Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was published in 1968 Ridley Scott made ground breaking Blade Runner (1982) (one of my favourite films) from it which went on to inspire a host of filmmakers and created a cult following. But the film was an interpretation of the book and having read it I found the experience rewarding.

The book focuses on Rick Deckard a bounty hunter, who has the task of retiring andys (androids) because they are considered dangerous to society. The androids the Nexus-6 a more advanced android have the ability to assimilate themselves into society. Deckard accepts the job and the money associated with it as he dreams of owning an animal that he can show off to his neighbours, he has a sheep but it is electric, a fact he has failed to inform his neighbours of, due to the embarrassment. Deckard is obsessed with owing a real animal as real animals are hard to come by since World War Terminus.

In order to tell androids apart from humans, Deckard administers the Voigt-Kampff test, a test that focuses on empathy, the conclusion of which is that androids lack empathy. The test is usually effective, but an android Rachel Rosen nearly beats it. This leads Deckard to question his actions and whether what he is doing is right.

I would recommend both the book and film, but each as individual standalone works, as Scott’s Blade Runner does reimagine the book in its own way – though the heart is still there. The heart being what does it mean to be human? What does it mean to have an identity? How do we all interact with each other?

These are interesting questions particularly in current times, are we humans becoming less empathetic? If so why? Is it because of circumstances or inherited design? The scapegoating of a group sounds familiar.

Is our identity defined by who we are or is it by what we do? Does it matter to have an identity? Do we need to make something great again when it didn’t stop being great?
The androids believe in their implanted memories more than humans in their real memories, this might be because we remember things differently each time.

Has the growth of social media led us to function more like robots and less like humans? Are we being programmed or controlled by machines rather than the other way round? Deckard gradually falls for Rachel, but is she trustable as she is an android?

What does it actually mean to be human?
The character of Mercer tells Deckard;
‘You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation; this is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life. Everywhere in the universe’

But Deckard is a bounty hunter, so perhaps we shouldn’t listen to Mercer wholeheartedly, however, it raises an interesting point, what if it the ends justify the means? Hmmm, think I’d rather stick with being empathetic so I can sleep better at night.

Rating 5/5 for book and film