Summary and Analysis: Chapter 7
New Characters
Amanda Werner: a perpetual guest on Buster Friendly’s television show.
Titus Corning : U.N. Secretary General.
Milt Borogrove : a repairman at the Van ness Pet Hospital.
Mrs. Pilsen: cat owner.
Ed Pilsen: Mrs. Pilsen’s husband.
Summary
Isidore mulls over the recent interaction with the woman as he makes his way
back to his apartment. He wonders why she seems so strange; she wasn’t aware of
Friendly, and she was inconsistent with her name. Isidore concludes the she
must be in need of help and leaves for another day as driver for the Van Ness
Pet Hospital.
Isidore’s first pick-up of the day is a malfunctioning cat. He keeps it in a dust-proof carrying cage in the back of the truck. The cat is making disturbing sounds akin to those that a real cat would make if it were sick and dying. Isidore concludes that its ten-year battery must be shorting out, and he stops to recharge the cat. Isidore is amazed at how realistic the mechanized animal is; its disease circuits continue to malfunction as the cat wheezes and gurgles. Isidore tries to locate the control panel and quick-charge battery panels but is unable to find either. As the cat’s behavior continues to deteriorate, Isidore decides that it is best to detach a battery cable so that it can be recharged back at the shop. As Isidore runs his hands along the spine of the animal, he realizes that the cables are not there. He gives up any further searching after the cat ceases to function and heads to the Van ness Pet Hospital.
On his way to the animal hospital, Isidore considers finding another job, one that isn’t as disturbing as his present occupation that involves dealing with the life-like malfunctioning of ersatz animals. He attributes his deteriorated mental capabilities to the fact that neither his boss, Hannibal Sloat, nor his co-worker, Milt Borogrove, are ever as affected by ersatz animal malfunctions as he is. For consolation he turns on his radio to listen to Friendly continual interview of Amanda Werner, a television and radio personality who holds celebrity status despite never actually having worked on any projects. As Isidore listens to the radio, he begins to wonder how Friendly is capable of simultaneously hosting both television and radio programs, and he ponders how Werner never tires or loses her ability to maintain a constant banter with Friendly. Isidore thinks about Friendly’s ridicule of empathy boxes and Mercerism despite the promotion of empathy by American and Soviet police and the claim by Titus Corning, U.N. Secretary General, that more empathy is needed amongst neighbors in the struggle to reduce crime. Isidore concludes that all parties involved are seemingly competing for ownership of the human psyche and decides to inquire about this theory to his boss, Hannibal Sloat.
Upon entering Sloat’s office at the Van Ness Pet Hospital, Isidore sets down the cage containing the lifeless ersatz cat. Isidore discusses with Sloat the concept that both Friendly and Mercerism seem to be competing for control over the human mind. Sloat maintains that if this is the case, Friendly is likely to be winner. Isidore refutes this claim by stating that Mercerism will win because of the ceaseless renewal of Mercer after his repeated, inevitable decline into the tomb world. Isidore concludes that Mercer is eternal. Sloat then maintains that Friendly is also eternal, along with his ever-present guests. The discussion continues until Sloat realizes that the inert mechanical cat is not an ersatz animal but that it is real and it is dead.
Milt Borogrove arrives at...
(This entire section contains 1128 words.)
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Sloat’s office to help decide what to do about the dead animal. Sloat is extremely disturbed by the waste of life and chastises Isidore, calling him a “chickenhead.” In Sloat’s anger, he forces Isidore to make a vidcall to the pet’s owner, Ed Pilsen, to notify him of the death. Isidore dials and Mrs. Pilsen answers. Isidore clumsily stammers through his introduction and explains that the cat, named Horace, is dead. Mrs. Pilsen is extremely upset and declines Isidore’s offers to either replace the cat with a mechanical replicate or provide her with financial reimbursement for same amount as the current price listed in Sydney’s. After realizing her predicament, Mrs. Pilsen decides that it is better to accept the offer of a mechanical replacement than it is to notify her husband that his beloved pet is dead. After ending the vidcall, the three men are left to discuss the emotional difficulty in dealing with real animals.
Analysis
In Chapter Isidore’s classification as a special further explores the theme of
authenticity. While working at the ersatz animal hospital, Isidore considers
the burdensome effects of his own diminished mental abilities. After Isidore
picks up a sick ersatz cat in the company truck, he has a desire to take a new
a job that doesn’t require him to deal with sick animals. Although the animals
are mechanical, Isidore is still obviously adversely affected by their
realistically programmed physical responses to illness. He assumes that his
diminished mental capabilities are to blame for the fact that neither his boss
nor his co-worker at the ersatz animal hospital seems to be affected by their
exposure to the same simulation of illness and death in the animals. The
observed difference between Isidore’s emotional response and the emotional
responses of “regular” co-workers and bosses raises a question about Isidore’s
diminished capabilities. Although Isidore’s sincere emotional disturbance is in
response to the diminished health of the ersatz animals, the authenticity of
his response cannot be denied.
This issue is pushed further when Sloat discovers that the sick cat is authentic. This discovery frustrates Sloat to the point that he verbally insults Isidore. Sloat’s reaction to his own discovery about the authenticity of the animal is due in part to the wastefulness involved in the death of an animal. This alludes once more to the high value of real animals.
An additional theme is briefly addressed in this chapter. The perpetually energetic television program/radio show host, Buster Friendly, and Wilbur Mercer seem to be competing for dominion over the “psychic souls” of humans. This theory comes to Isidore after he realizes the frequency with which Buster chides the use of empathy boxes and, in effect, Mercerism itself. The allowance of such denigration on a radio show as widely revered as Friendly's confuses Isidore because of the constant promotion of empathy and Mercerism by public officials worldwide. Isidore concludes that the lack of obvious disapproval regarding Buster’s condemnation of Mercerism must be due to a competition between the two entities for control over the minds of humans.