Towards a De-Kippleization of Philip K. Dick"s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Towards a De-Kippleization of Philip K. Dick"s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

  Despite his undisputed status as one of the representative science fiction writers of the 20th century, Philip K. Dick is also perhaps the most misunderstood writer of the genre. Readers and critics alike have complained about his work"s seemingly lack of a moral center, the absence of a satisfactory resolution, and the depressingly dystopian vision of the future of mankind. By explicating the thematic idiosyncrasies of his most well known work, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, I attempt to demonstrate Dick"s adeptness in using the science fiction genre as a platform for foregrounding such metaphysical issues as "the nature of reality" and "the nature of humanity." I further argue that the chaotic nature of his work is in fact part and parcel of the author"s grand design to compel us the readers to abandon our preconceptions about why man deserves a special niche in the great chain of being and begin to realize that our "humanity" is not an inherent birth-right but rather something that we must seek and achieve through the conscious choices we make during our lives. In a sense, the novel is a philosophical treatise on the ontology of human existence. Two motifs that will be investigated at great length is the popular sci-fi novum of the "android" and the neo-religion of "Mercerism," focusing on how these two central motifs of the novel can shed light on the overall authorial intent.