Vicky Lin

Mr. Clarke
AP Literature Period 5
8 October 2012
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Paper: Humanity and the Arts
In the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, through bounty hunter Rick
Deckerd's changing views towards android opera singer Luba Luft, Philip K. Dick examines the
value of the arts as a human quality. When assigned to target Luba, Rick initially believes that his
task will be simple, but he finds himself growing uneasy as a result of their mutual love of music.
Later on, Rick continues to grow ambiguous about viewing Luba as a nonliving android, since
she appears to be capable of interest in art as he and other humans are. After Rick retires Luba,
he finds that the appreciation for the arts that they had shared influences him so much, in viewing
her as an individual, as to enable him to feel empathy towards her, even though she is an android.
Through Rick's changing perception of Luba Luft as a result of their shared appreciation of the
arts, Dick explores the appreciation for music and art as a characteristic of humanity.
At Rick's first encounter with Luba as she performs at the opera house, Dick introduces
the mutual appreciation of music that influences Rick's perception of her. Rick initially feels
prepared to accomplish his assignment of retiring Luba, after learning that she is an opera singer,
because he personally loves and is knowledgeable about music. He decides to pass as a fan in
order to meet her, reflecting, It's a good thing I know something about opera (Dick 95).
However, Rick's assuredness is shaken when he actually meets Luba for the first time. He first
encounters her at a rehearsal of Mozart's The Magic Flute, an opera that he loves and that is
capable even of bringing tears to Rick's eyes (Dick 97). Rick at first is skeptical of Luba's

ability to portray the sentimentality of her role on stage, yet as she sings, he finds himself in awe
of her voice, which he believes is rated with that of the best (Dick 99). Although Luba is an
android and is initially assumed to be incapable of expressing genuine emotion, Rick discovers
that she is highly capable of conveying the emotions of her role, and that she thus appreciates
and understands music. Ricks perception of Luba begins to change because of his personal
emotional connection to the opera and because of the connection he feels to Luba due to their
shared appreciation for music. As Christopher A. Sims asserts, Deckard's love for opera softens
his attitude toward Luba (4). Ricks resolve towards his mission of retiring Luba wavers, and
even though he intuitively knows that she is an android, he comes to entertain a small hope that
Maybe Dave guessed wrong on her (Dick 99). Thus, by emphasizing Rick's changing
perception of Luba as a result of their shared appreciation for music, Dick attributes Rick's
developing ambiguity towards Luba's android identity to the love of music that connects him to
her when he first sees her perform.
When Rick goes to the museum in pursuit of Luba, Dick portrays that a shared interest in
art further influences Rick's view toward Luba. Rick enters the museum still with a deliberate
intention to retire Luba, but also with a growing unease towards his mission, resulting from his
shifting perception of her as an individual. He reveals that he believes that Luba possesses
certain human characteristics, despite being an android. While listening to a presenters voice, he
contemplates, That's what you'd expect an andy to soundand looklike. Instead of like...
Luba Luft (Dick 130). Furthermore, Rick finds that Luba's human qualities extend to the
appreciation of artwork, which he also shares. While Rick observes Edvard Munch's painting,
The Scream with Phil Resch, he notices Luba absorbed in the picture before her: a drawing of
a young girl... an expression of bewildered wonder and new, groping awe imprinted on the face

(Dick 131). Although Luba is an android, she appears to be capable of appreciating the emotions
within paintings as humans are, and Rick acknowledges Luba's appreciation of art. When Luba
requests for him to buy her a copy of the painting she had been observing, Munch's Puberty,
Rick perceives that [s]ome of the color had returned to her face; once more she lookedat least
brieflyalive (Dick 133). Ricks observation reflects that Lubas interest in art, which he
shares, makes her seem more alive and human in his eyes. Due to this changed perception of
Luba, Rick is willing to acquiesce to her request, and his willingness to purchase the painting for
her is reflective of his acknowledgement of her human characteristics. Hence, Dick's portrayal of
Rick's shifting view of Luba reflects that their shared appreciation for art helps enable him to
view her as possessing human characteristics, despite being an android.
After Rick kills Luba, Dick reveals that the connection that Rick had to Luba through
music and art augments his uncertainty towards viewing her as an unliving android. Due to the
appreciation for the arts that he and Luba had shared, following her retirement, Rick feels that he
can no longer continue his career as a bounty hunter. He tells Resch, I can't anymore; I've had
enough. She was a wonderful singer. The planet could have used her. This is insane (Dick 136).
Rick grows even more conflicted and struggles to morally justify to himself the destroying of a
being that seems so similar to a living human being that it shares a value of the arts with him. He
realizes that to him, Luba Luft had seemed genuinely alive (Dick 141). After taking the VoigtKampff test, Rick confirms that he feels empathy for certain androids, like Luba; however he
qualifies his realization, reflecting, Of course... this may never come up again in my work; it
could be an anomaly, something for instance to do with my feelings for The Magic Flute. And
for Luba's voice, in fact her career as a whole (Dick 142). Rick acknowledges that the love of
music that he and Luba both had was influential in shaping his perceptions toward her. Their

mutual appreciation for both music and art had helped not only to emphasize Luba's possession
of human-like characteristics to Rick, but also to catalyze his feeling of empathy towards her,
despite that she is an android. As Jill Galvan states, that apprehensionbrought about, as he
realizes, by his experience with Phil Resch and with Luba Luftguides him closer to a more
sincere empathy for the humanoid robots in his world (3). Thus, Dick's portrayal of Rick's
changed view of Luba conveys that their shared value of the arts makes Luba seem more human
and enables Rick to feel empathy for her, even though she is a nonliving android.
Hence, by reflecting the changes in Rick's perception of Luba due to a shared value of
music and art, Dick explores an appreciation for the arts as a human characteristic. Rick finds
that, rather than being emotionless robots, androids like Luba are capable of appreciating the arts
as humans are; they are capable of singing with feeling and of admiring works of art that depict
emotions. Rick, who also values the arts, feels a connection to Luba that changes his perception
of her as an individual. He initially views Luba as purely a nonliving android and eventually
comes to view her as a being that seems human and that he can feel empathy for. Dick's
depiction of Rick's changes allow him to better stress the influence of a shared love for music
and art on Ricks perception of Luba and allow him thus to suggest that an ability to appreciate
the arts is a characteristic of humanityone that can facilitate connections between individuals.

Works Cited

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. 1st ed. New York: Ballantine Books Inc.,
1968. Print.
Galvan, Jill. "Entering the Posthuman Collective in Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of
Electric Sheep?." n. page. Web. 7 Oct. 2012.
Sims, Christopher A. "The Dangers of Individualism and the Human Relationship to Technology
in Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?."Science Fiction Studies. 36.
(2009): n. page. Web. 6 Oct. 2012.