Chapter 1-2
Do androids dream of electric sheep? has everything science fiction story should have. In chapter one we begin in the home of Rick Deckard and his wife. It starts with the two waking up and setting a mode to how they want to feel when they wake up. This shows me that this society do not truly have emotions or they have gotten to a point where technology has taken away the power to feel. For example when Rick wakes up he sets his mode to ready to go and face the world, while his wife sets it to a mode where she does not wanna get out of bed. After him and his wife have a fight about there modes Rick goes to the roof of his building to take care of his animal. In this society everyone has an animal, some are live ones and some are electrical ones or android animals. We learn that Ricks sheep just died of tetanus and he replaced it with an electrical one. He then talks to his neighbor about his sheep and his neighbor promises not to tell anyone about his sheep. Rick tells him that he should be careful because his horse could die too. This shows that in this society having an animal is a very important. Its almost like having a cell phone in our society cause everyone has one.
Chapter 2 was a bit confusing to me, i kind of got lost while reading it and i had to reread it a couple of times. We learn in this chapter that there was a World War called World War Terminus and that it basically destroyed all of the people and animals remaining on earth, which is why people emigrated to outer space. This explains why electrical animals were created in the first place and why having a live animal is very rare. Certain people who were on earth after the war caught a special disease and we are introduced to one named John Isidore who lives in apartment building all by himself. Since he is a lonely man he uses a thing called an empathy box where he merges with the mind of Wilbur Mercer which is described as a futuristic Jesus. While using the box he also merges with other people using a empathy box and they are climbing a mountain, but while climbing John gets hit with a rock disconnecting him from the box and actually leaving a wound on him in the real world. This shows that the technology is so advanced that even in a virtual reality you can get hurt, does this mean you can die in virtual world and die in real life? The chapter ends with John hearing that someone else moved in to his building and he does not know how to introduce himself.
Chapter 3-4
Chapter three begins with Rick on his way to work. Also Rick is a bounty hunter who hunts androids because in this society androids are frowned upon. On his way to work Rick sees an ostrich in the pet shop window and he considers buying it, but knows he does not have enough to get it. Although he does want another animal so he can have two. When Rick gets to work he hears that one of the bounty hunters at his job was killed by a new android the nexus six which is a smarter and more realistic android that can blend in the humans. This makes his job even harder, but they have a test that tests a persons empathic level because an android is more likely not to have to much empathy. Rick also calls up the pet shop to try and bargain for the ostrich, but is disappointment and he also calls a fake pet shop and asks how much an electrical one would be and it is significantly cheaper. This chapter shows that even in this society where feelings are diminished people still find a way to hate on someone else or something else in this case being androids.
Chapter four begins with Rick having a meeting with his boss to discuss the bounty hunter who was killed. Rick is told that there are eight nexus six androids, but the bounty who was killed got two of them and that six remain. Rick is told that they don’t know if the empathy test (Vogit-Kampff test ) will work on the nexus six androids. So Rick takes a hover car to the Rosen Association in Seattle which is where the test are created. Upon arrival Rick meets Rachel Rosen and she leads him to the conference room. While going through the building she shows him there animals and one is an owl which are supposed to be extinct. Rick asks her how much the owl would be and she laughs telling him that its not for sale and even if it was he could not afford it. Rick meets with her uncle Eldon Rosen and they discuss the nexus six androids and the vogit-kampff test. Eldon suggest that Rick should use the test on his niece Rachel. This chapter shows that not being able to determine the new androids strikes fear in to Rick because he does not wanna be killed. It also continues to show peoples obsession with animals and that who has more can brag the most. Rick also mentions what if all of the androids minds are connected with the mechanical animals like his sheep, which is a way of mentioning the title do androids dream of electric sheep? I like how the author included that.
Chapter 5
During this chapter Rick administers the test to Rachel, during the test there are some really odd questions asked about animal cruelty, abortion, love and other factors. It does make sense to use these different topics to see someones empathy or how they react. After the test he says based on the test Rachel is an android, but Eldon tells him she is not. Rachel defends herself for not being one as well and all three go back and forth about how the test either works or doesn’t work. The Rosen’s then try to bribe Rick with the owl if he keeps quiet about the test failing. He considers it, but then he tells Rachel what his briefcase is made out of and she has late reaction and this proves that Rick was right about her being an android. He consults with Eldon asking hi if she knows she is an android and he says no and also tells him the owl is a mechanical one. Rick leaves and now knows the test works on Nexus six androids and looks forward to getting paid. This chapter shows that the nexus six are so close to humans that even some of the androids, don’t even know what they truly are. Though it makes you think why didn’t he kill her if she was an android? did he feel empathy? or was it just because she wasn’t on his list of androids to retire?
