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Elizabeth Gukasyan

Professor Batty

English 102

15 November 2017

Monstrous Humans: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Analysis

According to modern views, a monster is considered to be a creature that is frightening

and wicked. By this definition, the typical monster that a someone pictures is a large, ugly

creature no one has ever encountered before. Most of these monsters that people are afraid of

typically come from the fear of the unknown. Many people are afraid of things that they cannot

understand whether or not they can cause harm. This is where the concept of the uncanny comes

in, which is when the unfamiliar is pushed into the realm of the familiar. When people see

something uncanny, they feel uneasy and unsettled because the thing they are seeing is

unfamiliar in a familiar area, thus calling it a monster. This idea of the uncanny can be seen in

the novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, which is set in the future

after a nuclear war, where a bounty hunter named Rick Deckard is chasing after a group of

androids. Although some may argue that the androids are the monsters in this novel, I believe

that the humans are the actual monsters because they are not aware of their own harmful actions

towards others, they are materialistic, and they show how human nature can become corrupted.

In the novel, Earth has been suffering from the effects of a nuclear war, which is

presumably caused by the humans lack of awareness, leading to the destruction of the

environment and extinction of many animal species. As a result, humans have resorted to

depending on technology as their planet crumbles around them. This means that they have the
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ability to travel to Mars, drive hover cars, and more importantly, create androids which are

sentient robots. The main difference between the androids and humans is that the android's lack

empathy, which was meant to make them more distinguishable in case one tried to escape.

Knowing that the androids are capable of their own thoughts makes it more disturbing to find out

that humans have no issues with killing them. For example, Rick briefly works with another

bounty hunter, Phil Resch, who has no issues with killing a living creature, since Rick says, The

way you killed Garland and then the way you killed Luba. You dont kill the way I do; you dont

try to- Hell You like to kill. All you need is a pretext. If you had a pretext, youd kill me

(Dick 127). Resch is a character who has been shown to possess no empathy for androids, which

is understandable since he is a bounty hunter, however this quote by Deckard indicates that he

actually may have more sinister intentions than is natural. Phil Resch is a perfect example of how

humans are the monsters in this universe, because he does not have the ability to understand why

killing androids without mercy is wrong. According to Freudian psychoanalysis, Reschs

libidinal, or forbidden, desires to kill the androids line up with the censor, which is what

represents the standards of society in the individual. Since their society encourages the death of

escaped androids Resch does not possess any mercy for those creatures.

Another reason for the humans lack of empathy is their growing obsession for

materialistic objects. Since many animal species were put on the brink of extinction, people

began to use them as status symbols. If someone owns a live animal, then they are considered to

be important in society. Unfortunately since the animals are also expensive and could die this

resulted in the creation of electric animals, which are designed to mimic real animals. In the

beginning Rick owns an electric sheep which he dislikes, however he cannot tell anyone about
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his sheep because, Nothing could be more impolite. To say, Is your sheep genuine? would be

a worse breach of manners (Dick 7). In a society where technology is so advanced to the point

where electric animals are indistinguishable from real ones, it becomes apparent that humanity

values material possessions more than each other. Since people value real animals they are

forced to pretend that they own real animals through electric ones, which just shows that lying is

alright as long as they have something to gain from it. In an essay Consumerism and Identity:

Some Psychoanalytic Considerations, the author compares material objects as a system of

meanings where, we express ourselves and communicate with others...Since all consumer

goods i.e. ideal objects, hold some kind of expressive meaning, we choose and incorporate into

our life and identity those meanings that we aspire to, while struggling to resist those we find

undesirable (Demir). This quote suggests that since people started to care more about their

possessions such as the animals, they were trying to find or place some kind of meaning in their

lives with the material objects. According to Carl Jungs version of psychoanalysis, there is a

collective unconsciousness which is shared by people in all cultures. In other words, the society

in Dicks novel, collectively shares the same materialistic tendencies from trying to find meaning

in the objects, that results in their lack of empathy. Every human in the novel seems to mostly

care about a certain material object whether it is the animals or androids, which makes them

avoid the reality of what is happening around them.

As humanity in the future becomes less empathetic and more materialistic, what makes

the reader afraid is the realization of how much human nature can change for the worse. The

author chose to portray the humans as uncaring and greedy, it was done in order to show how

easily people can transform to be evil as a result of the world changing around them. Most of the
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people in the novel have a sense of morality which is based on a religion known as Mercerism.

The purpose of Mercerism is to unify people of all different backgrounds, by letting them be

one with Mercer. This religion lets them have hope for themselves, however even when the

religion is later proven to be fake, people still chose to believe in it. Also, it is important to note

that Mercerism was only available to every human, but not to androids because they had no

empathy. This shows that the people are willing to hold onto anything they wish to believe in,

even if it is not real, if only to make sure that the androids do not fit into human society.

Ironically, androids were designed to be exactly like humans, only without empathy, so even if

one might have acted sadistically, like when Rachael, an android, came here, got the goat out of

its cage, and pushed it to the edge of the roof, it is only a reflection of what a person would have

been capable of doing (Dick 208). In the analysis Dick on the human: from Wubs to bounty

hunters to bishops, the author argues that the androids are like us and that, it is us, as long as

we continue to separate ourselves from that part of our character that is human. The human

separates himself from the android by his empathy... human hope of salvation, is expressed in

human willingness to defy the programming that would reduce him to an idealogical automaton

(Gillis). The humans wanted to distance themselves from the androids as much as possible

because they are afraid of confronting their own inherent flaws, such as their lack of empathy or

cruel nature. They do not want to acknowledge how much they have changed for the worse,

because it would make them realize that they were the true monsters all along.

As mentioned before, while androids have been treated poorly by humans due to their

lack of empathy it is important to note that there have been moments where they acted selfishly.

One could argue that since the androids have no empathy they could be a danger to the people
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around them, however according to Maria Brand, The androids in Do Androids Dream show

little compassion towards animals, and at one occasion they even torture a spider out of

amusement. However, the dual nature of the androids and robots of either being harmless and

friendly or cruel and dangerous suggests that they are much like we humans are, as humans are

also prone to do both good and bad things (Brand). It is important to note that since the author

intended to have the androids be as similar as possible to the humans, their moments of

viciousness can be attributed to the human society that they were created in. Even though the

androids do not possess empathy towards animals or humans, they are still able to use their

judgment and act accordingly within society's rules. If the people did not hunt them down and

kill them, it is possible that the androids would not have retaliated against them violently. Since

the humans and androids are essentially the same beings, it can be said that the human natures

corruptness is what resulted in the vilifying of androids.

Throughout the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick chose to

write the story from the perspective of a bounty hunter named Rick, who begins to realize his

own destructive ways towards the androids and himself. This realization reflects what actually

frightens the audience, which is how people are the ones leading their own destruction. The

humans are the monsters because they are causing the destruction of other living beings, they are

materialistic, and they are easily corrupted. The readers of this novel can easily see how the

humans are the ones at fault for most of the issues in the novel and it makes them question how

they are responsible for issues in the actual modern society. In The idea of man in

psychoanalysis, the author argues that according to Freud, the instinctual nature appears as the

master of human conditions, as a creator of history... Freud understands the will of man as a
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blind will, the unconscious instinctual powers of id, which would imply that the humans in the

novel are only following what their id, or forbidden desires, is naturally inclined to do (Wirth).

Psychoanalysis can explain how human beings are creatures of instinct and a lot of their actions

are done unconsciously. As a result a lot of the issues in the book can be compared to problems

people are dealing with today, such as environmental problems, consumerism, and political

corruption. Dick intended to have this novel be used as a warning for what the future could

possibly hold for humanity, if society does not become more aware of their own actions and

consequences. The author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? attempted to make people

realize that humanity is oftentimes the scariest monster that exists because we are responsible for

our own actions and future.

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Works Cited

Brand, Maria. Empathy and Dyspathy between Man, Android and Robot in Do Androids Dream

of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick and I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. Lund University,

lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=4023784&fileOId=402378.

Demir, Ayla Michelle. Consumerism and Identity: Some Psychoanalytic Considerations.

Academia.edu,

www.academia.edu/2428249/Consumerism_and_Identity_Some_Psychoanalytic_Consid

erations.

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Doubleday, 1968.

Gillis, Ryan. "Dick on the human: from Wubs to bounty hunters to bishops." Extrapolation, vol.

39, no. 3, 1998, p. 264+. Literature Resource Center,

go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=lavc_main&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA2123

8167&it=r&asid=aa2f4acd0784f956eb0285a9ca8d209d. Accessed 14 Nov. 2017.

Wirth, Hans-Jurgen. The Idea of Man in Psychoanalysis: Creator of His Own Life or Subject to

the Dark Instinctual Side of Human Nature? International Forum of Psychoanalysis,

vol. 14, no. 2, June 2005, pp. 94107. Academic Search Complete [EBSCO],

doi:10.1080/08037060510030197.