Fear

A single theme emerged throughout PKDs stories.  Fear motivated many of the characters.  In each story there was some controlling force, often the government, that was pushing in on the characters.  They were afraid that something would be taken from them.  This was often their lives.  In The Preserving Machine Dr. Labyrinth held a great love for classical music.  He feared that as time progressed that it would be lost.  His machine was used to create the living incarnations of the music he loved so dearly.  These creatures were so different than what he imagined them to be.  They were ugly and real unlike the elaborate conceptions that the mind creates upon listening to the beautiful compositions.  Once released into the wild the creature evolved to survive or died trying.  The progression of time and life is not something that anyone can control.  Nature was the controlling force that crushed Dr. Labyrinth’s visions of salvaging the great music he treasured.  So ultimately maybe PKD isn’t warning of the future as much as exploring what could come and persuading his readers to enjoy this moment in time.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Philip K. Dick

         Emotional Identity is explored throughout the text.  At the beginning of the story our central character Rick Deckard and his wife, Iran, argue over which mood to set for themselves for the day.  Iran has set her schedule to include a 6-hour self-accusatory depression for the day.  Rick finds it ridiculous that one would choose such a state.  Yet the day that Rick experiences throughout the novel certainly drags him through a gamete of negative emotional experiences.  The author never suggests that Iran does anything but stay home.  This would allow her to have complete control over her emotional state at all times with the assistance of the empathy box.  It would be incredibly difficult to live in such a static emotional state.
      The androids that Rick hunts are judged based upon their empathetic response to a variety of questions.  When he discovers that the test may not be entirely accurate he continues to use it.  It is even mentioned that the test had been found to be inaccurately on those that suffer from mental illness.  I find it shameful that they would continue to use such a test when the results are not accurate and a failing result would immediately result in death.