The man in the High Castle (1962) by Phillip Dick is an alternate history genre novel that is showcasing a world in which Germany and Japan have won World War 2, and Nazi force is dominating the world. The novel features the book of changes which is a chinese dicanation that allows the protagonists to determine their next steps. Mountford (2016) disputes Williams (1990) view that the I ching does not figure in the novel aside from a few oracle consultorios by presenting the argument that the novel’s construction is based on the I Ching as the central plot device rather than the significant philosophy behind it.(Mountfort, 2020).
Philip Dick uses the I Ching in his novel in order to determine the thought process used when protagonists face decision making. This allowed a metaphysical connection, between the protagonists and readers through the existence of the oracle harbors. The harbors build a foundation of philosophy that transcend into endless alternate realities. This is evident in the High Castle as the type of storytelling works its way towards postmodern fiction due to crossing the limits of linear chronological storytelling. Furthermore, Dick uses postmodernism to deconstruct the frameworks through which the audiences understand the now, reality. He creates an intertextuality between the different elements of the novel and the reality with primary reference to I Ching and the ideologies associated with it. Dick states ‘“I used [the I Ching] in The Man in the High Castle because a number of characters used it. In each case when they asked a question, I threw the coins and wrote the hexagram lines they go” (Mountfort, 2020) Dick revolutionalises the I Ching in the context of storytelling. While others like Sylvia Plath have used the oracle, Dick centralised I Ching unlike any other. (Mountfort, 2020)
Dicks heavy reliance on the I Ching limited him from producing a better structure and plot. The philosophies of I Ching made him fall short in the ending, leaving the audiences overwhelmed and incomplete. Personally, I believe his work would not be as popular as it is now if he had not based most of it off I Ching. Dick affirms this statement as he states in an interview “The I Ching failed me at the end of that book, and didn’t help me resolve the ending. That’s why the ending is so unresolved…the I Ching copped out completely, and left me stranded’ (1976).
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.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.43.2.0287
Pop Genres 2020 