There is a lot of symbolism in the last scene with Roy Batty in Blade Runner. Throughout the movie, Rick Deckard is trying to "retire" Batty, but he is smart and good at fighting, so it's difficult. At the end of the film, Batty saves Deckard from falling to his life and releases a white dove. Finally, Batty has grasped some sense of compassion and emotion, which is what differentiated humans and replicants. He talks about memories and how his will be lost like "tears in the rain." This scene really exemplified the definition of human in the film. Tyrell says that the replicants are "more human than human" so is Batty really more human than human now that he is empathetic towards Deckard? The white dove symbolizes peace: he makes peace with Deckard as he saves his life and he is at peace with losing all his memories. When Batty dies (and says "time to die") he has gained empathy and compassion towards other humans, a trait most replicants do not have. The dove symbolizes his transcendence into humanity. When the dove flys away, Batty has really become more human than human because he has gained emotions. It is an interesting turn of events when Batty saves Deckard's life, but it was crucial for the audience to realize the thin line between humans and replicants. We are left with the question, "what makes us human?" and it is unclear, but I think the scene with the dove is a way for the audience to get closure about Roy Batty's human characteristics and the mission of the "more human than human" replicants.
Batty saves Deckard from falling to his death, not his life. Good point about Batty's memories, compassion, and empathy. Those are the elements we feel define our humanity.
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