Previous
Chapter 6
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Humanity and Empathy
Reality vs. Artificiality
Alienation
Religion and Faith
Consumerism
Summary
Analysis
John starts his day thinking about Pris, wondering if she might warm up to him over time. After dressing for work, he heads out in his hovercar to his job at the Van Ness Pet Hospital, where he repairs artificial animals. His first task involves transporting an electric cat that malfunctions during the trip, emitting realistic signs of distress. John attempts to fix it in the truck but struggles to locate the concealed controls. Frustrated, he realizes the problem exceeds his abilities and hurries to the shop.
John desperately wants to make a connection with a real human being, something that is difficult to do in his day job, which involves caring for synthetic animals. When the cat malfunctions, John throws himself into trying to fix it. This highlights John’s empathy for all beings, synthetic and real. It doesn’t matter to him that this is an electric cat—as far as he’s concerned, it’s still important to do everything possible to save it.
Themes
At the hospital, John delivers the cat to his boss, Hannibal Sloat, and repairman Milt Borogrove. Sloat inspects the animal and discovers it is real, not artificial, and has died. He angrily questions John’s inability to distinguish between real and fake animals, but Milt defends him, pointing out how lifelike artificial animals have become. Sloat blames the situation on the cat’s owner, who neglected proper care.
Here, the line between artificial and natural is once again called into question. If empathy defines humanity, then Sloan is a rather unempathetic figure, as he seems to only want to put John down. Meanwhile, Milt is both empathetic and honest about the increasing difficulty in distinguishing between humans and machines.
Themes
Sloat asks John to contact Mrs. Pilsen, the cat’s owner. Overcoming his fear of using the vidphone, John informs her about the cat’s death. She becomes emotional and eventually considers commissioning an electric replica to avoid telling her husband the truth. John suggests replacement options, but Milt takes over the call to finalize the arrangements. Mrs. Pilsen agrees to the plan and requests a replica so realistic that it might fool her husband, although Milt doubts the deception will last. Sloat puts John in charge of ensuring the replica is properly built, which makes John nervous.
Vidphones are machines that enable users to experience video calls, a technology that was still far off in the future when Dick was writing. John is not used to talking to other people face to face, especially in the context of delivering bad news, so making the call makes him nervous. Again, Milt displays both empathy and professionalism by helping John complete the call. Meanwhile, for Mrs. Pilsen, the increasing difficulty to distinguish between the real and the artificial is a solution rather than a problem.
Themes
