Through The Looking Glass

The setting of Philip K. Dick’s Man in the High Castle occurs in an alternative reality where the Axis Powers won the second World War. Because of this defeat, the author offers an interesting interpretation of what could have happened in America if the United States had lost. Throughout the novel, the audience witnesses how this alternative reality both mirrors and differs with our own. From these parallels, Dick weaves themes regarding the unsettling prevalence of racism and sexism within our society throughout the novel.

Racism within Man in the High Castle is one of the strongest similarities shared with our own history. The novel establishes early on that a hierarchy structured on racial discrimination is instilled within this alternative society. This hierarchy is strictly enforced and adopted by all members of society.

For example, after Robert Childan leaves his belongings with the porter, he takes the elevator to Mr. Tagomi’s suite. During this time, Childan observes that everyone inside the elevator is Japanese—save for a few whites.

He even takes comfort in that fact that the porter took a seperate elevator, as “it would not have been within the realm of reason to permit the [black man] here”, according to his rationality. The author’s portrayal of Childan’s disdain and apathy towards the porter illustrates the racial discrimination enforced by the Japanese government. This separation of individuals based on race is a clear indicator of the extreme practices adopted within Man in the High Castle’s society towards separating people based on their race.

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However, the race-based inequality in the novel is not unique; in fact, the author based these practices on the general adopted attitude within America during the 1960s. One example of this extreme inequality were the Jim Crow laws, which legalized nation-wide segregation based on a “separate but equal” verdict. Enforcement on these laws overtime eventually resulted in the mistreatment of black citizens—especially in the southern United States. The most evident examples of this mistreatment resulted in lack of funding for public schools, limited public transportation options, and poor-quality housing. Thus, the author uses our own history—through the Jim Crow laws—to mirror the extreme racism endured throughout Man in the High Castle. The implementation of a societal patriarchy is the second similarity in the novel used to mirror our own society in the 1960s.

This model promotes a male-dominated society while encouraging women to assume a subservient and submissive role in their lives. For example, before Wyndam-Matson drives Rita—a hired prostitute—back to her apartment, she discovers a copy of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy in the apartment. As Rita explains the significance of the novel and its defiance against the Reich, Wyndam dismisses her comments since all women seem to “spout on forever” every time they read a book. Through this example, Wyndam displays disgust over the efforts to formally educate women which were becoming increasingly popular during the Women’s Movement during the 1960s.

This movement was established to promote an increase in women’s right through political means. Therefore, the author uses this instance in the novel to mirror the inferior status assumed upon women; an attitude which embodied those shared by the American public during the 1960s. As a novel published in 1962, Man in the High Castle continually utilizes themes of racism and sexism to explicitly target the prevalence of these vices within our society. The author uses instances, such as Childan‘s racist hostility towards the porter, in the novel to replicate beliefs and actions encouraged by racial discrimination. This same antagonism is replicated as well towards female citizens, regardless of nationality and race. However, the author utilizes these examples by basing them off historical influences by our own reality; most notably through the Jim Crow laws and the Women’s Movement in the 1960s. By illustrating extreme racism and sexist behaviors in the novel, Philip K. Dick emphasizes the unnerving prevalence of these vices within our society during the 1960s.