Dust to Dust

“This rehearsal will end, the performance will end, the singers will die, eventually the last score of the music will be destroyed in one way or another; finally the name “Mozart” will vanish, the dust will have won” (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, 98.)

This passage impressed me in its ability to connect the world in the novel to the world of the person reading the novel, further engrossing the reader in the world of the novel by allowing them to empathize with the characters therein. Rick’s thoughts here about the rehearsal and its connection to the larger fate of the planet, although nihilistic, show the apparent inevitability of the decay of the planet. The same inevitability is true of our world, although it is less obvious, as there is no radioactive dust reminding us that we are doomed. But all of the above will come to pass, and to dust the earth will eventually return. Rick’s thoughts here reminded me of a sort of eulogy for the planet—the idea of the dust winning brings to mind the biblical passage often read at funerals: "...for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19.) Even the most beautiful of our human creations, our best and brightest (here, Mozart) shall eventually decay. The only difference between this and the real world is that in our world, we can pretend this is not the case. In this world, constant reminders of their fleeting existence in the universe surround them: the radioactive dust, the kipple, and the ever-increasing list of extinct species. We know, ultimately, that nothing is permanent, but continue, as a species, to struggle against this reality, to convince ourselves that we matter, because to believe otherwise is just too much to bear.

Rick, though, recognizes not only the inevitability of this decay, but also his role in actively contributing to it by killing androids. He calls himself “part of the form-destroying process of entropy,” unmaking that which has been made (98.) The way he views his role in the destruction of the world reminded me of the role of the god Shiva in Hinduism. From what little I know of it, one of Shiva’s incarnations is that of “the destroyer.” But this is not necessarily in the same way that we view destruction—here, destruction is seen as a balance to creation, and they are both necessary parts of the same cycle. The problem with the world in the novel is that there is destruction, but no organic creation to offset it and restore the balance. So humans create androids, both so that something is created and so that there is something to be destroyed.

Finally, the nihilism of this passage, the sense of helplessness in face of the decay of the planet illustrates the trapped, helpless feelings of those remaining on Earth. They watch life disappear and decay around them, but are unable to stop it order to escape. Their only option is to wait until they too, return to dust. Existence is a battle they are fighting with time, and it is a battle they know they cannot win. Even the small victories, the small signs of life (going to the opera, having an animal) are useless in the face of the destructive power of time. Nihilism, while hardly a cheerful response, seems here appropriate.