Curtis answers “Why did Rachael kill the goat?”

Jenna asked this question about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?:

Why did Rachael kill the goat?

Curtis I don't agree with the other comments here. Jealousy and revenge as motivations both follow human logic. Rick makes a point of saying that she had don…moreI don't agree with the other comments here. Jealousy and revenge as motivations both follow human logic. Rick makes a point of saying that she had done it for a reason that would make sense to an android more than a human, which rules out such simple and common motives.

Some people have quoted the conversation in which Rachael points out how much Rick loves the goat, but the key is the bit where she says that Rick loves the goat first, his wife second, and then probably Rachael third.

Ranking the amount of RIck's love that each party receives seems to me to be a very robotic way of thinking. We don't usually say, about our own families for example, 'I love Dad the most, then little Jimmy, then my mother, and finally Uncle Fred.' An adult who made a statement like this would come across as emotionally immature and, as I said above, 'robotic'.

I believe that during this conversation Rachael ranked herself as number 3 in the queue for Rick's love and, in killing the goat, saw herself as improving her position to number 2. From a pure logic point of view, ignoring all other factors, this is decent progress. Who knows? Rick's wife may be next...(less)

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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

by Philip K. Dick

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