Wilbur Mercer is more of a symbol than a character. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the world is dying. The characters who remain on Earth live with radioactive dust, either unable or unwilling to leave Earth for an off-world colony. The religions of the world have been replaced with Mercerism, a global belief system that centers around a man named Wilbur Mercer. Characters use specially designed devices that allow them to access Mercerism called empathy boxes. These devices allow them to connect with Mercer, an old man who continuously struggles to walk up a hill. His ascent is a symbolic struggle, a metaphorical endurance test against the difficulty of existence; as the characters struggle to survive on a radioactive, alienating Earth, Mercer struggles to climb the hill. He is accosted by villains; as they throw rocks at Mercer, the people connecting to Mercer through the empathy boxes are so strongly connected to him that they feel his physical wounds. Mercer’s plight is a symbol of the struggle of humanity, but also a symbol of humanity’s desire to share their troubles with others. Mercerism is a global phenomenon because the characters feel so trapped and alone that the only way they can connect with each other is on a symbolic, artificial level.