Frankenstein
The action takes place in a world covered with radioactive dust, after a nuclear war that has killed almost all animals, so that people have power animals. The protagonist is Rick Deckard, a former police officer and expert Blade Runner (although the novel does not have this name, but to "bounty hunter"), which should eliminate a group of Nexus 6 - androids art almost identical human beings, which has come to Earth, fleeing from a space colony due to the terrible living conditions to which they were subjected. (Aldiss p27-35)
The novel, one of the classic Dicks, covers topics such as the vague boundary between the artificial and natural, the decline of life and society, and addresses various issues ethical about androids. Also, given its aesthetics and descriptions of a world destroyed, abandoned, where technology is ubiquitous, it can be framed in the genre of cyberpunk. (Chapple p16-24)
Background
People who stay on earth live in chaotic cities where radiation causes disease and harms genes. All animals are in danger of extinction: the radioactive dust has killed all the birds and decimated other species. Having and caring for an animal is considered a civic virtue and a status symbol, depending on the rarity of the species. The animals are bought and sold by reference to the latest issue of Sydney of birds and animals, extinct animals are there for the price of the last copy sold. Some people who can not afford a real animal choose to buy an artificial to maintain their social position. The companies responsible for making, repairing electrical and animal care are popular in this society. (Baldick p17-24) Ask if the neighbor is electric animal is considered taboo, a very serious lack of courtesy, especially to find out if teeth, hair or internal organs of a person is genuine. (Chapple p16-24)
Discussion
The droids are used in human settlements, mainly that of Mars, but many of them fleeing to earth to escape the loneliness of the red planet and to be free from slavery to which the human subject. They are made from completely organic elements and are physically indistinguishable from humans. Bounty hunters like Deckard, track and "retire" fugitive androids, usually posing as humans. An analysis of bone in the body of each android "retired" to verify that no one person has been killed. Due to differences in the vagus nerve, an android can kill with just hold your breath. (Tatsumi et al. p43-49)
It is necessary for the bounty hunters to apply test of empathy as the Voigt-Kampff to differentiate human androids. The test measures brain activity and eye movements in response to emotional triggers, many of which involve animal cruelty. Since androids can not feel empathy, his emotional response is significantly different from humans. Boneli test, something simpler, measures the speed of response of the reflex arc that occurs in the lymph upper spine. (Chapple p16-24)
Another instrument of the novel is "Penfield mood Body," named for the neurologist Wilder Penfield, inducing emotions in users. The user can dial a number and automatically experience a certain mood or emotion. Examples include: "Awareness of the many possibilities that the future offers me" (481), "Recognition satisfactory husband's superior wisdom in all matters" (594), "Desire to watch television, no matter what you have" (888), "and deserved night's rest" (670) and "desire to make" (3). Many users have a daily encouragement.
When reading the novel presents the dilemma of what is the main theme. On first reading we see that there are two main themes: the religious issue of the mercer and the relationship between men and androids, but both issues are so closely linked that they lead to a single theme: the reality (recurring theme in the novels of Philip K. Dick).
Throughout the novel emphasizes the idea of?
spiritual unity among all human beings through a machine with which each individual feelings are shared by the rest. (Tatsumi et al. p43-49)
However, it is curious that to achieve these unit human beings to resort to a machine and, at some point in the novel, there is the theory that market may be an impostor. This delves into the idea that everything that seems real to humans is a fake, as in the case of the androids. On the other hand, in many respects, man-made objects are more perfect than the real because it does not degenerate: electric animals and androids do not get sick humans seem more aware of the importance of the concept of humanity that the men themselves. (Baldick p17-24)
But what is reality in this book? As mentioned...
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