Why Do Stories Of Androids And Slaves Seem Similar? Essay

In Philip K. Dick's world of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, life has become a precious commodity. But, the definition of what life entails has become very vague. A new hierarchal order has been set up to rank a particular life's value. Humans still reign supreme, at least in theory, but the exaltation and protection they place on an animal's existence in this futuristic society closely shadows, and even trumps, that of another human being. Far beneath animals, is a close race between "chickenheads"—humans of less than average intelligence and virility— and Androids , a completely organically made slave class, created for those humans "wise" enough to flee Earth. But on this futuristic Earth full of Human rebels who refused to leave,

Bandura suggested children learn from watching adults – referred to as ‘Bobo doll experiment’. Three groups of children watched a film of a variation in behaviour in adults towards a doll.

Equality is a word that possesses many meanings and feelings which encompass centuries of wars and struggles especially with racism. While it is easy to look back at history and accept the accounts for misconduct and atrocities, it is vital to reexamine and revise thoughts and actions in order to prepare for the future. An invisible type of racism that can be revealed with reexamination often times is institutional racism. The short story, “The Comet” written by W. E. B. Du Bois, is a story set in a post-apocalyptic world. The story shows that in order to bring down barriers of racism, it requires a catastrophic event to occur. Another story that focuses on a similar concept of institutional racism, but uses science fiction as a vehicle is “The Bicentennial Man”, written by Isaac Asimov. In this story, a robot named Andrew suffers through prejudice and racism despite his many contributions to society. It takes a large sacrifice in order to allow for humans to disregard race and to take robots as an equal. Although both stories pull in elements of science fiction, it is clear that the stories incorporate a dominating theme of not just racism but institutional racism. This paper will discuss some historical context to the two authors’ experiences along with a deeper dive into the text in regards to institutional racism.

Throughout American history, minority groups were victims of American governmental policies, and these policies made them vulnerable to barbaric and inhumane treatment at the hands of white Americans. American slavery is a telling example of a government sanctioned institution that victimized and oppressed a race of people by indoctrinating and encouraging enslavement, racism and abuse. This institution is injurious to slaves and slave holders alike because American society, especially in the south, underwent a dehumanization process in order to implement the harsh and inhumane doctrine. In the episodic autobiography Narrative of the

(1) The use of natural dialect can be seen throughout the slave narrative interviews through words and phrases used that were common during the period of slavery, but are not used today. One example can be seen in the dialect used by former slave Mama Duck, “Battlin stick, like dis. You doan know what a battling stick is? Well, dis here is one.” Through incomplete sentences and unknown words the natural dialect of the time can be seen. Unfamiliar words such as shin-plasters, meaning a piece of paper currency or a promissory note regarded as having little or no value. Also, geechees, used to describe a class of Negroes who spoke Gullah. Many examples can be seen throughout the “Slave Narratives”

Society’s systematic dehumanization of slaves claims that their lives are not their own, but rather belong to their oppressors. For instance, Jacobs’s cousin Benjamin decides to escape from his masters who equate him and his people to “dogs, […] foot-balls, cattle, [and] everything that [is] mean” and taunts them by saying, “Let them bring me back. We don’t die but once” (27). By metaphorically comparing slaves to dogs and pieces of property, he reveals how little slave owners care about their charges. Rather than remaining under the control of such oppression, Benjamin decides to live and die on his own terms at the risk of capture and punishment, because

How did slavery continue to exist despite its inhumane practices? Many of these owners employed the ideas of dehumanizing slaves and religion in order to perpetuate their actions. Dehumanization demoted the societal status of slaves, therefore deeming blacks inferior to their white counterparts. Moreover, although directly opposing religious principles of kindness and avoidance of sin, plantation owners used Christianity as a mechanism to mask their inhumanity and encourage their cruelty toward slaves. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass develops themes of dehumanization and religion, which helps readers understand the techniques slave owners utilized to alleviate their guilt, condone malice toward slaves, and preserve supremacy over colored people in Southern society.

The captivity narrative and the slave narrative are two types of literary works, which were very common during the 17th and the 18th century. The captivity narrative usually involves an innocent white woman who is taken captive by an Indian tribe, who the woman describes as savages in most of the cases. On the other hand, the slave narrative focuses on the quality of life that slaves were facing before the time of the abolishment of slavery. Although the captivity narrative and the slave narrative show some similarities, they are completely different. We can observe the differences by analyzing two literary works, A Narrative of The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Mary Rowlandson and From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself by Olaudah Equiano. A Narrative of The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a narrative written by Mary Rowlandson herself, which sheds light on her own experiences revolving captivity. The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano gives the reader insight into the life of a slave, the treatments they endure, and usually their freedom, whether it be through escaping or other means. Both narratives usually include real-life accounts, however, the differences lie in the structure of the narrative, the purpose that the narrative is trying to lay out and the treatment of the parties who are living these experiences.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Brave New World take place in dystopian futures. Technological advancements have been beneficial to society, but at the cost of the citizens’ humanity. In Do Androids Dream of electric Sheep?, Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter who kills Androids who have escaped from other world colonies. The Rosen Corporation creates the androids to mimic humans to a point where it is hard to distinguish between the two. In Brave New World, the World State is responsible for genetically engineering humans. These “humans” do not have any of the characteristics of a modern day human. Humans are emotional creatures. People in the World State lack all emotion, unlike in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, where the only

Without dehumanizing the black slaves, society cannot to perpetuate the culture of violence necessary to keep a slave based economy intact. People were auctioned like objects and belonging. Just like in the text, dehumanization removes the individuality of the slaves, and they received treatment that are unacceptable for those included in one’s moral community. Moral exclusion reduces restraints against harming or exploiting. Dehumanization removes individuality; by doing so, it makes the violation of generally accepted norms of behavior regarding one's fellow man seem reasonable, or even

Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (1968) is a dark Science Fiction novel illustrating a future of android slavery on Mars and a post-World War III Earth. Rick Deckard is a Blade Runner assigned to retire the androids that escape to Earth. Working for the San Francisco Police Department, he tracks down and retires all of the Androids previously assigned to the Chief Bounty Hunter, Dave Holden. Along the way he faces several internal battles about his personal life and empathizing with Androids.

in this way; we are made to feel that we are watching a film, and yet

Prior to the publication of any slave narrative, African Americans had been represented by early historians’ interpretations of their race, culture, and situation along with contemporary authors’ fictionalized depictions. Their persona was often “characterized as infantile, incompetent, and...incapable of achievement” (Hunter-Willis 11) while the actions of slaveholders were justified with the arguments that slavery would maintain a cheap labor force and a guarantee that their suffering did not differ to the toils of the rest of the “struggling world” (Hunter-Willis 12). The emergence of the slave narratives created a new voice that discredited all former allegations of inferiority and produced a new perception of resilience and ingenuity.

The dynamic of the relationships between slaves and their master was one which was designed to undermine and demean the slave. The master exercised complete authority and dominion over his slaves and

The “uncanny”, a Freudian term, is used to describe a situation or feeling that feels familiar and foreign at the same time. Through the writings and ideas of Ernst Jentech, and Sigmund Freud, it is defined. Between them the uncanny is described as "...intellectual uncertainty; so that the uncanny would always, as it were, be something one does not know one’s way about in. The better oriented in his environment a person is, the less readily will he get the impression of something uncanny in regard to the objects and events in it." In Freud’s essay he states that “the “uncanny” is that class of the terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar”. Being part of the terrifying, the uncanny is undefinable as