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DADES Chapters 7-12 - Coggle Diagram
DADES Chapters 7-12
Role of media and religion for control
Mercerism in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep shows the effect of religion on the society found in the novel. Mercerism central belief is empathy, which is also a primary tenant of multiple major religions.
"Be Excellent to Each Other" is mercerisms main idea. Humans value this because they believe androids don't share the same ability to feel and care.
Mercerists follow two major tenets: (1) be empathic to the individual, and (2) work for the good of the community.
Mercer's followers use an empathy box to connect to mercer. They gripping two handles and are shown a looping vision of mercer is climbing a hill. They can feel stones and items that are thrown at mercer. This is supposed to highlight the importance of empathy.
All animal life is sacred as part of Mercerism
In Chapter 7 when Mrs. Pilsen's electronic cat gets sick and is about to "die," John and his colleague tell her a replacement cat can be ready in 10 days.
"Why did Buster Friendly always chip away at Mercerism? No one else seemed bothered by it; even the U.N. approved. And the American and Soviet police had publicly stated that Mercerism reduced crime by making citizens more concerned about the plight of their neighbors."
Mercerism vs Christianity, the idea of new vid old and Mercer seems to be a sort of power figure comparable to figures of power in Christianity. This idea of how the world has changed is important but even though this change has occurred religion has managed to exist just in a different form but a similar role and purpose. While many of the pieces of society that failed to exist in this time fell apart religion is one of the things that has stayed with people.
"Our minds, Isidore decided. They're fighting for control of our psychic selves; the empathy box on one hand, Buster's guffaws and off-the-cuff jibes on the other. I'll have to tell Hannibal Sloat that, he decided. Ask him if it's true; he'll know." Isidore is talking about Buster Friendly and his show fighting to control how people think.
Mercer's climb up the barren hill strongly resembles Sisyphus' unending task of pushing a rock up a hill in Hades.
The rocks being thrown at Mercer are reminiscent of a type of capital punishment called stoning, which shows up a lot in the Bible.
Relationships
Luba Luft
She is an android but she was also a beloved and talented performer
It seems that she was killed off the basis that she happenned to be a robot.
Androids have the potential to make a positive impact on humans, still doesn't give them exception
Rick and Rachael
a real relationship with love will not work between human and android
their relationship is solely based off of physical attraction?
Emotional connections to animals even if they aren't real.
Mrs. Pilsen: "He loved Horace more than any cat he ever had, and he's had a cat since he was a child" (page 76)
John Isidore is sympathetic to the sounds of the fake animals that are crying in pain. Even if they are just programmed to be that way.
Androids are friends with eachother
They have the human quality of protecting each other, whether they are capable of feeling empathy or not.
No humans seem to be friends or like eachother
Isadore's employer, Hannibal and his coworker don't respect or like him
"The chicken head makes it," Sloat said, "Or he's fires."... Isadore said, "I d-d-don't like being c-c-called a chickenhead. I mean, the d-d-dust has d-d-done a lot to you, too, physically. Although, n-n-not your brain, as in my c-c-case." (pg.75)
Deckard and his wife don''t have the best relationship. It's mostly held together by animals
He does not empathize with Iran's problems or listen to her.
deckard is paranoid and can't trust anyone out of fear that they might be an android
"You really hate me," Phil said, marvelling, "All of a sudden. You didn't hate me back on Mission Street. Not while I was saving your life." (pg. 127)
Deckard shows more interest in androids such as Rachel than in his wife
Too few people on Earth to have friends, and marriage seems to be there for the sake of traditionalism. Everyone is going to die out eventually
Marriage is represented differently from "normal" connections and being together. Rick and Rachael portray the disloyalty and unfaithfulness of a partner.
Fears surrounding Androids
Not knowing if you're an android; thinking you're a human because of false memories and emotions.
"Most androids I've known have more vitality and desire to live than my wife," (Chapter 8).
"She must think she's human, he decided. Obviously she doesn't know," (Chapter 8).
"He may kill me, kill himself; maybe you, too. He may kill everyone he can, human and android alike. I understand that such things happen, when there's been a synthetic memory system laid down. When one thinks it's human," (Chapter 11).
The technology that is used to identify whether they are androids can give them away. Very hard for them to disguise themselves. Using other androids to hunt them down...
"Rachel said, 'The Nexus-6s would be wary at being approached by a human. But if another Nexus-6 made the contact-'" (Pg. 84, Chapter 8).
"He passed the fun over to Rick, who inspected it expertly, by way of years of experience. 'How does it differ functionally'" (Pg. 85, Chapter 8)
"'A sine wave,' Rich said. 'That phases out laser emanation and spreads the beam into ordinary light.'" (Pg. 86, Chapter 8)
Will be killed if they are identified by a bounty hunter, sometimes without even investigation like with Phil retiring Luba
"Phil Resch fired, and at the same instant Luba Luft, in a spasm of frantic hunted fear, twisted and spun away, dropping as she did so." (Pg. 124, Chapter 12)
Thematic questions
Technology and fear
We lose sense of whats real and whats not, isidore attempting to check where to charge the cat but in reality its a real cat.
Blurring of the line between tech and reality. Although its a simulation, the empathy box still caused isidore to get hurt. Simulations of real life begin to directly affect real life.
Fearing not knowing who is real or not. Who can you trust?
Can you even trust yourself? It has been clearly stated that people can't tell sometimes if they are androids themselves
Fear of what makes human and android, and when Luba Luft says to Rick that he should take the test. Irony that he is killing androids, which have no empathy, but he himself is coldhearted and has an unavailability of empathy.
Moral ambiguity for survival
Life is pointless on earth as a chicken head, no point in living.
Empathy is something that is bought and sold
“I’m going down by elevator with a female android I’ve captured. And suddenly someone kills it, without warning.” Resch reports that the dials have spiked up suddenly, showing that Rick has an emotional response to the android’s pain. Rick concludes, “That’s high enough.”
shows just how deeply he was affected by Luft’s death. Rick is treating his job as a bounty hunter more and more loosely: he’s becoming introspective, asking himself unanswerable questions. It seems he is starting to think being human isn't black and white, but shades of grey.
Status symbols
Rick and Resch are the one’s asking questions about Luba Luft’s humanity, not the other way around. This reiterates one of the novel’s key points: the characters assert their power by questioning other people’s humanity. Even to ask the question, “Are you an android?” is to assert one’s power over another.
Wilbur Mercer controls millions of people with fake emotional cues