Analysis Of Philip K. Dick's 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep'

“I wish, he thought painfully, that I could get another job. If I hadn’t failed that IQ test I wouldn’t be reduced to this ignominious task with its attendant emotional by-products. On the other hand, the synthetic sufferings of false animals didn’t bother Milt Borogrove or their boss Hannibal Sloat. So maybe it’s I, John Isidore said to himself. Maybe when you deteriorate back down the ladder of evolution as I have, when you sink into the tomb world slough of being special—well, best to abandon that line of inquiry” (68).

Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep forces the reader to reconsider the importance of empathy and question if it is an essential attribute for beings to have. Empathy is the deciding factor to if a species is human, but both androids and humans can exhibit it. Isidore exemplifies the flaws of this society where empathy appears to be an imagined connection that beings can construct. Defining a life as human based on its ability to be empathetic is defective, considering that Isidore’s actions are undoubtedly human yet he is secluded from society.
Isidore states that the artificial pain of the animals
Dick’s Characterization of Isidore proves that a person does not have to be empathic to be human. Observing Isidore’s relationship with empathy exposes the damage that emerges when empathy is used as classification to maintain order. Empathy is a reaction that can be imaginary since relating to another beings exact feelings is unrealistic. Although Isidore is seen as unworthy in this civilization, he displays humane actions. The idea of empathy established a distorted hierarchy in this society, leading to Isidore being perceived as unusual for sympathizing with androids and electric animals. He is conditioned to perceive himself as incompetent yet is one of the most logical characters in the