DADES Chapter 2 & 3

While wondering around on the Internet aimlessly as I so often do, I stumbled upon an interview with Ridley Scott, the director of the blade runner film. In this interview, Scott said that he had never finished reading DADES until after the movie was done. He said that when he spoke to Phillip K. Dick, he told him this. His justification for it was that the book was incredibly dense, and he had never read a book that had set up so much backstory in the first 37 pages, and it was all too much for him to process. As Ironic and neglectful I thought this was at the time, I can help but agree with him. This book, and chapter 2 in particular, is very confusing, and very dense.

I have no idea why nobody remembers any of the details about WWT. My best theory is that it was a quick, nuclear war that resulted in confused devastation, and the government withheld most of the information about it. I also had no idea why the owls died first. I know its an important fact symbolically, but the only idea I can offer is that the dust might come out stronger at night, and since owls are nocturnal, they were affected first. Another detail that I’m completely oblivious to is what “special” really means. It seemed as if the new character, John Isador, who is a special, had some sort of ability to merge with others, but it also seemed like some kind of trippy dream sequence. Im really not sure. He lives in an abandoned apartment complex, until recently, when it appears that someone else moved in downstairs.

An advertisement that was overheard in Isador’s apartment was referring to the halcyon days, referring to slavery, but rather than advertising human slaves, it was advertising androids. Dick is comparing the android situation to civil rights, which was going on at the time this book was written. Androids have somehow become a threat of some sort. I recall mention of them escaping back to earth and murdering humans, but its unclear. Rick’s job is to retire the androids, for what seems to be a just cause, because they have become a nuisance. The problem is that the androids appear to be the exact same as people. The way to find out is through empathy tests, which are, again, unspecified tests that are given to android suspects to see if they have empathy and emotions. If they do, they are human. If they don’t, they are androids.

Chapter 3 was fairly simple. To summarize, Rick goes to work, and talks to his boss. He informs Rick that the head bounty hunter is in the hospital. He was shot. He tells him to meet him at 9:30. Rick then gets on his vidphone, and tries to bargain with a salesman about the purchase of an ostrich he saw on his way to work. After coming to the conclusion that he cannot afford it. After that, he secretively tries to get an ostrich robot. He runs out of time, because it is 9:30, and he has to go to meet his boss.