can be made for Iran, who is preoccupied with her own individual issues until the very end.) Resch is a human who shows concern for Deckard and takes good care of his real squirrel. However, his ruthless disregard for his android victims causes Deckard to question his humanity. Resch believes that artificial constructs have no value and dehumanizes them, akin to how the Nazis viewed Jews during the Holocaust. Such a lack of empathy in one aspect of a person's psyche enables violence. This raises the question: why specifically target androids for retirement? How can violence be confined to illegal androids? This concern is especially pressing if the Voigt-Kampff test becomes unreliable. What if some schizophrenics are not institutionalized and one is mistakenly retired? What happens if Sloat truly pursues Isidore? Deckard realizes that humanity must extend empathy even towards artificial constructs. For the sake of the environment, it is the only way to bring the owls back to the skies.

Regarding Deckard's personal development, he has come to understand that his interaction with his Electric Sheep is diminishing his self-esteem. Every day, he pretends to care for an inanimate object as if it were alive. He feels burdened by the need to maintain the facade of owning a real animal. "The tyranny of an object... [is that] it doesn't know I exist. Like the androids, it had no ability to appreciate the existence of another." This is why Deckard desires a real animal, something that not only acknowledges his existence but also needs him in return. Over time, he develops empathy for artificial life and becomes willing to accept the toad. Ultimately, Deckard finds peace as his wife steps in to make him feel needed.

The "American Dream" is often described as the freedom to seek material success, epitomized by owning a home in a pleasant suburb. In a distorted version of this dream, Dick envisions a society where the ultimate goal is to own a home on a space colony. In this scenario, healthy Earth inhabitants are transported to other planets and given a robotic servant to manage their homestead. (Interestingly, the term "robot" originates from a Czech play about a nobleman replacing his serfs with human-like machines.) On Earth, where those who are not smart or healthy enough to emigrate remain, the dream is to own a real animal. The darker aspect of this suburban reality is that the wife is confined to the home. Similar to her 1950s counterpart, she spends her time watching television. In Dick's futuristic vision, she has a machine to dial up different moods. There is even a setting for the mood to watch television—and Dick does not foresee the programming improving. Remarkably, Iran can even dial up her own depression. To combat loneliness, she can connect with unhappy individuals everywhere through an empathy machine. These twisted takes on the "American Dream" depict suburbia as an inherently isolating society that accelerates the breakdown of human connections.

Dick anticipated the ethical challenges that would arise from a capitalist, technologically advanced society in the late twentieth century. In the universe of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, moral codes are considered virtuous if they support the economic system and ensure people's happiness. Mercerism instills a coincidentally profitable sense of empathy; every living creature is deemed sacred due to the nuclear war, making the ownership of a living animal a status symbol. While caring for a living being is crucial for Mercerists, this duty is paradoxically driven by market forces.

Mercer, the central figure of the government-backed religion, is the leader of the Mercerists. His legend tells of his ability to reverse time, which he used to resurrect dead animals until the government intervened. He was subsequently "plunged into a different world" and began ascending from the depths of this world to a mountain, where he is attacked by "Killers." Mercerists can join him on this ascent through an "empathy machine," which connects their consciousness. They experience his struggles, the struggles of others linked to them, and the wounds he sustains. The core principle of Mercerism is empathy for all living things: "You shall kill only the killers," Mercer declared from the start. However, the definition of "killers" is left to individual interpretation.

Adhering to Mercerism, or exhibiting empathy, distinctly separates humans from the constructs they have created. The androids believe that exposing Mercerism as a fraud will help them gain recognition as "living" beings. In a scene reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz, Buster Friendly reveals that Mercer is actually a drunken actor named Al Jarry, who pretends to climb a mountain on a shoddy set. Despite Roy Baty's excitement over this revelation, it will not change anything because the shared experience of Mercerism holds significance for humans. Deckard's final encounters with Mercer, which seem to occur without the use of an empathy box, further underscore this idea.

Similarly, Eldon Rosen doesn't need to question the ethics of creating androids indistinguishable from humans because he is simply fulfilling customer demands. "We followed the time-honored principle underlying every commercial venture," he tells Deckard. "If our firm hadn't made these progressively more human types, other firms in the field would have." Rosen asserts that his moral standing is superior to the questionable position of the police and their flawed empathy test. The system's security hinges on whether the bounty hunter can identify and eliminate illegal androids. However, the system's development depends on whether the Rosen Association can produce androids so lifelike that the bounty hunter's task becomes impossible. When the Rosens succeed, industry will take on the role of natural evolution, reintroducing perfect animals into the wild and gradually creating a flawless human/android race. Ultimately, everyone will be content because there will be no bounty hunters to worry about identity issues.

Bill Barbour
Bill Barbour, a neighbor in the Deckards' apartment complex, is affluent enough to own a real horse. The interactions between Deckard and Barbour are primarily competitive, offering a compelling look at social dynamics in their society. When Barbour discloses that his horse is expecting, Deckard inquires about purchasing the colt. After Barbour declines, Deckard, in his desperation, confesses that his sheep is artificial. Barbour, feeling pity, remarks, "you poor guy," but his empathy stops short of assisting Deckard. It is only after Deckard acquires a live goat that Barbour considers selling his future colt to him.

Irmgard Baty
Irmgard, Roy's wife, is described as a "small woman, lovely in the manner of [1940s film star] Greta Garbo, with blue eyes and yellow-blonde hair." Among the fugitive androids, she appears closest to grasping human qualities, albeit from a detached, analytical perspective. She appreciates Isidore's peaches in a way Pris cannot, and she acknowledges Isidore's emotional reaction to them. However, despite her seeming sympathy towards Isidore, she fails to understand the significance of the spider to him and is the one who suggests cutting off its legs to see the result.

Roy Baty
Roy Baty, the leader of the rogue android group, is the mastermind behind their escape plan to Earth for the eight "friends." He is the most intelligent and dangerous among the eight illegal androids. Deckard's report indicates that Baty framed their escape within a new religious context, claiming the "fiction" that android "life" is sacred. Baty tries to instill an ideology within the group to emulate human Mercerism, essentially attempting to fabricate the emotional empathy the androids lack. To enhance this deception, he experimented with various drugs.

Despite his efforts, the androids' cooperation lasts only until their escape is complete. They then separate. Ultimately, the Batys are the last to be retired because they recognize their differences from humans. Unlike Garland, Polokov, and Luft, who unsuccessfully tried to pass as human, Roy Baty understands that androids can never replicate human empathy. He hopes for acceptance once Buster Friendly exposes the "truth" behind Mercerism. Following the announcement, he proudly declares that "the whole experience of empathy is a swindle." However, he fails to grasp, as Mercer explains to Isidore, that these revelations will not change anything because humans need to connect with one another. In the end, Baty becomes an easy target for Deckard's laser tube.

Milt Borogrove
Milt Borogrove works as a repairman at the Van Ness "Pet Hospital." He shows empathy towards Isidore after realizing the wheezing cat he picked up from the Pilsens' was actually real. To ease the tension between Sloat and Isidore when Sloat insists Isidore call the owner to report the cat's death, Borogrove intervenes. His excellent phone manner helps persuade Mrs. Pilsen to replace the deceased cat with an electric replica.

Harry Bryant
Inspector Harry Bryant, described as "jug-eared and redheaded, sloppily dressed but wise-eyed," assigns Deckard the task that Holden couldn't complete. He is particularly concerned about the possibility that the Voigt-Kampff empathy test might no longer effectively differentiate androids from humans. Only after Deckard successfully tests androids at the Rosen offices does Bryant provide Holden's notes to aid in the hunt. Despite Deckard retiring three androids in one day, Bryant pushes him to continue the pursuit that same evening.

Iran Deckard
Iran Deckard, Rick's wife, epitomizes the stereotypical bored housewife. Although technology has given her a mood machine to help her cope with her monotonous life, its artificial nature depresses her. This frustrates Rick, who, after speaking with her during one of her "depressions," feels that "most androids I've known have more vitality and desire to live than my wife." Despite this, Rick feels a sense of responsibility towards Iran, and she motivates him to persist with his job, the electric sheep, and other seemingly hopeless endeavors. In many respects, she experiences the only practical epiphany in the novel. She realizes her love for Rick, thinking, "I don't need to dial, now; I already have it—if it is Rick," when he returns from his assignments. This realization leads her to cover the panel on the electric frog and take care of it by ordering some electric flies.

Rick Deckard
The protagonist of the novel is grappling with uncertainties about himself, his professional skills, and the ethics of his work. These doubts are symbolized through his relationship with his electric sheep. He is weary of pretending that his electric sheep is genuine; "owning and maintaining a fraud had a way of gradually demoralizing one." While struggling with these feelings, he is assigned to "retire" six Nexus-6 androids that have fled to Earth. Despite acknowledging that "the empathic gift blurred the boundaries between hunter and victim," he manages to justify his role: "A humanoid robot is like any other machine," Deckard tells Rachael Rosen; "it can fluctuate between being a benefit and a hazard very rapidly. As a benefit it's not our problem." However, even though he convinces himself that he is justified in eliminating beings who lack "the ability to feel empathic joy for another life form's success or grief at its defeat," he begins to question his actions. "This is insane," he remarks after killing Luba Luft, whose singing could have brought joy to humans.

His encounter with Phil Resch intensifies his doubts. As he later confides to Iran, "For the first time, after being with him, I looked at them differently. I mean, in my own way I had been viewing them as he did.… I've begun to empathize with androids." This newfound empathy complicates his mission, though it does not make it impossible. To overcome his uncertainty, he follows Resch's advice and sleeps with Rachael. Contrary to Rachael's expectations, this act does not affect him as she intended. She reveals that she has seduced several other bounty hunters, and all except Phil Resch have been unable to continue killing androids afterward. She assumes Deckard has also been rendered ineffective because he cannot bring himself to kill her. For Deckard, however, her calculated confession renews his resolve. His only regret is not killing her when he had the chance, as the goat would still be alive.

After completing his task of retiring the androids and discovering his dead goat, Deckard seeks solitude. He reflects on the day's events: "What I've done, he thought; that's become alien to me. In fact everything about me has become unnatural; I've become an unnatural self." He undergoes a spiritual experience reminiscent of the Mercer story, finding himself climbing a hill while rocks are thrown at him. He feels as if he has merged with Mercer. Ultimately, he abandons the climb, and the toad he discovers is a fake. Although he may now be known as the greatest bounty hunter, in reality, he is just another man, feeling lost and defeated.

Buster Friendly
Buster Friendly dominates both television and radio almost constantly. Unbeknownst to most of his viewers, this beloved talk show host is actually an android. His goal is to entertain and uplift housewives and anyone else tuning in. Alongside Eldon Rosen, he leads the fight for android rights. Part of his mission involves exposing Mercer as a fraud. The idea is that if Mercer, who established the rule that only life is sacred, is proven fake, then perhaps his rules can be changed. As Isidore notes, "Buster Friendly and Mercerism are fighting for control of our psychic souls."

Garland
Garland is an officer in a secretive police force called by Luba Luft after Deckard attempts to question her. His police headquarters is unknown to the official police, and he claims to have no knowledge of Deckard or his superiors. When Garland sees his name on Deckard's list, he tries to create confusion by asserting that Deckard is the android. When his own bounty hunter, Phil Resch, sides with Deckard, Garland admits they are all part of the escaped android group. Garland's police are trying to establish a safe haven for androids by mimicking real police operations. However, Resch believes Deckard's story and kills Garland before Garland can kill him.

Dave Holden
Dave Holden is the senior bounty hunter for the San Francisco police department. He has been tracking eight illegal androids who recently arrived in the area. He successfully tests and "retires" two androids before the third one injures him. He passes his notes on the remaining six androids to Rick Deckard.

J. R. Isidore
See John R. Isidore

John R. Isidore
"My name's J. R. Isidore and I work for the well-known animal vet Mr. Hannibal Sloat; you've heard of him. I'm reputable; I have a job. I drive Mr. Sloat's truck." This is how Isidore wants to be seen by himself and his new neighbor, Pris Stratton. In reality, in the legal context of the novel's world, Isidore is considered "special" or, slangily, a chickenhead. This label is given to those severely affected by radioactive dust who fail a standard IQ test. Consequently, they are relegated to menial tasks in society, barred from emigrating off-planet, and forbidden to procreate. Although Isidore is not entirely nonfunctional, he is classified as such and is easily intimidated by his superiors. "I'm hairy, ugly, dirty, stooped, snaggle-toothed, and grey.… I feel sick from the radiation; I think I'm going to die," he laments when Sloat forces him to inform a pet owner of their animal's death.

Nevertheless, Isidore possesses a highly developed sense of empathy. As Milt Borogrove notes, "To him they're all alive, false animals included." Consequently, Isidore befriends the renegade android group even after uncovering their secret. Despite knowing they are exploiting him, he relishes the trust and companionship they appear to offer, given his marginalized status as a special. Irmgard acknowledges this: "They don't treat him very well either, as he said. ... He knows us and he likes us and an emotional acceptance like that—it's everything to him." He pledges loyalty to them and vows to protect Pris from the Bounty Hunter. However, when Pris begins to amputate the legs of a spider he found, Isidore is infuriated. He rescues the spider and ends its suffering. At that moment, his hopes seem to wither. Buster Friendly has announced that Mercer is a fraud, and the cruelty of his "friends" leaves him perplexed.

Isidore's story parallels Deckard's. The humanity that had been suppressed by his chickenhead label starts to reemerge. From his despair, he reestablishes contact with Mercer, who reassures him that "nothing has changed" and gifts him a healed spider. While he discloses the androids' presence to Deckard, he refuses to assist in hunting them down. He mourns their deaths, just as bewildered by their executions as he was by the spider's torment. Yearning for social connection, he informs Deckard that he plans to move into town.

Sandor Kadalyi
See Max Polokov

Luba Luft
Luba Luft is an escaped android posing as a human opera singer. She unsettles Deckard with her handling of the test—confusing his readings and questioning his own humanity. Cleverly, she suggests he must be an android because he lacks empathy for androids. She is ultimately retired by Phil Resch, but not before Deckard proves his humanity (and growing empathy for androids) by fulfilling her last request. He purchases a copy of Munch's Puberty for her—something Phil would be incapable of doing. Her death deeply disturbs Deckard, as he struggles to understand why someone with such talent should be seen as a societal threat.

Wilbur Mercer
Wilbur Mercer stands at the heart of a government-endorsed religion. His tale recounts his ability to reverse time, which he used to resurrect dead animals until the authorities intervened. Afterward, he was "plunged into a different world" and began his climb from the depths of this realm to a mountain, where he is assaulted by "Killers." Followers of Mercer can join his ascent using an "empathy machine," which connects their minds. Through this connection, they share in his struggles and those of others linked to them, even feeling the injuries he sustains. The singular principle of Mercerism is empathy for all living creatures: You shall kill only the killers, Mercer declared from the outset. However, the definition of "killers" is left to individual interpretation.

Embracing Mercerism, or showing empathy, distinctly separates humans from the artificial beings they have created. The androids believe that exposing Mercerism as a sham will help them achieve recognition as "living" entities. In a move reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz, Buster Friendly reveals Mercer to be a drunken actor named Al Jarry, pretending to scale a mountain on a shoddy set. Nonetheless, because the communal experience of Mercerism holds significance for humans, this revelation won't alter anything, despite Roy Baty's delight. Deckard's final interactions with Mercer, which appear to occur without the empathy box, seem to underscore this idea.

Mrs. Pilsen
Mrs. Pilsen owns a real cat, and her husband mistakenly contacted the Van Ness "Pet Hospital" when it fell ill. When Isidore informs her of the cat's death, she is uncertain about what to do next. Ironically, although her husband adored the cat "more than any other cat he ever had," he never got "physically close" to it. Consequently, Mrs. Pilsen prefers to deceive her husband with a mechanical replica rather than tell him about the cat's death.

Max Polokov
Max Polokov, the android responsible for injuring senior bounty hunter Dave Holden, has assumed the identity of a chickenhead garbage collector. Now that he has been discovered, he pretends to be a Soviet officer from the WPO, claiming to assist and observe Deckard. Deckard ultimately retires him.

Phil Resch
Phil Resch is one of the bounty hunters working for the false policeman Garland. Garland, after revealing his own identity, tells Deckard that Resch is an android, hoping Deckard will kill Resch and thus be guilty of murder, taking him out of action. According to Deckard, Resch has a problem: he enjoys killing too much. Shaken by Garland's true identity, Resch begins to question whether he might also be an android, despite his love for his pet squirrel. Resch insists that Deckard test him—and he passes. The stark difference between Resch and himself prompts Deckard to reconsider his profession.

Resch eliminates two of the androids on the list, but Deckard will receive the credit because Resch is now considered a rogue bounty hunter who has killed his boss. Deckard then shares his uncertainties about his job. Resch offers a simple solution, which he himself has used—sleep with Rachael. Deckard takes this advice, but the outcome is different from what he anticipated.

Eldon Rosen
Eldon Rosen is the chairman of the Rosen Association and Rachael's "uncle." He is anxious about Deckard's mission to track down the eight escaped androids. If the bounty hunter's test fails to differentiate between humans and androids, his company will have to halt production of the androids until a new test is created. This situation places Deckard, "a minor police department employee," in the extraordinary position of potentially halting all Nexus-6 android production. One immediate consequence would be a system-wide economic failure because Rosen's production is a crucial element of the economic framework. The colonization effort relies on the promise of settlers receiving an android. Without androids, colonization stops, leading to the collapse of the planetary economic system.

Eldon addresses the issue by challenging the validity of the Voigt-Kampff test. If Deckard believes Rachael is a schizoid girl who grew up on a colonization ship, her positive result on the Voigt-Kampff test would invalidate the test. "Your police department," Eldon tells Deckard, "may have retired, very probably have retired, authentic humans with underdeveloped empathic ability.… Your position … is extremely bad morally. Ours isn't." The manufacturing of androids is integral to the system's functionality. If retiring androids becomes questionable due to the risk Eldon mentions, the practice may be discontinued. Eldon can then secure Deckard's loyalty and continue refining his androids, maintaining market dominance. Still unconvinced, Deckard is offered a bribe. Fortunately, he finds one more clue when he hears Rachael repeatedly refer to the Rosens' owl as "it," confirming she is an android. The Voigt-Kampff test is still effective, allowing production and the retiring of escaped androids to continue.

Rachael Rosen
Rachael Rosen is a Nexus-6 android provided to Deckard by the manufacturers to test the efficacy of the police's methods on this new model. Despite his test confirming she is an android, the Rosens insist she is human. Deckard is uncertain, but a final question resolves his confusion and confirms her true nature. This near misidentification stirs empathy in him for the almost human androids. His newfound doubt leads him to accept Rachael's offer to assist in capturing the remaining fugitives. This partnership results in an intimate encounter, during which Rachael admits she loves him and offers a tool to incapacitate the fugitive androids. Rick begins to ponder if he might reciprocate her feelings, considering she only has two years left to live—androids have a four-year lifespan due to the inability to replicate cells. However, upon discovering her true motive is to hinder bounty hunting, he rejects her. In retaliation, she kills his Nubian goat.

Hannibal Sloat
The renowned (in Isidore's view) Hannibal Sloat owns a fake animal repair shop named the Van Ness Pet Hospital, "—that carefully misnamed little enterprise which barely existed in the tough, competitive field of false-animal repair." Sloat is too old to emigrate and is thus "doomed to creep out his remaining life on Earth." Although he has a fully functional brain, he is as vulnerable to the radioactive dust as anyone else. His vision is impaired—but he never cleans his glasses anyway—and his other senses are also deteriorating. Despite his liking for Isidore, he is not above boosting his own spirits at his employee's expense.

Sloat's biggest fear is that one day a real animal will mistakenly be brought to the shop. Isidore inadvertently makes this mistake, leading to a dead cat in their possession. Remarkably, Isidore manages the situation—assisted by Milt—and secures an order for a replacement, as well as a new confidential customer in Mrs. Pilsen.

Pris Stratton
Pris hides in what she believes to be an abandoned apartment building in the suburbs, which actually belongs to Isidore. Sensing another presence in the building, he seeks to befriend her. She reluctantly accepts his friendship, although he senses something strange and cold about her: "It was not what she did or said but what she did not do and say." Despite treating Isidore disdainfully, calling him a "chickenhead," she ultimately votes to stay with him in his apartment rather than kill him as Roy Baty suggests.

Pris is the same Nexus-6 model as Rachael Rosen. In fact, she initially introduces herself to Isidore as Rachael until she realizes that it might reveal her android nature. Deckard doubts his ability to eliminate Pris due to her striking resemblance to Rachael. Despite Resch's suggestion to sleep with Rachael, it hasn't alleviated his concerns. Deckard is troubled by the possibility that he might love Rachael. However, he comes to understand that his feelings were merely infatuation and that she was manipulating him. He also recognizes that Rachael is just a type of machine, and Pris is another version, only slightly different. Repulsed by the thought of countless Rachaels, he retires Pris without hesitation.