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Rick Deckard Symbolism

Decent Essays

In his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick criticizes American mass consumerism by commodifying human existence. Precisely, Dick characterizes Rick Deckard and his wife, Iran, as individuals who rely on the mood organ and the ownership of animals to define their lives. It is evident that Deckard and his wife exemplify the archetypal consumer’s inability to individualize when these characters’ experiences are determined by the mood setting to which they dial in their mood organ (Dick 6). The mood organ is thus symbolic of the characters’ inability to experience emotions independently. As an object of self-expression, the mood organ evokes a criticism of mass consumerism, where the ownership of an item is a declaration of one’s identity and placement within a social hierarchy. Here, Deckard and Iran’s identities are predicated on their mood organs. Essentially, Dick commodifies human existence by having the …show more content…

This inequality emphasizes the notion that the individual’s worth is dependent on extrinsic factors. Furthermore, to Deckard, owning an animal is comparable to displaying a trophy in which he shelters his own pride and self-worth. For instance, when Deckard purchases the goat, he does so to “get [his] confidence, [his] faith in [him]self and [his] abilities, back” since owning an electric animal “sapped [his] morale” (Dick 170). Deckard’s perspective is similar to the mass consumerist behaviour present among Americans, wherein the act of consumption instills a sense of importance. Specifically, to Deckard, it is confidence, a faith in his abilities, and his morale. Dick uses Deckard’s pursuit of an animal and the mood organ to explore the commodification of human existence in a consumerist society. In doing so, Dick criticizes mass consumerism on the basis that it artificializes an individual’s

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