Book Review: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Reviewed by Mohammed Mohammed

Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter living in the rubble and remains of Earth after World War Terminus. Rick strives to maintain some semblance of sanity and peace on the mostly-deserted planet.

Philip Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was published in 1968 and set in a post-apocalyptic world in 2020. Back then people figured that by now we would have flying cars and androids.

After the war, the majority of the population emigrates to space colonies or other planets such as Mars. It is not hard to see why. Those who remain on the rubble-infested earth are forced to endure occasional horrid dust storms that make life miserable. Each immigrant automatically receives his own free android servant. However, sometimes androids malfunction and attempt to escape their servitude. These rogue androids sometimes make their way back to Earth and try to blend in with the remaining population. This is where bounty hunters like Rick come in to clean up the mess. However, not all androids are so easy to retire, and with each later model, it becomes harder to distinguish android from human.

A friend told me about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I would definitely recommend it for anyone interested in action, philosophy, psychology or even just a good sci-fi. A major theme of the book is human nature. What is it that makes us human? What is it that separates us humans from these androids that breathe, think, and grow? This book ponders and explores these themes and I love it.

Mohammed Mohammed is a graduating senior in the Gifted program at Hahnville High. In the fall he plans to major in engineering and attend the University of New Orleans, the University of Louisiana or Louisiana Tech University. He enjoys music, computers, and art. Mohammed volunteers at two local fire departments

Book reviews are published weekly in agreement with Hahnville High School gifted English teacher Deborah Unger in conjunction with the Brown Foundation Service Learning Program.