Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

“You’re a murderer hired by cops.”

Iran’s insult sticks with Deckard so much because he fears it might be true. At the beginning of the novel, Deckard doesn’t empathize with the androids. He does not yet consider the androids to be alive, so he does not believe that he is a murderer. Her comment lingers in his thoughts as he becomes more acquainted with the Nexus-6 models, however, and Iran’s insult foreshadows Deckard’s growing fear that he is not a moral person.

“This was not the first wound he had received while in fusion with Mercer, and it probably would not be the last.”

Through Mercer and the empathy boxes, people are able to exercise their empathy. This experience of emotion is so vivid that people suffer from physical wounds in empathy with the wounds suffered by Mercer. Characters are compelled to performatively empathize with Mercer to such an extent that they become physically harmed, and they are happy to do so.

“Office gossip annoyed him because it always proved better than the truth.”

The novel presents a constant tension between the authentic and the artificial. This tension is found throughout society, between electric sheep and real animals or between humans and androids. Office gossip is an example of this tension, presenting a version of the truth that is alluring but not real. The gossip performs the same function as the truth and aesthetically seems the same, but it lacks the fundamental authenticity.