Free «Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?» Essay

In chapter one of the novel “Do Androids dream of electric sheep”, Rick Deckard together with his wife wake up in 2021 in a futuristic San Francisco. They start by arguing on whether they should adjust the settings of their Penfield wave transmitters, devices that are able to control the mood of the users. They both consider dialing medication which would make them battle each other; Iran has a belief that her husband is a crude cop who can kill “Andys” for a living, while Rick believes that his wife squanders his money and time (Dick 1-10).

The couple lives in a half empty apartment in pre-war suburbs. They use dial up drugs for different reasons: for Rick, these drugs help him to refresh his attitudes towards his job while for Iran, they help her to acknowledge that her husband has a superior wisdom in almost all matters. Rick is in need of a real animal, but he cannot afford. At one point, Bill Barbour offers to sell one of his animals to Rick, but later reveals to him that it is an electric animal.

In the last chapter of the book, Rick becomes happy after seeing an animal seated on the ground near his car. The animal was a toad, and was regarded as one of the most sacred animals to Mercer. After the war, nearly all toads had died and anyone who had a toad was to be awarded a medal by the United Nations plus a large sum of money. Rick goes back to his wife with the toad to inform her about the fortune. Iran discovers that the toad is not real, it is an electric toad, Rick is disappointed but decides to love it anyway. The repercussion is that he will not get the medal and money from the United Nations. They are better off with the electric toad as they believe it can “work perfectly” (Dick 200-10).