73 pages • 2 hours read
Philip K. DickDo Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1968A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 14-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary
Roy Baty is the leader of the eight androids Deckard is hunting. He tells Pris that most of their group is dead. Asking Pris about Isidore, he learns that Isidore is human and special but accepts Pris’s claim that he is friendly. Roy recommends that Pris move to Isidore’s house and leave her apartment free for him and Irmgard. Pris is unimpressed by the idea of moving in with a special. Roy sets up an alarm to warn them of any intruders. During this conversation, Isidore notices that the three androids do not communicate like normal people. They talk in a “detached, remote” (89) manner.
Eventually, Isidore realizes that the new arrivals must be androids, which clarifies Pris’s story about being hunted and “all these precautions” (90). Though he knows that they are androids, he is unaware that they killed their human masters during their escape. He does, however, admire their intelligence. He says as much, and Irmgard thanks him for his show of solidarity with the androids. As a special, Isidore knows how it feels to be a member of a marginalized group, just like the androids. Now that Isidore knows the androids’ secret, however, they agree to vote on what they should do about him. Pris praises Isidore as “special” (91).
Chapter 15 Summary
The androids hold their vote: Roy wants to kill Isidore and move elsewhere, while Irmgard wants to remain hidden in the apartment. Pris also wants to stay in the apartment and accept Isidore’s offer of help. Her confidence gives Isidore a sense of resolve.
Deckard finishes his work and, on the way home, he returns to the pet store. He uses the money he earned by killing three androids to place a down payment on a live, black goat. When he takes the goat home, Iran is pleased to have a real animal in their lives again. Bill Barbour congratulates the couple on their new animal. Iran uses her empathy box to “give thanks to Mercer” (94), but Deckard wants to talk about how his views of androids changed after the day’s events. Even if he has “begun to empathize with androids” (96), Iran says he cannot quit because they must continue to pay for the goat. In the apartment, Bryant calls Deckard and orders him to immediately find and kill Roy and Irmgard. The two androids were spotted in an apartment building, and Bryant fears that they could vanish at any time. Even though he is exhausted, Deckard accepts the order.
He is concerned about his growing empathy for androids and how this will impact his work. After Iran, Deckard uses the empathy box. He receives a message of despair from Mercer, who says that there is “no salvation” and that Deckard will be required to violate his own identity, as every living thing must do. Deckard plots out his assignment in a dark mood. If he survives, he tells himself, he will quit bounty hunting. Worried that three androids may be too many for him to handle, he decides to accept Rachael’s offer to help. When he calls her, she initially insists that it’s too late for her to fly from Seattle to San Francisco. However, she accepts the offer when Deckard hints that they could get a hotel room together and abandon the pursuit of the androids.
Chapter 16 Summary
Rachael brings a bottle of whiskey to the hotel. In the room, Deckard talks to her about his case. She examines the photographs of the missing androids and then asks why Deckard is still concerned with them, now that he has promised to abandon his assignment. As Rachael drinks whiskey “defiantly” (102), she becomes inebriated. She asks Deckard to tell her how the Nexus-6 androids can be distinguished from humans. This information, she hopes, will be used to develop the upcoming Nexus-7 models.
Deckard is distracted. He set himself the goal of killing Roy. Killing Pris will be more challenging as she is a perfect, physical replica of Rachael. Even though she feels “something like” (103) empathy for Pris, Rachael promises to kill her if Deckard kills the other two androids. She gives him a device that will disable any android for a few seconds. She convinces Deckard to have sex with her, telling him that she loves him. As they get into bed, Deckard thinks about Resch’s comments about sleeping with an android.
Chapter 17 Summary
After having sex, Deckard and Rachael order room service. They talk about androids’ limited life spans of just four years, meaning that Rachael has “almost two more years” (107) before she breaks down. Leaving the hotel, they set out to hunt the missing androids. They talk in Deckard’s hovercar, and Deckard tells Rachael that, if it were possible, he would marry her. Rachael believes that their sexual relationship will prevent Deckard from hunting the other androids; she tells Deckard that she slept with other bounty hunters nine previous times, and none of them could bring themselves to kill androids after sleeping with her. The exception is Phil Resch. Deckard is shocked that Rachael does not love him and that she has been manipulating him. He insists that he can still kill the missing androids. He also believes that he can kill her.
Rachael searches for something in her bag, then stops. She asks Deckard whether he will kill her “in a way that won’t hurt” (109) if he has to kill her. When Deckard stops his car and points his laser at Rachael, he finds that he cannot kill her at all. Rachael takes this as proof that she was right. She does not believe Deckard can kill the androids, so she mocks him and tells him to return home to Iran and his pet goat. Rachael teases Deckard for caring so much about the goat. Deckard remains silent, so Rachael turns on the radio. She insists that a big announcement will be made on Buster Friendly’s show.
Chapters 14-17 Analysis
The arrival of Roy Baty changes the novel’s tone. Prior to his arrival, the most prominent androids were Rachael and Pris. The female androids present themselves as scared, lonely, and in need to help. To men like Deckard and Isidore, this makes them seem vulnerable and sympathetic. The female androids exploit the Essential Empathy of characters like Isidore while inciting newfound empathy in a cynical bounty hunter like Rick Deckard. Baty is different. He lacks any pretense and does not even feign empathy. After arriving in the apartment block, he is cold and indifferent to Isidore’s presence. He is happy to use Isidore as a distraction should a bounty hunter arrive, even if this means Isidore’s death. When the androids vote, Baty casually suggests that they kill Isidore to avoid any loose ends. To Baty, the death of an innocent man like Isidore is no more important or consequential than any other chore. In this respect, Baty is the embodiment of humans’ fear of androids. He is the cold, calculating killing machine that compels humans to abandon any empathy regarding androids. Baty plays the role of the conventional villain, demonstrating the cruel tendencies that run counter to Deckard’s emerging empathy for artificial life.
Deckard gets his wish for a pet when he purchases a real goat. The purchase is not the simple financial transaction that Deckard hoped for, however. The purchase of the goat is only made possible due to Deckard’s professional success: He kills three androids and receives a large bounty for each. Rather than save this money or consult his wife, he immediately buys the goat. The immediacy of the purchase speaks to Deckard’s mental state; his work left him feeling less human because of the coldness required to kill others, and the goat is a way for him to cultivate his empathy and desire to care for something. Ironically, his greatest professional success may lay the foundation for the end of his career due to these conflicting emotions. He has killed three Nexus-6 models and won praise from his boss and his colleagues as a result. Nevertheless, he cannot enjoy this success. Deckard is developing deeper empathy for androids and worries that he is a murderer. The bounties feel more like blood money than ever before, so he does not want to hold on to the money for long. With this, the goat is an attempt to soothe his raging conscience. The distraction of his wife’s excitement, the boost to social status, and the reaffirmation of his identity through consumer choices shows how the purchase of the goat is Deckard’s attempt to return to his previous state. He makes good on a long-held ambition but, after purchasing the goat, realizes that he is no longer the same person. Deckard cannot distract himself with the purchase of a living animal because he has delved too deep into the mysteries surrounding Artificiality.
Deckard follows Resch’s suggestion and has sex with Rachael. Rather than clarifying his emotions regarding androids, however, he finds himself more confused. In the hotel room, Rachael emerges as the novel’s true antagonist. She has been manipulating Deckard since their first meeting, and their sexual relationship is simply the latest step in her campaign to save androids from the bounty hunters. Rachael seduces Deckard, but she cannot speak to him in a truly emotional manner. She lacks the empathy needed to show genuine affection for him, so their relationship remains transactional. She offers to kill Pris in exchange for sex. The offer is not just the promise of violence; Rachael is offering Deckard emotional clarity. He is worried that he will not be able to kill Pris because of her resemblance to Rachael. By offering to kill Pris, Rachael provides Deckard with an escape route from his increasingly constrictive empathy. She exchanges this emotional clarity for sex, hoping that Deckard’s growing empathy will ultimately prevent him from killing the androids. She is wrong: Deckard has sex with Rachael but he eventually rejects her anyway. Rachael’s lack of empathy means that she never correctly reads Deckard’s intentions, while Deckard’s sudden abundance of empathy means that he misinterprets Rachael’s. Deckard’s time with Rachael only leaves him more confused, somehow increasing his empathy toward androids even though he was seduced, manipulated, and tricked by Rachael. This also ties into the theme of essential empathy; just as humans are variable moral and immoral, Deckard does not write off all androids just because one manipulates him.
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