Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

Rick and Resch arrive at the opera house to continue their pursuit of Luft but learn from a stagehand that she has left for the museum to see an Edvard Munch exhibit. They proceed to the museum and begin searching for her among the artwork, noting the somber and evocative tone of Munch’s pieces. Resch stops to study The Scream, remarking on its depiction of isolation and torment. Rick notices Luft examining a print of Puberty, a depiction of a young girl on the edge of a bed. The two men approach her carefully to avoid alarming the other museum visitors.

Rick initiates the encounter by casually offering to buy the print for Luba. Luba recognizes him and reacts with shock. Rick introduces Resch to her, while Resch produces his police credentials. Luba accuses Resch of being an android, which visibly unsettles him. Together, the men escort Luba toward the elevator, with Luba passively complying. On the way, she asks Rick to buy her the print of Puberty, and he obliges, paying for it with his own money. Luba thanks him, remarking that his gesture is something an android would never consider.

Inside the elevator, Luba continues to needle Resch, accusing him of being an android and questioning his identity. Her remarks provoke Resch, who draws his laser tube despite Rick’s protests. When Rick tries to intervene, Resch fires, wounding Luba in the stomach as she attempts to evade him. She collapses in pain, screaming, and Rick ends her suffering by firing his laser tube. Luba dies instantly. Afterward, Rick burns the print he had purchased for her. Resch cannot understand why Rick would buy the picture with his own money and then burn it.

The two men leave the museum, and Rick begins to question Resch’s actions. He observes that Resch seems to enjoy killing, which disturbs him. Resch defends himself, arguing that retiring androids is necessary to protect humanity. Rick, skeptical of Resch’s humanity, agrees to test him using the Voigt-Kampff scale. They walk to Resch’s car, where Resch voluntarily surrenders his laser tube to reassure Rick that he is not a threat. Resch expresses nervousness about the test and worries about the possibility that Garland’s claims about him being an android might be true.

Rick administers the test, carefully monitoring Resch’s responses. The results confirm that Resch is human, to his great relief. Resch asks Rick for his thoughts, but Rick remains preoccupied with the events of the day. He thinks about Luft’s death and the emotional impact it has had on him. Resch, trying to rationalize Rick’s reaction, attributes it to physical attraction toward Luba and advises him to address such feelings by pursuing intimacy with an android before retiring it. Rick finds the suggestion unsettling and wonders if such an attitude is what makes Resch such a good bounty hunter.