A theme from DADOES

There are many different themes in this novel written by Philip K. Dick. One of them is the blurred line between humans and androids. Throughout the story some of the androids seem to take on human-like traits. It is extremely difficult to tell the difference between an android and a human as the androids become more advanced. If a human isn't specifically looking for an android or administering an empathy test, such as the Voigt-Kampff, it’s nearly impossible to tell them apart. As androids become more developed they blend in with society, and eventually they may not be recognizable, which will further blur the line separating humans and androids.

In the beginning of the book Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter, traveled to the Rosen Association to test his Voigt-Kampff machine and met Rachael Rosen, a Nexus-6 android. After Rick administered the test to her he came to the conclusion she was an android; at first Eldon Rosen, head of Rosen Association, denied it explaining that she had only spent four years on Earth which was why some of her answers were non-human. Rick still wasn't sold and decided to ask her one more question. One question was all it took and the tip off by Rachael referring to their owl as an "it" which they were trying to coerce him with. Rick asked Eldon Rosen, “‘Does she know?' Sometimes they didn't; false memories had been tried various times, generally in the mistaken idea that through them, reactions to testing would be altered." (pg 59) Rachael didn't know she was an android, she assumed that she was human because she had no reason to think otherwise. It seemed to come as a shock to her. The fact that they are implanting fake memories in their "brains" is blurring the line of humans and androids. If androids wholeheartedly believe that they are human it will make it easier for them to blend in with the human population. The Rosen Association was beginning to create new and better ways to implant memories that would probably be even more convincing to the android and people around it. With more realistic memories the androids become more humanized making it increasingly difficult for Earth to remain android free. With each new model the Association creates the more humanized the androids become. The goal of the Association is eventually the bounty hunters’ tests won’t be able to pin point the androids anymore. If they are successful in this, Earth’s goal of keeping androids off the planet won’t last long at all.

Later on that morning Rick met Phil Resch, another bounty hunter for a different police agency, after Rick was being removed from Luba Luft's dressing room in the opera house. He also met Phil's boss, Garland, who happened to be an android. While Phil was out of the office retrieving his empathy test equipment Garland pulled out his laser and positioned it at Rick. Garland told Rick that he is an android, but so is Phil. After testing Phil, Rick figures out he isn't an android even though Garland declared he was not human. The androids were getting more cunning, trying to turn the two bounty hunters against each other so it would be easier to eliminate them.
Phil had no idea that he had been working for an android. From a reader’s point of view it was hard to guess who was an android and who wasn’t. I assumed that Garland had been telling the truth about Phil and found it difficult to believe he wasn’t an android since many of them didn’t know themselves. At some point the real Garland had been killed and the android Garland took over without much question. "I can't get over it," Phil Resch said. "It doesn't seem possible. For three years I've been working under the direction of androids. Why didn't I suspect-I mean, enough to do something?" (pg 127) The Nexus 6 androids are more intelligent and are finding it easier to appear human. Garland had figured out how to blend in and not seem awkwardly out of place at his job. It was scary to find out Phil didn’t have the slightest idea about Garland; the Nexus-6’s hid the fact that they were androids well enough that average humans were having more trouble identifying them, but this was a bounty hunter, whos job it was to identify and track down androids. This is an immense problem for planet Earth because they were trying to keep androids illegal, but if they can successfully disguise as humans the bounty hunters’ jobs will become trickery.

Another example of this theme was when Phil retired Luba and Rick having second thoughts about why they had to kill her. He had developed feelings for her, either because of her beauty or his love for the Magic Flute opera and her phenomenal singing voice, better than any human he knew. "She was really a superb singer, he said to himself as he hung up the receiver, his call completed. I don't get it; how can a talent like that be a liability to our society? But it wasn't talent, he told himself; it was she herself." (pg 137) Rick had a hard time swallowing the fact that she had to be retired because of wonderful talent. It is challenging to keep oneself from developing feelings for an android that looks exactly like a human and behave similarly to them, for the most part. It's a basic human characteristic to immediately have some type of feeling when one sees someone of great beauty or talent. The Rosen Association are becoming craftier by creating the androids with incredible talents now, which as Rick had proved, made it harder to kill them and gave them a more human like feel.

Rick tested himself using the Voigt-Kampff to see what his reaction was to the statement of someone suddenly killing an android he had just captured, and then specified its sex as a female. The machine made it clear that he was empathetic towards some female androids, Luba Luft for example. Rick’s other encounter with a female android was with Rachael. His feelings for her were stronger, strong enough that he slept with her. Rick was very confused during that entire section of the book because he thought he had fallen in love with her. An emotion like that definitely blurs the line more. These emotions normally reserved only for humans are now being shared with androids because they have become so human like.

The Rosen Association is working hard to produce an android that is almost identical to humans. Bone marrow tests would be the only way to test whether or not it’s an android. If the Association is able to get to that point, the differences between humans and androids will be almost entirely erased, and the human race, as we now know it, we will be altered forever.

Predictions

Rick and Isidore are going to have to meet in the near future, because PKD can't have two separate stories going on and not have them intersect at some point. They already have in a way since Isidore is friends with Pris who is actually Rachael Rosen. It will be a huge deal when Isidore and Rick finally meet because Rick will see Rachael again. He never ended up calling her back after she had offered her help to catch and retire the androids.

When Rick and Pris finally meet again he will be faced with a problem of whether or not to "retire" Pris and her two friends. He's already beginning to feel empathy towards female androids so it makes sense that the author will throw in a curve ball for Rick.

The empathy that he is feeling towards some androids follows the theme of the line between humans and andys is being blurred even further. He feels the same way about Luba as if she was a normal human female. Resch seems to think that it's normal and okay for Rick to feel this way about female androids and his advice to Rick was to sleep with "it" then "retire it". Rick questions his ability as a bounty hunter. I think he will continue to question this about himself as the book goes on.

Chapter1-6

The theme presented in this book seems to be technology v. humans, and if androids should be legal. The constant struggle is to keep Earth android free. Earth kind of shies away from the technology of the androids, but still tries to keep up. For example the use of the mood organ plays a large part in the first chapter at least. Rick and his wife Iran have a fight over why she had set hers to be depressed for the day. Rick couldn't understand why she would ever want to be depressed. She tried to explain herself to him, saying that it made her feel more "human". It wasn't "normal" to be happy all the time, especially in the world they are living in. She still uses the mood organ to feel more regular emotions, but she gets angry at her husband for retiring the androids. Rick doesn't see them as humans but more as robots and has no problem with killing them. His wife is unhappy with it yet spends the money he gets from catching them. Shes a typical hypocritical human.
On Mars and the other planets that they have begun to inhabit the lure is that they will get an android to work as a slave/servant. With more and more advancements in the technology the androids are becoming even more similar to humans, and the strangest part is the newer androids (Nexus 6) don't know that they are androids. I guess they just assume they are human because their creator tells them they are?
It always seems to go back to the question of human v. android.