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  • Essay / Development of the protagonist in the novel by Philip K. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"

    The novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick is set in a futuristic era in which the Earth is almost destroyed by a nuclear explosion. war and many migrated to Mars as their new home. One of the new inventions discussed in this novel is the creation of androids with very sophisticated programming that makes them almost identical to humans. The story's protagonist, Rick Deckard, is a bounty hunter whose goal is to "retire" dangerous androids. As we see throughout the novel, all events take place within the span of 24 hours during which Rick undergoes major changes in his attitude and perspective towards androids and electrical objects. Because humans live in a new environment, it is difficult for them to cope with daily reality: things are no longer the same for them after the war. As for Rick, he struggles with internal conflicts as he begins to question what is right and wrong in what he is doing with his life. As the story progresses, we see Rick Deckard reflect on the ethics of his work while simultaneously showing a growing sense of empathy for androids. However, Rick manages to change his attitude towards his life in just one day. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The story begins with Rick and his wife Iran arguing due to the conflicting views each of them has on Rick's work. Even though Rick feels indifferent to the idea of ​​removing the "Andys", Iran clearly shows us that what Rick is doing is wrong and unethical. When she tells Rick, "You're worse... You're a cop-hired murderer," Rick gets angry and threatens to use a thalamic suppressant which would irritate her enough to win the argument (4). Then Iran steps in with an even greater threat when she tells him: "If you dial...for greater venom, then I will dial the same." I will compose the maximum and you will see a fight which will make all the arguments we have had until now appear as nothing” (4). This shows how much Iran despises Rick's work because she is willing to fight for what she believes is right, even though Rick won't change. This causes Rick to feel isolated from his relationship with Ira and lose all empathy for her just to get a real animal. The reason Rick does this job is to get money to buy a real animal, because it represents status in this society. In a world where most animals are extinct, owning a real one means everything and is extremely rare. For this reason, electric animals are considered inferior and devalued in this society. As Rick tells us: “The electric animal, when you think about it, could be considered a sub-form of the other, a kind of vastly inferior robot. Or, conversely, the android could be considered a highly developed and evolved version of the ersatz animal. Both views repelled him” and this shows that he lacks any empathy for androids, electric animals, and his wife (42). Ironically, Rick punishes the androids for their lack of empathy, but he is a hypocrite because for the first part of the novel, he shows no emotion towards anything that comes close to his life. Rick defines the characteristics of being a human in this part of the story because as humans we all lack emotion for certain things and can also be hypocrites. Turns out it was Rick's mistake,is understandable because of the times he lives in. As Rick is about to start retiring (killing) the androids, he becomes very happy and optimistic as he will soon accumulate enough capital to get the real animal he wants. But what if Rick was using retired androids for money as an excuse to feed his heartless personality towards non-living things, and he actually enjoys it? In this case, Rick does things for his personal benefit and shows no form of empathy towards the androids just so he can get what he desires. The reason he commits these acts of violence is because he will get the money he needs quickly and believes he is a good bounty hunter at the moment. As we are told at the end of chapter 8, “[Rick’s] spirit changed to optimism. And in joyous, hungry waiting” because he was ready to start removing the androids. This means that Rick is still a self-centered man who is not bothered by retired androids and does not consider their lives valuable. However, this is about to change when he is introduced to two important androids who will shape his views on the value of electrical items. Midway through the novel, Rick meets Phil Resch, another bounty hunter, and Luba Luft, an android. When Rick is sent to the Luba Luft retreat, he is partnered with Phil and they have to go to an opera where we learn that Rick loves opera. Once they find Luba, at an Edvard Munch museum exhibit, she admits to being an android but, more importantly, to wanting to be human when she says, "I really don't like not androids. Since I arrived from Mars, my life has been about imitating humans” (133). As the conversation progresses, Luba Luft playfully harasses Phil by telling him that he is an android, which is a bad decision since Phil retires her on the spot. Once Rick notices this, he tells Phil, “I can’t anymore; I've had enough. She was a wonderful singer. The planet could have used it. It’s insane” (136). Unlike many humans, Rick loved art, and opera in particular, so because Luba was a great singer, Rick appreciated this which gave him more reason to see the importance of androids' lives. This is when we finally see that Rick was starting to sympathize with an android and is now demolished by it. Rick had so much empathy for Luba Luft that he even bought her a book of famous paintings and claimed that she was "truly alive" in Phil's eyes (141). However, it was too late because she had “fallen forward, face down, in a heap” (134). Rick eventually began to view other androids as humans and began to question the ethics behind how Phil Resch did his job when he told him, "You're a good bounty hunter... Your attitude proves. But am I? (144). Not only does Rick begin to think about Phil's lack of empathy for androids, but he also questions how he does his job and how he has now developed feelings for certain androids. This scene is imperative in the novel because it shows us the transition of Rick's disposition towards more empathy towards electrical things. The question that remains is: Would Rick have retired Luba Luft? If yes, in what way? Towards the end of the day, Rick has retired eight androids and is exhausted from the amount of work and emotional pain he has endured. He returns home and discovers that Rachel Rosen, another android with whom he has.