Characters
He’s a bounty hunter for the San Francisco Police Department whose job is to "retire" rogue androids.
Who is Rick Deckard?
This is the city where Rick Deckard lives and works.
What is San Francisco?
Iran uses this device to control her emotional state.
What is a Penfield mood organ (pp. 1-4)?
Rick owns one of these electric animals.
What is a sheep?
This company manufactures the Nexus-6 model.
What is the Rosen Association?
This character owns a real horse and is annoyed by Rick’s visit.
Who is Bill Barbour (p. 6)?
The Earth is nearly empty because of this apocalyptic event.
What is World War Terminus?
Androids are often detected using this test.
What is the Voigt-Kampff test (pp. 23-4)?
Rick dreams of owning a real one of these animals.
What is a sheep (or a horse)?
Androids are not allowed on Earth and are considered this.
What are illegal (or fugitives)?
This "special" man lives alone, works for an electric animal repair service, and struggles with loneliness and cognitive decline.
Who is John Isidore?
Most humans have emigrated off-world to this colony.
What is Mars?
The mood organ number Rick programs for himself in the morning.
What is 888 (the desire to watch TV, no matter what's on (p. 4)?
Real animals are prized in this society because of this.
What is their rarity after mass extinction/radiation?
These beings are hunted down by bounty hunters like Rick.
What are andys (androids)?
This character programs herself to feel despair, believing it's important to experience authentic human emotion—even if it’s unpleasant.
Who is Iran Deckard?
Because of radiation, many people are classified with this derogatory term if they remain on Earth.
What is a "special" or "chickenhead?"
The name of the android model that’s supposedly so advanced it might beat the Voigt-Kampff test.
What is the Nexus-6?
This book lists the market value of real and artificial animals.
What is Sidney’s Animal & Fowl Catalogue (p. 7)?
The number of escaped Nexus-6 androids Rick is assigned to retire.
What is six?
This woman, introduced at the Rosen Association in Seattle, claims to be human but becomes the subject of a Voigt-Kampff test that casts doubt on her humanity.
Who is Rachael Rosen?
Though much of humanity has left Earth, those who remain live in decaying cities filled with dust and silence. What haunting condition is caused by radioactive fallout, gradually degrading both body and mind?
What is the effect of radioactive dust leading to genetic degradation and mental decline (often resulting in being labeled a "special" or "chickenhead")?
Since the Voigt-Kampff test measures empathic response, it relies on involuntary physical reactions to specific questions. What bodily functions does the test monitor to detect an android?
What are capillary dilation and fluctuation of the pupil (in the eye)?
Early in the novel, Rick reflects on owning a real animal as a moral and social obligation. What deeper psychological or spiritual purpose does this obsession with animals serve in the society of post-War Earth?
What is the desire to prove one’s empathy and humanity in a world where both are fading?
While the Nexus-6 models are intellectually superior to previous androids, Rick worries they might defeat the Voigt-Kampff test. What irony underlies the need to retire androids who, by passing the test, might demonstrate a level of humanity society demands—but denies them?
What is the irony that androids may be "too human" to detect—demonstrating empathy or awareness that should protect them, yet it is precisely this that condemns them?