1968 was far cry from Philip K. Dick’s, Do Androids Dreams of Electric Sheep? Yet, Dick’s futuristic environment in the novel was being influenced by the world around him. In 1968, when Dick’s novel was published, movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barbarella, and Planet of the Apes were coming out. Television shows like Star Trek, Lost in Space, and Land of the Giants were receiving positive ratings. The computer company Intel was founded. America launched Apollo 8, its second manned spacecraft into space, which would orbit the moon. While none of the real life accomplishments compare to Dick’s imaginary settings of the novel, it does exemplify that the world was evolving at this point, and that the futuristic scenery of his fictitious story may eventually become a reality at some point. And while all of this evolution seemed like it could be a benefit, America was still dealing with a multitude of issues.
The Cold War paranoia, although somewhat died down, was still looming in the United States. We were in a space race with Russia that we seemed to be losing. America was still involved with the Vietnam War, which led to societal unrest. The turmoil over race relations in the country was at an all time high, which led to various laws being created (like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 & 1968). The counterculture drug movement was also at highest peak, especially in California where Philip Dick was living.
These elements, along with the evolution of technology and optimism of the future, all influenced Dick within his writing. While his settings and tone seemed to be more negative than a lot of other sci-fi writers, he saw the effects of the world around him. The growing paranoia of “who is being authentic?” and “what is real?” seemed to plague Dick and showed in this novel.
An article I found called The Dangers of Individualism and the Human Relationship to Technology in Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, suggests that Dick believed there were forces at work which aimed to control the reality of individuals (primarily through technological advances), as well as make human beings less emotionally responsive. While I could not find any relating remarks or quotes by Dick on this particular matter, it does seem that when looking at the novel this idea could possibly be true.
Between reading that article and knowing certain historical aspects of that era, Dick’s novel seems to be an accumulation of his surroundings. While the book is considered “sci-fi”, when get you past the futuristic elements, it is really reflection on humanity and the world he was living in.
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