In a post-apocalyptic world, Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter for the San Francisco Police Department. His job is to retire “replicants” – biological robots who are identical to humans except in their ability to feel empathy. Deckard is also captivated by the “holy grail” of the decimated planet – to own a real biological animal. When a new class of Nexus-6 replicants escapes from Mars to Earth, Deckard is given the job of “retiring” them – an assignment in which he is assisted by an attractive Nexus-6 called Rachael Rosen. With a bored wife at home, Deckard is attracted to the vivacious Rachael at the same time as he seeks to destroy her replicant “twin”.

Genre        

Science fiction

Year written        

1968

Publisher        

Orion Books

Plot        

In a post-apocalyptic world, Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter for the San Francisco Police Department. His job is to retire “replicants” – biological robots who are identical to humans except in their ability to feel empathy. Deckard is also captivated by the “holy grail” of the decimated planet – to own a real biological animal. When a new class of Nexus-6 replicants escapes from Mars to Earth, Deckard is given the job of “retiring” them – an assignment in which he is assisted by an attractive Nexus-6 called Rachael Rosen. With a bored wife at home, Deckard is attracted to the vivacious Rachael at the same time as he seeks to destroy her replicant “twin”.

Characters        

Based on the hard-bitten detective genre, the story is more about plot than character. However, Deckard is an interesting character who is struggling to find meaning in his life, where moods are dialled on demand and anyone left on earth is regarded as a second-class citizen. Contrasted with his jaded wife Iran, Rachael Rosen is a breath of fresh air –bright, beautiful and passionate. There is an interesting set of secondary characters including John.R. Isodore, the “chickenhead” who befriends the rogue replicants when they move into his abandoned  apartment, and the Nexus-6 replicants who have formed close affinity relationships among themselves. Over-arching the story is the figure of Mercer, a mystical character who conducts an endless struggle to the top of a hill, assailed by rocks, with whom humans empathise electronically.

Resolution        

Deckard is seduced by Rachael as part of a replicants plan to exploit the empathy of bounty hunters. Although he eventually retires all the “rogue” replicants, Decard suffers a crisis of conscience that leads him to a spiritual experience in the Oregon wilderness. At the same time, Rachael wreaks revenge by killing Deckard’s treasured animal, a goat.  This brutality is redeemed by the tenderness of the final chapter, in which Iran nurtures Deckard and empathises with his joy and disappointment.

Theme        

Dick’s novel – subsequently made into the film Bladerunner by Ridley Scott – raises questions about what it means to be human in a world where emotions are determined by computer and robots are physically indistinguishable from people. It’s easy to see Mercer as a Jesus figure who suffers on behalf of all humanity and who invites humans to suffer with him. The novel’s ultimately asks “what does it mean to be human’? The answer is “to care”.

Judgement        

Even 40 years on, Philip K. Dick’s novel remains a compelling and relevant portrayal of the future. As we struggle to cope with global warming and biotechnology breakthroughs, Dick’s world struggles to adjust to their consequences – a devastated environment and a post-modern humanity. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Is both satisfying to read and thought-provoking to reflect on.

Recommendation    

By wrapping up a sci-fi scenario within a detective story, Philip K. Dick did more than lay the foundation for the cyberpunk genre of the 1980s: He created a contemporary classic that is both readable and enduringly relevant.

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