The novel Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick is set in a futuristic era in which the Earth is almost destroyed by a nuclear explosion war and many migrated to Mars as their new home. One of the new inventions presented in this novel is the creation of androids with very sophisticated programming that makes them almost identical to humans. The protagonist of the story, Rick Deckard, is a bounty hunter whose goal is to "retire" dangerous androids. As we see throughout the novel, all events take place over a 24-hour period in which Rick undergoes major changes in his attitude and perspective towards androids and electrical objects. Because humans live in a new environment, it is difficult for them to face the daily reality that things will never be the same for them after the war. As for Rick, he's dealing with internal conflicts because he starts to question what's right and what's wrong in terms of what he's doing in his life. As the story progresses, we see Rick Deckard reflect on the ethics of his work while at the same time displaying a growing sense of empathy for androids. However, Rick manages to change his attitude towards his life in just one day. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The story begins with Rick and his wife Iran arguing due to the conflicting opinions each of them has towards Rick's work. While Rick is indifferent to the idea of retiring the “andies,” Iran clearly shows us that what Rick is doing is wrong and unethical. When she tells Rick, "You're worse... You're a police-hired killer," Rick becomes irritated and threatens to use a thalamic suppressant that would irritate him enough to win the argument (4). Then Iran steps in with an even greater threat when it tells him, “If you compose…for greater poison, then I will do the same. I will do my best and you will see such a fight that will make every discussion we have had so far seem null" (4). This shows how much Iran despises Rick's work because they are willing to fight for what they believe is right even if Rick won't change. This causes Rick to feel isolated from his relationship with Ira and lose empathy towards him just to get a real animal. The reason Rick does this job is to get money to buy a real animal because it represents status in that society. In a world where most animals have become extinct, owning a real one means everything and is extremely rare. For this reason, in this society, electric animals are considered inferior and devalued. As Rick tells us, “The electric animal, on reflection, could be considered a sub-form of the other, a far inferior kind of robot. Or, conversely, the android could be considered a highly developed and evolved version of the animal surrogate. Both points of view repelled him” and this shows that he has no empathy for androids, electric animals and his wife (42). Ironically, Rick is punishing the androids for their lack of empathy, but he is a hypocrite because for the first part of the novel he shows no emotion towards anything close to his life. Rick defines the characteristics of being human in this part of the story because as humans we all lack emotion for certain things and we can also be hypocrites. This seems to be Rick's mistake which is understandable given the times he lives in. As Rick is about to start retiring (killing) androids, he becomes very happy and optimistic because he will soon accumulateenough capital to get the real animal he wants. But what if Rick uses retired androids for money as an excuse to fuel his personality of being heartless towards non-living things, and he actually likes that? In this case Rick is doing things for his own personal gain and doesn't show any form of empathy for the androids just so he can get what he wants. The reason he is committing these violent acts is because he will quickly get the money he needs and believes he is a good bounty hunter, for the time being. As we are told at the end of chapter 8, “[Rick's] spirit lit up with optimism. And in hungry and joyful anticipation” because he was ready to start collecting the androids. This means that Rick is still a self-centered man who is not bothered by the withdrawal of the androids and does not see their lives as valuable. Things, however, are about to change when he is introduced to two important androids that will shape his perspective on the value of electrical objects. Halfway through the novel Rick meets Phil Resch, another bounty hunter, and Luba Luft, a girl. android. When Rick is retired by Luba Luft, he pairs up with Phil and they have to go to an opera house where we learn that Rick loves opera. Once he finds Luba, at an Edvard Munch exhibition in a museum, he confesses that he is an android but, more importantly, that he wishes he were a human being when he states: “I really don't like androids. Ever since I came here from Mars my life has consisted of imitating man” (133). As the conversation progresses, Luba Luft jokingly harasses Phil by telling him that she is an android, which is a bad move since Phil sends her into retirement at the time. Once Rick notices this, he tells Phil, “I can't anymore; I've had enough. She was a wonderful singer. The planet could have used it. This is crazy” (136). Unlike many humans, Rick loved art, and opera in particular, so since Luba was a great singer, Rick appreciated that which gave him more reason to see the importance of androids' lives. It is in this moment that we finally see that Rick was starting to empathize with an android and is now destroyed by it. Rick had so much empathy for Luba Luft that he even bought her a book of famous paintings and claimed that she was "truly alive" to Phil (141). However it was too late as she had "fallen forward, face down, in a heap" (134). Rick finally began to see the other androids as human beings and began to question the ethics behind how Phil Resch did his job when he tells him, "You're a good bounty hunter... Your attitude proves it. But am I?" (144). Not only does Rick begin to think about the lack of empathy Phil has for androids, but he also questions the way he does his job and how he has now developed feelings for certain androids. This scene is crucial to the novel because it shows us the transition in Rick's disposition as being more empathetic towards electrical things. The question that remains is: Would Rick have retired Luba Luft? If yes, in what way? Towards the end of the day Rick has collected eight androids and is exhausted from the amount of work and emotional pain he has had to go through. He returns home to find that Rachel Rosen, another android he interacted with during the day, has thrown his goat off the roof. Extremely confused with everything life has thrown at him in one day, Rick flies to Oregon only to discover his new persona. Here it is clear that Rick is even more confused with himself as he observes: “everything in me has become unnatural; I have become an unnatural self” (230). There's even a point where he thinks he's Mercer, the emotional religion of people on the.
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