Weeks 7 and 8
Science fiction - PKD
1) What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science
fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?
2) According to
Mountfort (2006), what role does the I Ching have as an
organisational device in the structure of Man in the High Castle?
How does the use of this device illuminate the character of the novel’s
protagonists?
3What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes
and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features
of science fiction?
4) What does Dick(1995) himself theorise about the I Ching?
3) What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of science fiction?
ReplyDeleteUnlike most of science fiction’s ideas about innovative technology, robots, aliens invasions, and the exploration of space, Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle (2001; 1963) focuses on an alternative world in history, which is one of science fiction’s sub-genres but was not explored enough at Dick’s time. However, the novel does not go completely away from the elements of science fiction. According to Brown’s introduction to The Man in the High Castle (2001), we can still see some features of science fiction. For example, the novel shows us “a what if glimpse of another world” (Brown, p. xii). Science fiction is all about what if that could have happened in the past or that can happen in the future. Dick in his novel wrote about the former and depicts what the world would have been like if Japan and Germany had had won World War II. The Man in the High Castle also presents to us what will happen if power is abused just like most sci-fi works do, but by showing the ultimate totalitarianism, rather than by showing the technology or robots that are getting out of control. The good and the evil are routinely discussed, yet the good in the novel are represented by several ordinary people, instead of super heroes.
There are several themes in The Man in the High Castle pointed out by Brown (2001). Through the description of the perceived world, we can feel the characters’ struggles and insecurity, or in Brown’s words, “powerlessness” and “confusion”, under the Axis rule, especially the Nazi rule (p. x). By the means of stream of consciousness, we are able to know what the characters are truly thinking and feeling, though it makes the text harder to read. In addition, this writing technique not only makes the emotions more vivid and real, but also reveals “the insidious nature of bigotry” of some characters like Lotze (p. viiii). It is not difficult to find out those bigotries in the novel as a reader in today’s racism-aware society, yet it is not deniable that racism still exists. Perhaps when reading the novel, readers will have the opportunity to contemplate on this issue again and again. Lastly, though the world created is filled with confusion and powerlessness, Dick does not give up hope. He adds in the I Ching as a guide for turning points and authentic crafts by Frank Frink to find out the truth.
References:
Dick, P. K. (2001;1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.
Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle (p. v-xii). London: Penguin.
Good answer, Emily.Via his 'subjective method' he was able to show the effect on ideology on the human mind.
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ReplyDeleteWhat does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of science fiction?
Phillip K. Dick was a teller of cautionary tales and a well-respected author, in his career of 30 years Dick produced thirty-five science fiction novels and more than a hundred short stories (Brown, 2001). In 1966, British science fiction writer John Brunner addressed Phillip K. Dick as ‘The most consistently brilliant science fiction writer in world”. Phillip K. Dick presented science fiction in an alternative way creating his own twist, which wasn’t your average science fiction model of unrealistic creatures being terrorised by aliens and so forth. Although Phillip K. Dick suffered with mental health issues such as anxiety attacks, following with periods of being unable to function socially, this allowed Dick to use Science fiction in his favour among his difficulties, exploring his obsession with the idea that the universe was only apparently real, an illusion behind which the truth might dwell, giving him the creative power to perceive reality in a reader and protagonist is hoax- a shadow-play conceived by malign forces.
Brown (2001) investigated major themes of which Phillip K. Dick identified throughout this work, stating “Dick was populating his novels with a repertoire of fully-realized characters drawn from real life, composites of people he knew and versions of himself. Furthermore, Brown (2001) continues to liberate towards Phillip K Dicks work stating that one of his many strengths of his work was the empathy with which he wrote about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, more so revealing Phillip K. Dicks art reflected his life which was seen as an eventful, troubled and chaotic life. It is clear that according to Brown (2001) that Dicks themes are explicit and raw, based on his own personal life. Brown (2001) describes Dick’s book “The man in the high castle” as a depiction among the little people whom are living small lives with honour and confusion, contributing its examination of the conflicting ideas of totalitarianism incorporating eastern philosophy, more so Brown (2001) also points out that “The man in the high castle” allows us an insight into the minds of real, fully developed characters moulded by Dick himself, the circumstances he developed by saying that; like all great science fiction, it allows us a glimpse of a ‘what if’ scenario of a whole new world, a type of reality we are invited to comprehend and compare with our own. Brown (2001) continues on to state that the “The man in the high castle” is yet one of Phillip K. Dicks ‘finest book’ and one of the very best science fiction novels that has ever been published. In relations, Mountfort (2006) speaks about Phillip K. Dicks ‘fictional’ world of ‘The Man in the high castle’ stating the similarity it holds between reality in another dimension, in which portrays the ‘inner truth’ of how Dick reveals himself. The man in the high castle was a slight glimpse towards Phillip K. Dicks way to express his thoughts towards world war 2, contributing his own aspects from one of his famous novels I Ching seen as the device that (literally and figuratively) unifies the stylistic and philosophic dimensions of the novel.
Reference:
Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle (p. v-xii). London: Penguin.
Mountfort, P. (2006). Oracle-text/Cybertext in Phillip K. Dicks The Man in the High Castle. Conference paper, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association annual joint conference, Atlanta, 2006.
1. What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?
ReplyDelete“Speculative fiction can be a collective term to describe works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror and also addresses works that are not science fiction, fantasy, or horror, yet don't rightly belong to the other genres.” (Lilly, 2002)
In my response to ‘The Wizard of Earthsea’ in reference to the difference between Fantasy and Science Fiction, I wrote that Science Fiction plays on the ‘realism’ of time, allowing the reader to question themselves and current events based on the Science Fiction story. Speculative Fiction is combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternative history, historical fiction, and other genres that aren’t particularly categorized under those genres, but can’t exactly be classified as any other genre. ‘The Man in the High Castle’ is definitely a speculative fiction based on the fact that the Japanese and Germans did not win World War II; however, Philip K. Dick created the idea of ‘what if?’ by generating this concept of ‘a novel within a novel’. “A good speculative fiction story would make you think, provide a new insight into human nature or even give you a new outlook on life.” (Quillen, 2002)
REFERENCES:
Lilly, N. E. (2002, March). What is Speculative Fiction? Retrieved from Green Tentacles: http://www.greententacles.com/articles/5/26/
Quillen, L. E. (2002, March). What is Speculative Fiction? Retrieved from Green Tentacles: http://www.greententacles.com/articles/5/26/
What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of science fiction?
ReplyDeleteThrough the depection of The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick (PKD) it explores ‘little people living in small lives with honor and confusion’ (Brown, 2001). It examines the conflicting ideas of totalitarinism as the story is set in San Francisco, post World War Two and asks What if the Allies had lost the war? PKD uses themes of imlipcit evil, the sense of being impriosined in a world, seemingly without hope and individuals trapped in circumstances beyond their control. These themes and concerns are explored throughout the novel, and are also displayed in the novel that is within the novel The Grasshopper Lies Heavy a science fiction piece of work penned by Hawthorn Abendsen. These themes are unwound from the stories as you follow various characters and how they live in a world dominated by boundraies and how the Eastern philosophes of the I Ching help to come to terms with their lives. The element of the novel that conforms to the wider generic features of science fiction is the novels ‘glimpse of another world, a reality we are invted to compare to our own” (Brown, 2001).
An easy comparison in The Man in the High Castle as it is a place and time that is known to the reader, but with an alternate lifestyle.
References
DeleteBrown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K, The Man in the High Castle (p.v-xii). London: Penguin
Dick, P.K. (2001;1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin