DADES: Chapter 2-3

Some questions to consider as you read:

1. "No one today remembered why the war had come about or who, if anyone, had won." What novel does this remind you of? What recent current event does this remind you of? What comment might Dick be making about human memory?

2. Why might it be significant or symbolic that the "dust" first killed the owls? What other natural crisis has occurred?

3. What current government entity is at work in the future? What do you foresee aas the future role of this international body?

4. What was the "ultimate incentive of emigration"? Would this be an incentive today?

5. What does "halcyon days" mean, and what is the appeal of the TV advertisement for a "custom-tailored humanoid robot"? What civil rights issue is Dick interested in, both on the future Earth and on colonized planets? Is this a realistic concern in the future? How was slavery in America often justified? Where else do you see societies dehumanizing people in order to control them?

6. Who is John Isidore? Why is he considered a "special"? What's another name for a special? What does he do for a living? What do his surroundings look like? Why does silence have such an impact on Isidore? How would you describe "kipple"? What is entropy?

7. The Latin expression, "Mors certa, vita incerta" means "Death is certain, life uncertain." How might this idea be functioning in the novel?

8. When John Isidore fuses with Mercer he tells a story involving animals. What other religious/mythic stories are you reminded of here?

9. What is an "ersatz substitute"? Where do we see similar concepts in other novels? What does it mean for something to be "real"?

10. What has happened to Dave Holden?

11. What is the concern about the new "extra clever" andys with the Nexus 6 brain units? Who manufactures them?

12. What is the Voigt-Kampff Empathy Test? What Institute manufactures this? Why is the name significant? Why is the use of the test ironic? What do you make of the idea that the "servant had in some cases become more adroit than its master." What early science fiction novel does this remind you of?

13. What can chickenheads do that andys can't? Why might this be significant? Are humans the only beings that can experience empathy?

14. What is ironic about the statement "You shall kill only the killers"?