Week 7

What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?

Speculative fiction, according by Urbanski (2007) and Card (1990), incorporates both science fiction and fantasy categories. Works can be identified as undoubtedly science fiction or fantasy, while yet other works seem to combine elements of both these genres (Urbanski).

In The Man in the High Castle, when Betty, Paul and Childan discuss The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, Betty has the idea that “science fiction deals with the future, in particular future where science has advanced over now” (Dick, 1982; 1962, chapter 7, para. 52). Her husband is quick to add that science fiction also “deals with alternate present” (Dick, 1982; 1962, chapter 7, para. 53). As Brown (2001) states, the alternate world was “a sub-genre of science fiction little explored at the time he [Dick] wrote the novel” (p. xi). The Man in the High Castle is thus a science fiction work that deals with an alternate world: instead of Germany and Japan losing World War II, they win the war.

According to Mountfort (2006), what role does the I Ching have as an organisational device in the structure of High Castle?

The Man in The High Castle has I Ching readings implanted into its text at 10 crucial points which help formulate the structure of the work (Mountfort, 2006). P.K. Dick referred to the device to gain information on how he should develop the work, with the 10 readings showing, according to Mountfort, the “`physical’ seams of the construction of Dick’s novel” (p. 5). The I Ching (a cybertext) centres on the “mechanical organization of the text” (Aarseth, 1997, as cited in Mountfort, 2006, p. 4). Because of the role of the I Ching in creating Dick’s work, the reader can be interested in more than just the story’s meaning, including how “acts of choices” (Mountfort, p. 4) have developed the work.

How does the use of this device illuminate the character of the novel’s protagonists?

When consulting the I Ching, “personal elements of the questioner’s situation and more general storylines contained within the oracle morph and are reconstituted to form a new, individualised narrative” (Mountfort, 2006, p. 4). Taking this into consideration, Dick consulted the I Ching on behalf of his characters, characters that he created. “Every time my people would cast a hexagram, I actually cast it for them and let them proceed on the basis of the advice given” (Dick as cited in McKee, 2004, p. 26). The characters are, therefore, to a larger extent, an extension of the author. If they were real people, they may have asked the oracle different questions, framed the questions he asked on their behalf differently, or even interpreted the answers in different ways, so receiving different ‘individualised narratives’. Therefore, I think the character of the novel’s protagonists is in fact a reflection (an illumination) of the author’s character. He has shaped the novel’s characters' future actions according to his interpretation of the oracle’s messages.

Another means of understanding the character of the novel’s protagonists is to consider why they used the I Ching. Childan, Frink and his wife have had their worlds overturned since the lost of the war to Germany and Japan. Their world is one filled with apprehension and fear. They are “individuals driven to contemplate their powerlessness in light of the ultimate rule of the Third Reich” (Brown, 2001, p. x). Their reliance on the I Ching seems to be out of a need to gain a sense of certainty in an uncertain world in which they seem no longer able to trust their own judgements. Frink consults the oracle on one occasion, for example, because he is uncertain how to make amends with his employer, Wyndam-Matson, and on another occasion, for example, as to whether he should set up a jewellery business. Juliana, too, seems to have developed a dependency on the I Ching and admits that “I use it all the time to decide. I never let it out of my sight (Dick, 1982; 1962, chapter 6, para. 77). Her dependency even has her stopping the car she is driving at one point in order to consult the I Ching, then, having done so, resumes her journey.

Tagomi’s use of the I Ching stems from a cultural tradition. But his use of the oracle seems to stem from his belief that “we must all have faith in something. . . . We cannot see ahead, on our own” (Dick, 1982; 1962, chapter 5, para. 99). Tagomi seems to use the oracle to stay in as balanced a state as possible.

It seems the novel’s protagonists can only rely whole-heartedly on the oracle and not on the vagaries of their changing interactions with others or the world in which they find themselves – a world in which the Nazis have carried on their horrific deeds. The protagonists’ characters will not permit them to rely on themselves, so they resort to referring to an oracle in order to live their lives. It seems they require a confidant and have permitted the oracle to be that guiding confidant whose advice they can trust when fearful, apprehensive or stressful occasions arise.

What does Dick (1995) himself theorise about the I Ching?

The I Ching is “analytical and diagnostic, not predictive” (Dick, 1995, p. 179). That is, it is not a means of telling the future and has nothing to do with the cause and effect occurrences which happen in linear time (Dick). It deals with synchronicity which cannot be pre-empted (Dick). I thought this definition aptly explained synchronicity: “apparently meaningful coincidences in time of two or more similar or identical events that are causally unrelated” (HarperCollins, 2001, p. 1528). These events, according to Dick (1995), happen outside usual time. Dick (1995) states that the I Ching is a means of guesstimating these synchronous occurrences so that the I Ching user is aware of future “meaningful coincidences” (p. 178) that will impact their lives – or, in other words, disturb linear time. The I Ching permits examination of the “koinos kosmos” (Dick, p. 180), that is “the shared world” (Dick, p. 175), but a person becomes immersed in “static time” (Dick, p. 180) if they attempt to live their life entirely by the book.

When reading The Man in The High Castle (Dick, 1982; 1962), it was interesting to note that both yarrow stalks and coins were used when the oracle was consulted, but surely the use of different media must bring about different hexagram results? Since a Moment is only fleeting – here now and then past - perhaps the results of this is not something that can ever truly be examined.

References

Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle (p. v-xii). London: Penguin.

Card, O. S. (1990). How to write science fiction and fantasy. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books. Retrieved September 12, 2010, from Google Scholar database. http://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sV7T1SETQ08C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=How+to+write+science+fiction+and+fantasy&ots=YTZAdlly02&sig=Cy81Dwg_akCgw0WtpbGOVaHWPR4#v=onepage&q&f=false

HarperCollins. (2001). Collins concise dictionary: 21^st century edition (5^th ed.). Glasgow: Author.

Dick, P.K. (1995). Schizophrenia and the I Ching. In Sutin, L. (ed.), The shifting realities of Philip K. Dick (pp. 175-182). New York: Vintage.

Dick, P.K. (1982; 1962). The Man in The High Castle. New York, NY: Berkley Publishing. Retrieved September 1, 2010, from Auckland University of Technology Popular Genres Blackboard Online site: https://autonline.aut.ac.nz/webapps/portal/
frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D39673%26url%3D

Mountfort, P. (2006). Oracle-text/cybertext in Philip K. Dick’s The Man in The High Castle. Conference paper, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association annual joint conference, Atlanta, 2006.

Urbanski, H. (2007; 1975). Plagues, apocalypses and bug-eyed monsters: how speculative fiction shows us our nightmares. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. Retrieved September 12, 2010, from http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=
2Hs086tV3fcC&pg=PA25&dq=Plagues,+apocalypse+Urbanski&hl=en&ei=9H6VTML5A5H0tgPrquHACg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Plagues%2C%20apocalypse%20Urbanski&f=false