Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep Analysis

Philip K. Dick’s prediction of the future presented in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, while outdated, gives insight into the controversies and opinions during the 1960s. Throughout the 1960s, both men and women would invest in pills and other products in order to ensure they could conceive. The novel places a large emphasis on the ability to reproduce—Rick is concerned that one day the radiation will take away his ability to reproduce, so he, like other men, takes to wearing a codpiece made out of lead. Through his use of language, Dick insinuates that the codpieces do not work because the name of the brand, Mountibank, is similar to the word mountebank, which means a person who deceives others. If the radiation did not cause him to become infertile, the lead certainly could have, which probably is what caused his wife, Iran, to hold such a disdain for the “Mountibank Lead Codpiece” commercial (5). Women’s sexual rights were also a controversial topic during the …show more content…
Abortion was illegal in the 1960s, yet women were so desperate that they would obtain them illegally. There were, and still are, those who truly believe that women who receive an abortion should be punished, and the opinion is acknowledged while simultaneously criticized through the fear shown by Rachel when abortion is mentioned during her test. In addition to the commentary on reproduction, Dick places an emphasis on the treatment of those with mental handicaps. Mental diseases and disabilities were not widely understood in the 1960s—people were still being institutionalized in jail-like facilities because of their handicaps. Isidore, who was rendered partially