Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a complex novel that could be considered postmodernist. To a varying extent, it raises the issue of gender, its structure inevitably exerting a significant influence over how this theme is conveyed.
Dick's novel is open to a variety of interpretations from a range of disciples. However since its emergence in the latter half of the twenty century, it is the ideas that loosely revolve around the banner of 'postmodernism' that have become a popular means to define this novel. On account of its bewildering and diverse complexity however, postmodernism as a movement is very difficult to describe. By the mid-1980s there was an academic shift towards postmodernism, in part as a reaction to modernism, although it could have been viewed as a response to Marxism as well. Whereas Marxism tended to view people collectively, postmodernism stressed the role of the individual, putting an emphasis on the consideration of a person's gender, race and sexual orientation, subjects that are apparent in Dick's novels.
Several prominent thinkers have heightened certain stresses that they believe characterize the postmodern. Jean-Francois Lyotard stresses postmodernism's skepticism regarding metanarratives. A metanarrative is an ideological structure that grants the legitimacy of certain actions, examples include Christianity, science, feminism and Marxism. Marxism as a metanarrative would view the historical overthrow of capitalism by the proletariat - however capitalism's resiliency justifies postmodernist skepticism with the metanarrative of Marxism. It is ironic however that this distrust of metanarratives could have been considered in itself a metanarrative. Fredric Jameson defines postmodernism as the outcome of an age of post-industrial capitalism, with multinational corporations now beyond the control of national Governments. Jean Baudrillard meanwhile discussed the way in which image has come to dominate over substance. He highlights the pollution of the real by the 'simulacrum', the copy with no original.
The ideas of Lyotard, Jameson and Baudrillard all feature within the narrative of Do Andrs Dream of Electric Sheep? Lyotard characterizes postmodernism by a mood of uncertainty and doubt, a mood which pervades Dick's novel, escalating as the story continues, and sometimes climaxing at the revelation that the supposedly Divine Mercer was just some drunken bit actor. Jameson's ideas on the predominance of multinational corporations are apparent in the Western and Soviet governments' incapacity to legislate against the Rosen Association. The androids - Roy, Irmgard, Max, Luba, Pris and Rachael - could be seen as Baudrillardian simulacra, copies without originals, and these might distract us from appreciating the human characters, such as Rick, Iran, Phil and John.
There is a pressing ambivalence between the real and the unreal in Dick's novel, evident in the notification that the central theme of Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? is an exploration of the response of an individual to the universe in which he must live. Unable to remain whole, the protagonist Rick Deckard splits and occupations the schizoid half of his divided self, operating instead like a machine through the denial of his emotions, as if he were an android, while his schizoid self responds emotionally to his environment, yet still experiences intense anxiety.
In relation to this figurative 'splitting' of character, several other inhabitants of Dick's novel, including the androids, are described as being doubles for various facets of Rick Deckard's personality. From an economic basis, Rick is shown to be the breadwinner in his relationship and his partner, Iran, is portrayed as a housewife. However, in terms of any possible difference between masculinity and femininity in the novel, it is more fruitful to look at the relationship between Rick, the government assassin of androids (and presumably the story's hero) and the android opera singer Luba Luft. Rick begins to question his own humanity when confronted by Luba, who points out that in his remorseless killing of androids, he himself could have considered an android, especially how he believes that the refining quality of an android is lacking of empathy, '"Then , "Miss Luft said," you must be an android "'(p.86). In contrast to Rick, Luba is depicted as gentle and artistic - she sings Mozart beautifully and has a fondness for Edvard Munch, 'Luba Luft ... stood absorbed in the picture before her' (p.113). Luba is murdered by Rick and Phil Resch, another assassin who also represents a facet of Rick's character. The protagonist initially presumes that Resch is an android as he has encountered an individual with a complete lack of empathy. The irony however is that Resch is actually human.
One quality Do Dooms Dream of Electric Sheep? possesses is that it does not present any overriding opinion. Dick's reliance on literary doubling and heavy use of metaphor is extremely mean that it is very difficult to identify any superseding assertion in his novel, certainly one relating to gender, which as a theme is somewhat marginalized in the novel. In this case, masculinity is better understood if it is juxtaposed with its polar opposite, femininity. In Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? the character of Rick Deckard appears to draw on a very particular masculine image, although due to the metaphoric dividing of his personality, and its various manifestations in other individuals throughout the book, it is difficult to arrive at any definitive statements on Dick's part in regards to gender.