Watching the movie District 9 I noticed a few similarities to the novels we read in class. The first similarity I noticed was with Caves of Steel, both the novel and the movie had a place specifically for the humans and the Aliens. The two species barely had interaction because they had there own space.  In both Dawn and District 9 the only similarity I could think of was how the alien was the only individual that could freely travel from one place to other which in a sense shows similarity because the humans were free to invade the aliens space. To conclude the finally novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was similar because the bounty hunters were people that were paid to hunt and kill all the androids that were coming in just like District 9 where the humans were not only invading the aliens space but capturing them and using the as experimental tools for there research.

So far I have a very conflicted outlook on this novel. Upon reading the first 100 pages you see a human named Lilith being helped by individuals that have kept her captive for two years. After being “freed” she becomes apart of a huge experiment. So far the book is interesting, however I’m still a little skeptic of the outcome. Although she is no longer physically captive she still is not completely freed. Lilith is now cured thanks to the aliens with limited facial features, but they continue to use her to help other humans with survival skills they believe are necessary for the world(earth) to come. I still don’t quite understand why they freed her or what their true intentions. So far I’m left clueless to what Lilith outcome maybe. Although they have cured her they fail to help her with any concerns she have about her family. I can’t wait to see how this ends.

In the novel “ Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” written by Philip K. Dick a major theme I noticed was intelligence verse the inability to encumber. The two abilities/inabilities are contrasted and the term “chicken head” is used to describe those who are thought to be mentality deficient. Rick makes a comment in the beginning of the novel that he is skilled and has the ability to overpower and kill and android, but also acknowledges that the skill can be taken from him at any moment due to the radioactive dust the covers the world. John has already become a victim of what they acknowledge as the cloud and is now refrain to the term “chicken head”, which is a person that has a diminishing mental ability.

People who are referred to as chicken heads are looked down upon and treated as second class citizens. They are not allowed to emigrate to Mars because they fear that people who are infected would contaminate the other citizens. They are not even allowed to do certain jobs. This deceives Dick’s belief on what the future society will be like. In a sarcastic but funny way John is the character that has the most sense of humanity making him have more human traits than tan the others.

Throughout reading the novel the part that stood out to me was the scene where R. Daneel and Baley was in the store. The reason I chose this particular scene was because it was a prime explain of when you don’t have knowledge about a particular situation. Although Oliviaw intentions were pure good he wasn’t fully aware how the humans viewed his kind. The humans hated robots just as the spacers were disgusted due to the diseases and other sickness humans could obtain. This moment just shows how much the two (humans and spacers) know a little about each other but are still very judgmental of the other. I think this was a great opportunity for R.Daneel to see first had the danger of the situation he was in. This scene is not only something that takes place in the novel but also this that happen in our world. We also tend to be very bias and judgmental without fully knowing the other source.

JOURNAL #1:

There are many differences between today’s world/society verses the one that is portrayed in Caves of Steel. In today’s society humans are the ones that create the machines and technology that are being built. We make the technology so that it can make life easier for us. Another thing would be our ways of transportation. In our society we us cars, buses, and trains to get from one place to the other. On the contrary in the novel they used other ways to transport from one place to the other, such as spaceships and lived in domes separating themselves from the “humans and/or spacers. In addition to that they had external differences. As humans we get sick or may have symptoms or signs of being sick and with the proper care we can be cured. The robots didn’t have to deal with being sick because they lived in an atmosphere that was sanitized.

Sasha Bailey