife immediately fails in love with the goat and expresses that, whereas Rick does not.  In addition, when the goat dies, he is also quite emotionless.   In another instance, he uses Rachel, an android, for sex, showing no regard to his wife or remorse for the action.  However, I believe it’s in his empathy for these androids that makes him truly human, despite some obvious flaws.  Philip K Dick shows us both androids who show human emotion, in the case of what the android Rachel feels for her look-alike model, whom Rick must retire, and also humans who show sociopathic tendencies which, incidentally, sociopaths also lack the ability to empathize.

Another theme in the novel is the sanctity of life.  Animals have mostly been wiped off the Earth. However, those that are left are tended to in an almost religious fashion by the people who own them.  According to the newfound religion posed in the novel, Mercerism (which sounds alot like scientology) states that it is everyone’s duty to have and care for an animal, as they are sacred in their near extinction.  If you cannot afford to buy your own animal, you can buy an electric imitation creature for a fraction of the price, and no one can tell the difference.  This is the predicament Rick finds himself in which drives him to collect bounty, to buy a goat, which in turn replaces his electric sheep.   Essentially, Animals are both sacred and status symbols.  In this theme, the book poses and interesting conundrum that, while in the future animals are sacred due to their scarcity, animals in today’s world are treated much like the future androids: below us and disposable.

Religion is also prevalent in the novel through a future sect called Mercerism, which is a concept of death-rebirth combined with the unity of mankind as being apart of a singular entity.  Followers of Mercer use Empathy Boxes in their homes, which are screens with two handles you hold to “connect with Mercer.”  Mercer is an old man who is depicted as constantly climbing a hill while being pelted with rocks.  It is he who has deemed animals as sacred, and that our duty should be to care for those left remaining.  In the end, the androids expose Mercer as a fake on a Hollywood soundstage, which is broadcasted to everyone left on Earth, but what amazes the androids is that the revelation didn’t really effect the beliefs of the people.  This is where the major flaw in the android is shown most clearly in their inability to not only connect with Mercer via the Empathy Box, but also their inability to understand the human desire that burns to believe in something greater than ourselves.  It goes without saying it’s a direct mirror to the constant debate between religion and science in today’s society.

This book is a must read, it works on so many different levels as an analysis of the human condition, a look into who we are and what makes us that way, and a haunting glimpse of the negative effects of technology.

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