What can we learn from the first page of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By David Agranoff
Welcome to our Blade Runner anniversary coverage of Philip K. Dick’s classic novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? One reason I wanted to do this celebration is to highlight the novel that often gets overlooked by fans of the movie. So this month we are going to celebrate the novel with deep care. I have written a couple of essays to go with our coverage. The first one is about the first two pages and their deeper meaning of them. This is pages 3 and 4 of the Del Rey trade paperback.
We should start with the first sentence.
“A merry little surge of electricity piped by automatic alarm from the mood organ beside his bed awakened Rick Deckard.”
It is an interesting choice that Phil opens the novel with our main character asleep and awakened by a machine whose purpose is to control emotions. The idea for the mood organ is that people control what they feel setting on the machine. Right from the opening sentence, the table is set for a world in which even sleep is controlled by technology.
According to the PKD dictionary “The Mood organ is defined as Developed from the brain-mapping of the mid-1960s and the discoveries about the mid-brain (hypothalamus) and depth-electrode techniques of Penfield, Jacobson & Olds. The keys of the organ trigger off different depth-electrodes in the hypothalamus, allowing one's mood to be adjusted artificially - and even to produce entirely new emotions. The Hammerstein Mood Organ and the Waldteufel Euphoria are just such instruments, and render the conventional musical organs obsolete.”
Deckard starts to get up. His wife Iran is still asleep and he wonders why she is not awake too. “You set your Penfield too weak,” he said to her. “I’ll reset and you’ll be awake.”
Iran doesn’t want him touching her settings preferring to stay asleep. He tries to convince her to change her settings. The narrative reason is simple. PKD is trying from the first page to establish the blurred lines between humans and technology. It is a part of something as pure as a married couple waking up beside each other.
Deckard puts his hand on her should and Iran tells him “Get your crude cop’s hands away.” It is awkward dialogue but important. She has already told him once to not mess with the machine that controls her emotions and this time she makes an insult taking a dig at him for being a “Cop.”
“I’m not a cop.” He felt irritable, now, although he had not dialed for it.
Excellent world-building here. Not only does it show that the bounty hunters (given the name Blade Runners in the Hampton Francher first draft of the script dated in 1980) are not police officers, but the public, even his wife see them that way. Also, the line “although he had dialed for it.” Is subtle but excellent to express his feelings and explain the different aspects of this future in a sentence.
Then Iran responds:
“You’re worse,” his wife said, her eyes still shut. “you’re a murder hired by the cops.”
“I’ve never killed a human being in my life.”
Right here on the first page, the debate on the humanity and ethics of artificial persons begins between Deckard and his wife. PKD of course was well known for writing about the question of what is human? He wastes no time bringing the debate into the story. The argument gets worse when Iran expresses sadness for the “Poor Andys.” Note the term Replicant was a creation of David Peoples in the second major draft of the screenplay. Deckard gets mad at the suggestion and points out that Iran lives off the spoils of his bounties. In this scene, he also talks about their need for more money so they could buy a real sheep, not an electric one. This is a nice way to introduce an aspect of the story that will play a large role later. It establishes a couple of things but most important what may seem like a weird throw-away line about Sheep is actually setting up the important “keep up with Joneses aspect of collecting real live animals in a world where they are going extinct. World War Terminus and the mass extinction have yet to be introduced but the effects of them are hinted at here.
Deckard also in the interior monologue debates dialing for a suppressant to wipe away his anger or send his rage through the roof. Iran sees this.
“If you dial,” Iran said eyes open and watching, “for greater venom I’ll do the same.”
The second page also highlights PKD’s underrated humor.
At that point, Deckard agrees to set his mood organ to his scheduled mood which for January 3rd, 2021 is a “Businesslike professional attitude.” Too bad for him his wife had scheduled a “six-hour self-accusatory depression.” Like the reader, Deckard is darkly amused that is a possible setting. This scene highlights PKD’s ability to write satire, as this scene uses the mood organ technology to mock a typical marriage fight.
The first two pages are a great example of Philip K Dick’s often overlooked strengths. It is absolutely nothing like the tone of the movie and provides a great example of how much deeper and different the journey of the novel is. That said the nature of the stage is set subtly but there. A dying world where emotions are tied to technology, animals are nearly extinct and bounty hunters are hired to hunt and kill Androids. All in the first two pages. Done with a little marriage satire it is powerful, funny, and weird right out of the gate.
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One City, One Reads: Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Blade Runner with the PKD Podcast and Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore! June 25th, 5 PM!
June 25th, 1982: BLADE RUNNER, one of the genre-defining classics of science fiction film, was released in theatres. Based on Philip K. Dick's 1966 classic novel DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?, both the novel and the film still have an important place in the speculative genre. So this June 25th, Mysterious Galaxy will host a live event celebrating BLADE RUNNER’s 40th anniversary and we want you to take part. As a community, we will be re-reading the classic novel leading up to the June 25th event. So pull DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? off your shelf, or swing by Mysterious Galaxy to pick up a fresh copy and to support the store. Then, join us on Saturday, June 25th at 5 PM for a discussion led by the authors behind the Philip K Dick-themed podcast, (PK)Dickheads podcast. This discussion will be recorded for the (PK)Dickheads podcast show.
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