Similarities Between Mercer And Buster Friendly

In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? there are two recurring characters that have great importance throughout the novel: Wilber Mercer and Buster Friendly. These two characters have a lot in common although thought otherwise. Together they have many similarities which show their true purpose in this technological time period. Mercer and Buster Friendly have very important roles in the novel, and show many hidden similarities, revealing their true purpose to the people of the novel. There are many similarities between these two characters. While some of these similarities are obvious, other are deeper into the book and hidden. A similarity they have is how popular each of them are. Every other character in the book believes in one of them and listens to them on a daily basis. Another proof of this is that everyone has either a television or an empathy box, if not both. Something that will be found if looked deeper into the book, is that both of them are fake. Towards the end of the novel, the people find out that “Mercerism is a swindle” and all this time he was just an “old man… name

The main purpose of these characters is to give hope and something to look forward to on the abandoned planet. To Isidore’s surprise Pris did not have an empathy box in her apartment and he says “[an empathy box] is the most personal possession you have !”. The readers already saw how everyone had a television or an empathy box, because everyone wanted something to believe in, and Bust Friendly and Mercer fulfilled this empty spot in their life. This purpose is continued to be proven, because after both of them are identified as fake, and not what everyone thought they were, people still believed in them. They needed that hope so desperately in their life that even though they know what they believe in is fake, they still insist on believing in