Androids Themes

The main themes of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep are heavily influenced by the author’s world view. Philp K. Dick lived through an era of rapid technological growth. Dick witnessed the infancy of nuclear power, the space race which sent a man to the moon, the digital revolution and the beginning of the internet. He believes that through technology, we as a species can achieve great things. His fictitious works often include futuristic settings such as an off-world colony. Yet many of them have darker themes such as greedy corporations, illusion of reality and an all-powerful government. In D.A.D.E.S., technology allows humans to flee uninhabitable Earth to colonize new worlds but is also responsible for blurring the definition of life …show more content…
The authors’ views on religion are somewhat alike, even though their predictions on the future of religion differ. In D.A.D.E.S., Dick makes use of a global religion called Mercerism with the introduction of the Empathy Box. “’But an empathy box,’ he said, stammering in his excitement, ‘is the most personal possession you have! It's an extension of your body; it's the way you touch other humans, it's the way you stop being alone.’” Comparable to today’s religion, only on a larger scale, Mercerism connects its followers all across the solar system thanks to the Empathy Box, revealing that religion is still going strong after all those years. On the other hand, H. G. Wells believes that there is no place for religion in the future. In his novel where he tries to predict the future, The Shape of Things to Come, Wells envisions all religions to be abolished by a single world order. The authors’ world views align once again. Both Wells and Dick imagine an authoritarian government born form the ashes of the old world. Some of their works of fiction are set in a desolated future brought on by a war waged with highly destructive technology. To sum it up, they both share certain values with religion, though they differ on its place in the future, whether it is to go extinct or if one major religion will become dominant. They are also fearful of what mankind will do …show more content…
Philip K. Dick displays this in D.A.D.E.S. by having Mercerism’s followers not reject it after finding out it is a fraud. And even though H. G. Wells believes science can resolve the question, it is also the origin of the conflict. Science allows us to bend the rules of life through technological advances such as cloning. It will be only a matter of time when the human race will have to clearly define such