Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip F. Dick, is a science fiction novel that discovers
many philosophical questions. The story is set in the future San Francisco, where the entire earth
suffers the aftermath of a catastrophic world war, World War Terminus. Humans have started to
colonize other planets, and those who possess the skill and intelligence to develop the new world
can immigrate to another planet, where they will be assigned android servants who, at least
aesthetically, are indistinguishable from humans. These androids sometimes develop their own
free will and flee from their owner to earth; the police departments on earth hire bounty hunters
to hunt down these androids using a testing method to distinguish between humans and androids
based on their ability to empathize.
The novel was adapted into its infamous film version, Bladerunner. However, the novel
and the film are vastly different from each other. Therefore, the novel might disappoint movie
fans and vice versa. Unlike the movie’s focus on humanity, the novel instead emphasizes on one
specific characteristic of humans, empathy. On earth, the status symbol of each individual is
whether they own a pet animal or not, which is usually substituted by machine imitations due to
the high price of actual animals. Dick, throughout the entire storyline, implies that the reason of a
seemingly ridiculous status symbol is that human’s ability to empathize is valued the most,
which fundamentally distinguishes humans from artificial lives. Ironically, in the novel the
androids started gradually developing their own empathy, whether from the androids who formed
the new Hall of Justice, or Rachael, who sacrifices her own body to safe other androids. All these
signs indicate that unlike the common belief in book, androids can empathize. On the other hand,
Rick Deckard, the human bounty hunter, have no mercy for the androids. Though they look
exactly like humans and evidently think like humans, Deckard do not hesitate to take their lives
just to get the bounty to pay for the pet animal he desires.
The differences between novel and film is perhaps why most fans of the novel are not
huge fans of the film adaption. The lack of including these crucial elements that lead to the
discussion about humanity Dick intended in the book results in a much different effect for the
film's audience.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a science fiction novel that deals with the
relationship between human and artificial life. From older works such as Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein to modern entertainment such as Westworld, all these novels attempt to answer one
question, could artificial lives have essential qualities? Rick Deckard, in his work, leaves much
room for the audience to debate the question.