For questions about Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel. For the 1982 film adaptation, use the [blade-runner] tag.
Questions tagged [do-androids-dream-of-electric-sheep]
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In Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", is Deckard a replicant?
I have watched different versions the movie and read the book a number of times, and I still can't decide: was Deckard a replicant? I know that he has an emotional reaction to the question of how he feels about killing androids while attached to a…
TML
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Can someone explain the end of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
In Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? when Deckard goes to Oregon at the end of the novel, what is all that about? Did he have an epiphany? What exactly was the epiphany? Is he Mercer? If yes, how does that work? He never knew he…
Fixed Point
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Why did the Rosen corporation want to discredit the Voight-Kampff test?
In Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, why did the Rosen corporation want to discredit the Voight-Kampff test? If the new Nexus 6 types were to be so good and human-like that they pass the empathy test, then wouldn't the pressure…
Fixed Point
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Where are the children in Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"? Are there even any?
All the mentions of children in PKD's "Androids" are either about someone's childhood:
...he remembered how in his childhood it had been discovered that species upon species had become extinct and how the 'papes had reported it each day...
...He…
P. Vowk
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In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, why is Rosen corp. trying to stop bounty hunters?
In Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Rosen corporation uses Rachel Rosen to stop all bounty hunters from killing rebel androids. Near the end, Rachel explicitly say she slept with lot of bounty hunters just to make them quit their job.…
lorenzo-s
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Would a human sociopath fail the Voight-Kampff test?
I've found this fragment from P. K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? regarding the Voight-Kampff test:
Rick said, "A female android."
"Now they're up to 4.0 and 6. respectively."
"That's high enough," Rick said; he removed the wired…
Yasskier
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Why did Deckard get a citation from his police department?
In Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? why did Deckard get a citation at the end from his police department? Because he retired too many andys in a single day? I thought the police wants to retire as many as possible. Sounds to me…
Fixed Point
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How did the androids manage to disrupt communication with the real police station?
While Rick was interrogating Luba Luft, she manages to call the fake police station and summon a cop who then let Rick use the phone too. He manages to reach the real police station and even talk with Inspector Bryant, but then the call is cut off…
Shadow Wizard Love Zelda
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Who throws the stone at Deckard in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
Near the end of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", someone throws a stone at Deckard the way they were throwing stones at Mercer as he was climbing up a hill. Is it ever explained or implied who throws the stone? Mercer wasn't really in the…
creative_name
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Is Mercer real?
I just finished the book. The first as Sci-fi I've ever read. One aspect of the book that confused me was the concept of Mercerism. The Androids and Buster Friendly state that Mercer is a hoax who in reality is a drunk, however later on in the book…
sortinousn
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How can the androids have important jobs, Garland, Luft?
I don't remember how long Phillip K. Dick wrote the Nexus-6 androids had been on Earth but I recall they had only recently arrived. That being the case, how can they have important jobs like Inspector Garland (that everyone at his fake office knew,…
caballero17
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How is it possible that Rachael Rosen slept with several bounty hunters?
At the beginning of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, we learn that Rachael Rosen is an android who had received fake memories, leading her to believe she was the actual niece of Eldon Rosen. Deckard asks Eldon if she knew she was an android, to…
prvsct
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Why Were Androids Outlawed in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
In the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? it is never clear why the androids were banned from Earth, but kept legal on the colony worlds. That is my only problem with the book. Is it prejudice that the humans on Earth have that they don't…
White Eagle
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Why do the Police work against the Rosen company?
I'm still at the beginning of the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, where Deckard is sent to the Rosen family, so please try not to spoiler; I just had this question: Why does the Police/Deckard work against the Rosen company (or: why is…
user120112
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Why weren't bounty hunters provided with pictures of runaway androids?
In Philip K. Dick's dystopian sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, bounty hunter Rick Deckard is assigned to track down, identify, and "retire" six rogue Nexus 6 androids (or "andys") that have illegally escaped to Earth from Mars.
He…
Spar10 Leonidas
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