Dios mio, that was such a suspenseful ending, like wow. So much happened, and the plot for this book escalated so well. so we start off with our hero, Ricardo, awaiting the arrival of the ever so stunning (at least to Ricardo) Rachel Rosen, who is in fact an android, in a pretty decent hotel room where they will discuss “business”, but is really a well set up opportunity to let Ricardo indulge in a fantasy to sleep with an adroid as previous mentioned by the one the only Phil Resch. That maniacal son of a bounty hunter mentioned to Ricardo that its a natural urge to feel in the profession of bounty hunter and that the only rule to sleeping with an android is killing them afterward, which is pretty sensible, in like a crazy sort of perspective, or outlook on life, such as the one that Phil has,cause hes kinda crazy, or to be put justly, desensitized to by the killing of many android units in his time as a hunter. Anyway, so Ricardo and Rachel get it on, and then its back to the old grind for Ricky, and he gets right back to work on hunting those androids, but wait theres more. Now as previously mentioned in my other posts, the androids seem to want one thing, or strive for one thing, to understnd and in tuen, become more human, through the empathetic process, for what they do not understand, they loath and envy, they crave it, just as Ricardo craves a cooler animal (oh btw he got a goat and thats important). so we see the android Rachel kinda express her understandning of human emotion when she shows signs of jelously towards, get this, Ricardos Goat, his black nubian goat is Rachels new worst enemy (p.202). I thought that this was interesting, that we as the readers are finding more depth to the android class of character this late in the game, for theres another instnace of human like characteristics that fall under empathy, expressed through Rachel yet again when she mentions Luba Luft as her friend, and that they had been friends for two years (p.199) only after however she explains how much of a cold calculating souless machine she is by explaining her deceit to Ricardo, stating that this isnt the first time that a bounty hunter has slept with her, telling him that every single time afterwards, the hunters attitudes was changed towards killing the androids, the special case being The One, The Only Phil Resch, since hes kinda crazy (p.198). Still its quite interseting to see how much thought Dick (the author but you already knew that) and effort was put into the complexity of these characters, especially the androids. Rachel is portrayed, not as a cold hearted bitch, but as a tool that has to be a cold hearted bitch, she Bribed Ricky, slept with him to change his sentiments toward killing androids, which spoiler alert, didnt work since he succesfully killed the remaing three on his list, and last but not least, the icing on the cake, murdered his Goat (p.227-228). This is the interesting part, for she did it out of Jealousy a common human trait, and empathatic response that is usualy the reslut of an insecurity or threat towards someone, or in this case something besides the person feeling the emotion. she made no attemot at being sneaky, and quietly taking the goat out, oh no. she went out of her way to make her presence known to those on the roof, Ricardos neighbor Barbour, and literally pushed the goat off the roof and left, like she was queen bee sending a message. I find that very interesting in a character who isnt supposed to have a motive to commit a crime thats severly punishable by law, on top of the fact that shes an android killing sacred life.
Another crazy turn of events is that Future Jesus is both non existent, and a total bad-ass. What happened was that Buster Friendly, an android sent from the future to destroy future jesus (that was a terminator joke but whatever) disproved Mercerism down to a set of films made by an old hollywood movie maker/drunkard which had the androids super ecstatic and that its a total sham and those who practiced it, Humans, are stupid for doing it (p. 205-211). In between a whole bunch of other stuff happened with the androids at J.R.’s place and he kinda lost his senses and all of his belief and sense of self was, just as Mercerism was moments prior, totally destroyed and he lost his mind for a bit, seeing the graphic nature of his self imposed lonely and meaningless existence without his belief and manifest in a created world which was crumbling and deteriorating all around him(p.211-214). BUT WAIT, theres more. It turns out that Mercerism is indeed a fake, but Mercer and the power he posses isnt, for he went and spoke to J.R. and told him to stiffen up that upper lip and keep on keeping on, to roll with the punches, and that no matter what, whether or not J.R. stops searching for Mercer, that Mercer will never stop searching for him, and that he will always have his back (p. 214-215). I thought that was amazing, to give hope to an already damaged character, (but then to strip it all away when Ricardo kills his android friends) and sort of repair him, yet still leaving him vulnerable and confused. The idea behind Mercerism, in my opinion, is a simple one, hope. Hope in a world such as this is necessary, when the populace relies on machines to feel and cant hold relations with themselves very well is an essential game piece in this messed up universe. And Mercer shows that he has hope for all that seek him by helping Ricky, not once, but twice, once by warning him of impending android attack, saving him from the hardest kill he had to do in his career and guiding him through it (p. 220-221) from the android Pris Stratton, who looked like Rachel, and was so hard for him because he kind of fell in love with her, in a weird turn of events, and again when Ricky had given up and was on the verge of killing himself, by fusing and becoming one with Rick (p. 234), Mercer helped Ricardo understand that his role in life is essential and something that will ultimately have to happen whether he Ricky likes it or not. He gave him a new understanding and outlook on life, especially when he found a toad in the dessert (it was fake though) (p. 236). this new outlook did so much as to put a smile on his face and be happy and relieved for the first time in a long time, as mentioned by his wife when he returned home (p. 239) which was great to see in our dark and complex protagonist. We see Mercer as the light at the end of the tunnel, the light that shines and protects the weak, the beacon of hope for a race of people who have none. Yes it was tainted and destroyed by Buster, an android who has no understanding, no concept of hope or empathy, but it will live on through Ricardo, and the rest of the world who still need something to cling too.
All in all, it was a great read, 10 out of 10, master piece, i would re read it again just for fun. Its chock full of complex plot, meaning, and symbolism, as well as a lot of fun to read, and an exciting adventure into a future that may or may not exist one day.
Cant wait to talk about this.
Yummz
