On what grounds does Mountfort (2018) dispute Williams’ (1990) view that the I Ching does not figure in the novel aside from a few oracle consultations?
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick is an alternate history novel presenting a world where Germany and Japan have won World War Two. Featuring throughout the novel is the I Ching or Book of Changes – a Chinese oracle or divination text that help the characters determine their next course of action. Mountfort (2016) disputes the view of Williams (1990) that the I Ching does not figure in the novel aside from a few oracle consultations, arguing that the I Ching is a central plot device that underlies the novel’s construction and philosophy.
Philip K. Dick consulted the I Ching to help him write and develop The Man in the High Castle (MHC) (Mountfort, 2016). He posed questions to the oracle during crucial junctures of his writing, such as what would happen to his characters, how they should behave, and how the plot should move forward. Mountfort (2016) describes this as a metafictional discussion between the author and the protagonists and therefore the reader and the text. This is because Dick’s use of the oracle as a deciding factor for his next move as a writer mirrors his characters’ use of the oracle to decide how they will proceed in their lives.
Williams’ view of the I Ching in relation to MHC is that the novel’s plot does not come from I Ching readings directly, and that it only participates in the novel when the characters are consulting it (Williams, 1990). In other words, Williams’ view is that the I Ching is a feature of the plot rather than a driving force of the philosophy behind it. Mountfort (2016) disputes this view and argues that the I Ching underpins the entire fabric of the novel.
For example, the I Ching provides the philosophical foundation of the novel, particularly the concept of synchronicity (Mountfort, 2016). This is described as events being meaningful coincidences where they have no causal relationship but are still purposefully related (Tarnas, 2006). Synchronic philosophy is evident in each major character using the I Ching to guide their next course of action. Mountfort (2016) argues that there are twelve instances of oracular consultations that take place in the novel, each revealing patterns that mirror each other. For example, four of the twelve consultations involve characters Frank Frink and Mr. Tagomi consulting the oracle twice and in a similar pattern (Mountfort, 2016). Their first question (respectively) is about meeting someone and how to go about a delicate interpersonal situation, in Frink’s case with his boss Wyndham Matson, and in Tagomi’s case with obtaining a gift for an important visitor from Robert Childan (Mountfort, 2016). The answers to their second questions are both concerned with the inner nature of a person rather than what they outwardly appear to be, in Frink’s case his ex-wife and in Tagomi’s case his business contact (Mountfort, 2016). What’s significant about this is that Frink and Tagomi’s paths intersect towards the end of the novel, without either character having met each other (Mountfort, 2016). Tagomi ultimately saves Frink from being surrendered to the Nazis, thereby intimately connecting the two characters while they each have no idea of the impact they’ve had on each other’s lives (Lison, 2014). This is integral to the philosophy of the I Ching as the two characters are meaningfully connected as their fates interlock together (Mountfort, 2016).
Lison (2014) argues that Frink and Tagomi’s storyline is predicted by the I Ching. This is because when Frink consults the oracle as to whether or not his jewelry business will succeed, he receives a mixed reply where it says the business will bring good fortune, but also warns of a future catastrophe unconnected to the jewelry business (Lison, 2014). This refers to the destruction of Japan due to Operation Dandelion, which Frink is unaware of. Lison (2014) argues that the oracle passes favorable judgement on Frink’s business while simultaneously indicating that it is dwarfed by a larger concern. They argue that this mirrors the narrative structure of the novel, in which small moments of favor, such as Mr. Tagomi’s act of kindness to Frink, are dwarfed by the larger concern of the characters’ reality not being real, as revealed at the end of the book (Lison, 2014).
Another way that the I Ching is central to the construction of the novel is how it presents alternate worlds. MHC presents us with three alternate worlds – the world the novel is set in, the world presented in the novel within the novel (The Grasshopper Lies Heavy), and the world of the reader (Mountfort, 2016). This many-worlds interpretation ties in with the I Ching as they are both based on the element of chance, suggesting that alternative possibilities in different realities always exist (Mountfort, 2016). The fate of each character is decided by a text in which multiple scenarios are possible. Again, this is mirrored by the multiple universes within the novel. Even the ambiguous ending of the novel emphasizes how there is not one reality in which the novel should end, but rather multiple possibilities as determined by the aleatory nature of the I Ching (Mountfort, 2016).
References
Lison, A. (2014). “The very idea of place”: Form, contingency, and Adornian volition in The Man in the High Castle. Science Fiction Studies, 41(1), 45-68.
Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Science Fiction Studies, 43(2), 287-309. https://doi:10.5621/sciefictstud.43.2.0287
Tarnas, R. (2006). Cosmos and psyche. Plume.
Williams, P. (1990, December). The author and the oracle. PKDS Newsletter, (25), 1-10.
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