Since my topic is still pretty broad, there were a lot of choices here. One genre of storytelling that has, and always will be interesting to me is Sci-Fi. It is infinite. There are infinite ways to tell the future, while the past is done and completed. BUT, to guess the future, you have to know a little about the past. Because our society's past can help us figure out what worked and what didn't, and what kind of choices those people made with their resources. If you put this into a theoretical futuristic setting, the possibilities are endless. That said, 2 of my favorite films came into mind. 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner. Both based off books, both adapted fantastically to the big screen, both with fantastic creative visions. But at the time I was a little more interested in the themes presented in the book Blade Runner was based off of, and that is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
1. The plot of the book begins by setting up the massive world around it, and the conditions the characters live in. It is very vague, but Earth-like at first, until you find out about World War Terminus, which destroyed almost the entire Earth, while the rich moved to Mars and the animals of earth died off. Owning animals is a luxury, that in Deckard, the main character and bounty hunter, believes keeps you in touch with your empathy of creatures. Heavy elements of sci-fi are also brought in early, with their electronic sheep that live on their roof, and the "mood alarms" that set their mood for the day, whatever they want it to be. Everything in the first few pages creates a fantastic imagery of this dystopian Earth. After a short introduction with Deckard and his obsession with making Earth more livable by having a real animal to take care of, you are introduced to the next character, John Isidore. He has been effected by the radioactive dust on earth, to the point where is is considered a "chickenhead", or someone who is not smart enough to move to Mars. These stories both continue as Deckard begins hunting down androids for money, while dealing with the dilemma of human empathy vs android empathy, and what it means to be a "human", while John befriends androids and learns that himself. Towards the end, Deckard finds a toad in the street that he later finds out to be mechanical/fake, which was the reason he set out to kill androids in the first place, to get a real animal. I believe this is the climax, because this is really where Deckards mind changes. He decides to get supplies to care for it anyway, because deep down, he understands that androids can be "human" too, sometimes even more human than the ones made of flesh and blood.
2. There were many great themes in this book, many revolving around humanism, classism, and war/violence. The extreme class difference seen by people living on Mars, as opposed to those still on earth, is apparent all around them. These people, despite being the same humans as those on earth, are seen as better, and productive members of society, while those who aren't are called "specials" and they are constantly mocked on TV. The world is in constant decay around them after the World War Terminus (I had to look this up, I was unaware of what Terminus actually meant, to which I learned it's a general end of a route, or end of something. This means that war was so extreme and nuclear, it wasn't just another WWI, WWII or WWIII, but the end-all world war.) Anyways, another large issue, arguably the main theme of the story, is what it really means to be "human." Empathy, sometimes called "human empathy", is something everyone has. That is a main point of the book. There are tests that can test your empathy to find out if you are an android or a human. The idea of a robot being unable to feel emotions, or empathy, only drones, is what many believe. They have an idea that all humans are empathetic to each other, until Deckard sees a human kill another with no remorse, while people like John entertain and befriend androids, breaking the stereotype that these androids have no feeling whatsoever. The idea of real vs. fake animals plays into this as well, because at the beginning of the story, Deckard is worried about being looked down on by his neighbors because his sheep died, and he replaced it with a very clever fake one.
3. The author's tone is that of someone who has lost hope, and is living in a desolate world. It is sad, and at the same time, a little scary. It reminisces on the past heavily with nostalgia.
a) In a giant, empty, decaying building which had once housed thousands, a single TV set
hawked its wares to an uninhabited room.
b) the entire peninsula had chattered like a bird tree with life and opinions and complaints, and now the watchful owners had either died or migrated to a colony world.
c) Medieval plagues had manifested themselves in a similar way, in the form
of many dead rats. This plague, however, had descended from above.
4. A main allusion many made was to World War Terminus, and the times that have passed. This was used to show how much things have decayed since this war, and how these people feel living in a desolate apocalyptic wasteland. There is also a lot of imagery used in the story to convey the fact that everything is abandoned, old, and destroyed, but somehow also very technologically advanced as well. This imagery creates the perfect dystopian earth. A good example of euphemisms are when the bounty hunters are told to "retire the androids", this creates the idea that theyre simply turning off a machine, not killing a living being with rational thought. Throughout the story there is also a heavy juxtaposition between those living on earth, and those on Mars. They're treated better, given servants, and do not have to live in fear, which is almost the opposite of what's left of Earth. The animals can be seen as a metaphor for social status, as well as devotion to religion, because that is why people sought out real animals in the first place. In a way, personification plays a role in this story as well, because many people see androids and robotic animals as "inanimate objects", while they, as well as some others, see them as people. Lastly, there is a heavy motif on humanism throughout the entire story, and the difference between them and androids.
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Direct: a) "Fine," Iran said. "I want it to work perfectly. My husband is devoted to it." She gave her
address and hung up.
b) He wished to god he had a horse, in fact
any animal. Owning and maintaining a fraud had a way of gradually demoralizing one. And
yet from a social standpoint it had to be done, given the absence of the real article. He had
therefore no choice except to continue. Even were he not to care himself, there remained his wife, and Iran did care. Very much.
Indirect: a) "Andys can't will anything. They can't possess anything to will."
b) "I'll be okay." He shook his head, as if trying to clear it, still bewildered. "The spider Mercer
gave the chickenhead, Isidore; it probably was artificial, too. But it doesn't matter. The
electric things have their lives, too. Paltry as those lives are."
This author uses both approaches because the way you see Deckard's world, and the way he sees his world, are very different. When you hear Deckard say he's ok with the frog being artificial at the end, the reader is a bit confused. All this time Deckard has been lead to believe androids were the enemy, but in his own head, he finally began to understand why they were escaping to earth in the first place. They didn't want to be servants. Neither do humans. The direct characterization shows how others react to this, as well as their understanding of human empathy and how it affects those still on earth.
2. The syntax/diction didn't really change much throughout the story, for the most part it was always bleak and tiresome, besides a few main parts. One being when John finds android friends and finally learns how he can make friends and not be alone, and when Deckard decides androids are living things too. Both of these moments feel very upbeat and happy, especially considering the crumbling, toxic earth around them.
3. The protagonist, Deckard, is very dynamic. He begins as someone who has a strict thought on what being an empathetic human is, and he learns throughout the story why he was not really right on the subject, even to the point where he decides to retire from being an android bounty hunter.
4. I felt more like I met an entire universe than a character. Sci Fi worlds like these are so massive and filled with lore that not only do I feel like i've met a character from another universe, I felt like I could explore that universe and find more similar stories.
