Week 7-LoveKim

What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel?

According to Brown (2001), the main themes of the novel of The Man in the High Castle written by P.K. Dick are first of all, the employment of Dick’s philosophy, psychology, religion and knowledge to his work. Dick believed that SF is connected to the events that each individual experience in their life, and the results are brought by the effects of the events.  In fact, his life reflected in his novels, which was uncommon in the SF area in 1950s and 1960s. Dick had basically a pessimistic point of view when it comes to writing his novels, which is presumably related to his difficult childhood and family background. And it was believed to be responsible for the anxiety and psychological issues in his later life. Although he sometimes introduced the common ideas of SF novels to his work such as rocket-ships, alien worlds and ray-guns, he used them through his own thematic motivation. He also showed a long belief in the humanity of the individual in his SF novels. These aspects were basically contrast to the majority of the themes of SF in America.  For example, he attempted to explore the mechanism of metaphysics, the nature of perception of reality, good and evil, and power abuse through the novel. 

Dick’s primary concern, which was described in his novel, was what makes a true human being in opposition to a fake human. He responded to the question through his another novel Do Androids Dreams of Electronic Sheep?, which was published in 1968. 

Reference

Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The man in the high castle, v-xii. London: Penguin.