ch 10-11

Cram takes Rick to the "new police station" to meet Garland (head of the police department) and Resch (a bounty hunter). Garland turns out to be an android on Ricks list. Phil, like Rachel, doesn't know that he is an android...hunting androids. Rick protects Phil from being found out, so Phil sneaks Rick out. After they get out and are on their way to kill Luft, Rick starts to wonder if he is an androids. This thought is totally appropriate. There is just as good of a chance that Rick is an android as well, considering Rachel and Phil had no idea. This though could be applied to present day human i guess, but i dont see why it should bother them so much. Androids seem pretty human like to me, and thats what i set out to be.

ch 9

Rick takes a trip to the opera in order to hopefully catch Luba Luft. The way PKD described Rick scanning over her in the opera makes it seem as if he has feelings for this android. Even though i dont see how a person could take interest in an artificial being, im in no position to judge what weird things people are going to be doing in a hundred years. Who knows, maybe humans won't get along with eachother in the future and resort to having relationships with androids. When Rick approached her and started questioning her she seemed as if she already knew what was coming for her. She answered all the questions very indirectly and i think manipulated that knowledge with Ricks obvious attraction for her. She picked up too heavy of a "vibe" i guess and called the cops on Rick, claiming he was a pervert. Officer Crams comes in to take Rick away. If the androids work this hard to protect themselves from being either taken away or retired, then they know how precious freedom is and should cease to be slaves i think. The whole point of having and android is for it to be this emotionless machine that does what you say. When they start to develop feelings, its just not right to opress them.

ch 8

Upon Ricks return from Seattle, he's given the assignment to hunt down polokov. Rick is told to work with a Soviet police officer to help track him down but out of i guess self-righteousness, he goes on without him. He shows up at Polokovs appartment but hes not there. He's supposed to meet the Soviet cop but he first gets a call from Rachel who helps him realize that this man is actually the android he's hunting. He retires him soon after. When he calls Iran to tell her about it, she is totally uninterested. Iran is one of my favorite characters because she's so out of touch to me with this whole futuristic society. She understands the importance of feeling blue and not being fake all the time, even though shes artificially putting her self in this depression.

ch 7

This chapters based around John. He brings a sick cat to the fake vet but it dies on the way there. When he got to work his boss was giving him a bunch of crap. He was calling him a chickenhead and telling him to do stuff he knew he couldnt do. John had to contact the owners of the cat and let them know that it had died. The wife of the couple that owned the cat said she would order a replica so the husband wouldnt get upset. That would really upset me living in a world where everything was so dispensible like that. Maybe this is why they lost interest in trying to be human and not alter themselves because they have the mentality if somethings not the way you want it, you manipulate it to be the way you desire. I can see this with present day humans, especially with higher power figures. Huge governmental figures have no problem changing the world around them to fit their needs. The thought that it could become all too common in the future really freaks me out.

Ch 6

In chapter six, John goes to his neighbors appartment. It said that as soon as he started knocking on the door that the tv cut off which was really weird to me. He akwardly told her through the closed the door that he was her neighbor and wanted them to be friends when she opened the door. The way Dick described her creeped me out: "a girl who cringed and slunk away yet held onto the door, as if for physical support". When he explained that they were the only ones in the building, she got more confident and stood up. He tried to make small talk with her about buster friendly but she had no idea what he was talking about. She seemed either really weird or strung out...like a neighbor i didnt want to meet. Isadore later talked about how the empathy box was "and extension of your body". Its as if theyre not satisfied with the way their natural human bodies are, theyre trying to remove themselves further from naturality by considering these stupid machines a part of them.

Youtube link

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aosl53ie3mw

ch 5

The book really picks up in this chapter. It starts out by Rick giving Rachel the vkt. After all the questions it concluded that she was an android. This is really crazy because it shows how good androids are at posing as humans. It also said something about the new nexus 6 androids being able to show emotion or feelings. Its as if androids are acting like humans better than real humans are. It also really confuses me because i dont know how you could create something as personal as emotion through a computer.

ch 4

Rick talks to his boss about his next assignment. He's supposed to test the vk test on a new type of android to make sure it works. Since the head bounty hunter died, he's being left with all the androids he was supposed to get. As he arrives at the place where he is to test the vk test, he meets Rachael Rosen who is going to take him to the testing area. On the way, he sees that they have a collection of animals. He first notices the racoon, which he had never seen. He was amazed by this, but even more amazed by the owl they had. It amazed me to see how much he adored those animals. It's unlike any valuable we have in our society.

ch.2-3

It says that people dont remember why the war was started. If it went on for long enough to set the world in that state, then people were fighting a war without a reason which is insane to me. Im pretty confused on the term chicken head. I dont see a connection between the word and definition. The empathy box seems to be a secluded hallway where all you can do is feel terrible...I'm not sure what the real reason for it is but it's one of the only human like things in this novel. Even though its artificial, its better to be sad every now and then instead of using a machine or other substance to create happiness. John Isidore is a "chickenhead" who stayed in san fran after the dust fall out. His job is to fix peoples electric animals while posing as a real vet. The dust has affected the city dramatically. It says that it killed off all the birds first, which is interesting. I feel like it wouldn't be long until there wasnt much left. In the third chapter, Rick walked to work stopping off, apparently like many other people, at the pet store to look at the rare animals he could never own. After he gets to work, he recieves news that the head bounty hunter was shot by an android and that he was in the hospital. After talking to his boss for a while he tried to bargain with the salesman of the ostrich he saw on the way to work, but eventually realizing he could not afford it. I feel like animals are more of a social trophy than a meaningful being because Rick then tries to secretly buy an electric ostrich.

ch. 1

I didn't understand the use of the epigraph in the first chapter. The mood organ seems completely unreal to me. Almost everything that we use today to alter our mood is either expensive or unhealthy. To have something like that almost seems unhuman. Rick is a very strange character. He seems really down on everything because his job sucks and the world he lives in sucks...and he doesnt even have a real sheep. Iran seems pretty miserable as well but also seems a little more down to earth. Together, they make for a pretty unappealing relationship. Their setting is probable one of the reasons they seem so unhappy. It sounds like their living in sort of a post-apocalyptic city. Since the last world war, everyone walks around wearing lead codpieces to protect themselves from radiation. Also becuse of the war, animals are dying off and considered very valuable. Mercerism is another reason they are such a delicacy. It seems like a religion based around Mercer with a philosiphy people apply to their life, much like Buddhism.