Literary Analysis: Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep
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Literary Analysis of: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The famous rapper, Slick Rick once stated: “we need realism to deal with reality,” but what happens when reality is compromised and blurred? This question is conveyed through Philip K. Dick’s dystopian novel, Do Androids Dreams of Electric Sheep? (DADES). In DADES, Dick describes a bureaucratic bounty hunter, named Rick Deckard who is forced to identify between what is artificial and what is real. Deckard needs to retire six “andys” in order gain enough money to purchase a real animal instead of the electric one he already has. While searching for the “Nexus 6 andys” Rick encounters an attractive android named Rachel Rosen. She makes him question his empathy and makes it difficult for him to retire androids. Rick overcomes his hesitation; continuing to retire the three remaining androids and purchasing a goat. In retaliation, Rachel, murders his goats. Deckard then fuses with Mercer after going to a wasteland and is finally content. Philip K. Dick’s DADES is an allegorical novel, rich with literary elements which are used to illustrate the theme of empathy.…show more content… For instances in the novel, humans are considered God-like. God is believed to be the creator and marketer of humans therefore in comparison humans are the creators of androids. Another example is the allusion of the famous Edvard Munch painting, The Scream. The painting depicts an “oppressed creature...who had become contained by its own howl…[Phil] states, ‘this is how an andy must feel’ (130). The analogy being that the androids feel like the person depicted in the painting; scared, alone, and distance. Another metaphor is how Earth is like heaven. Androids strive to liberate from their enslavement and escape to earth as humans endeavor to reach heaven. Metaphor and analogies create meaning and show relationships within the