The Philip K. Dick Page
Note that for the first-time Dick reader, you should probably
start with "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" -- which was
made (somehow) into the movie Blade Runner. For a "port"
from written sf into movie, it wasn't too bad. I recall
reading one of the last interviews with Phil (in Twilight
Zone Magazine), about all that he was able to really salvage
was the last scene where the android becomes human and save's
Rick Dekker's life (played by Harrison Ford). Unfortunately,
Phil never lived to see the release of the "Director's Cut"
which is more than any author should ever expect from Hollywood.
It at least got rid of the "voice-over" drivel and returned much
of the mood of "man vs angst" that much of Phil's work reveals
about life here in the "future".
Since the "muse came upon me", I decided to at least get
down a few ideas, so as such, this article will have to
be WELL re-worked. For the present, I just cascade over
a few common themes.
(I originally wrote this probably around 1985 or so) I have
updated it sense -- for year 2000, I am re-reading all of
the classic sf -- I knew you would be pleased :) -- I have
also tried to clarify some of Phil's writing themes. Actually,
the worst thing is so much of his stuff is out of print, but
is VERY relevant today. Enjoy!)
Almost ALL of his works were based on current events, I have
tried to tie these into current events of our century as well.
(For example, "Radio Free Albemuth" is (at least partly) an
indictment of Richard Nixon's second term in office -- which
had not yet un-folded as the "Watergate Fiasco").
Finally, this IS from the SF department, and the discussion
of history, society in general, religion and philosophies,
as well as the "path of life" is discussed freely and openly
-- so, IF you are a "political correct" type, prepare to have
your beliefs and ideas bombarded; in this case, the simplest
thing to do is to dismiss all of this as "just a bunch of
crap by a couple of deranged would-be writers" and return to
your Tom Clancy and Robin Givens novels (not that there's
any really anything wrong, it's just that they're sooo
main-stream (any really good SF writer has at MOST one
obligatory sex scene), and they RARELY explore the unfathomable)...
Ok, now that the "rest" of us lunies are alone...
A few quotes by other SF authors about Phil and his works:
"The fact that what what Dick is entertaining
us about is reality and madness, time and death,
sin and salvation -- this has escaped most
critics. Nobody notices that we have our own
homegrown Borges, and have had him for thirty
years." -- Ursla K. Le Guin, New Republic
"Dick was sf's greatest extrapolator of modern
angst." -- New York Daily News
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldridge
Being pretty much the original article...
Consistent with the theme of "What is Reality?", many of the
disturbing images brought forth in this novel bring once again
Phil's warnings concerning drug abuse. Overtly, the plot
concerns "the return" of Palmer Eldridge from the Proxima
Centuri star system (the nearest star to our own sun). In other
of Phil's novels, the "return" brings the messiah, warnings,
and other portents of change. However in this novel, the return
is overtly concerned with a new life form invading the solar
system. Near the end of the novel, the form of Palmer Eldridge
is revealed to be an alien life form that by staging "dreams"
in the users of the drug Chew-Z, it (in its own way) propagates
itself.
Several deeper levels of understanding are (as usual) left up
in the air: Is the creature in fact God? Is the sharing of
consciousness between the creature and humans a mutual one in
which each brings to the other something?
In the latter part of the novel, M.. asks himself what he has
to offer the creature and decides nothing. In reality, we see
that the variety of experiences that the creature has encountered
has left it hungry for more. In fact, I would say, that in contrast
to the colonists (and other users of the drug) who wish to escape
reality, the alien in fact uses the experience to help it
experience reality. That is, in fact that M... in fact DOES bring
to the meld something: His own, real experiences from which the
alien can draw upon to create a new set of experiences.
In fact in keeping with the "immortality is boring" theme, one
would assume that the alien longs for the death secretly -- one
sees the parallels to the World that Jones Made here: The agony
of seeing oneself die over a long period of year is worse than
any fear of death.
The German E treatment
One common theme that Phil explored in several of his
novels (especially the last-published one "The Un-Teleported
Man" which was pieced together from his "note books" and was
(as far as can be seen about 95% complete) -- it was written
before 1974).
Anyway, a common theme is that the old "evil" Germany (you
remember WW II ??) never completely disappeared. And yet
there was the new Germany that wanted to redeem itself.
These are (as with all things) in constant battle with
each other (it is readily apparent that Phil REALLY WAS
quite familiar with much of the mid-eastern philosophies
of Zoroastrian and other common themes, as well as with
much of mythology).
But I digress (twice this time!).
In The Un-teleported Man, the hero is thwarted by the
evil German company (still after some 100 years trying
to re-build the 4th Reich -- there is an internal
civil war, but for the most part the world has come
to accept the New Germany as the "de facto" Germany
this parallels the "country in exile" of France during
WW II, and is a common them with Phil -- esp in
"The Man in the High-Castle" -- which was made into
a fairly decent non SF movie, and without (as usual)
ANY of Phil's philosophical or religious ideas).
Anyway, in the Un-teleported man, in the end the hero
is saved by a German. The dialog goes something
like this:
Hero: Why did you help me? You're betraying
your country.
German: No, they betrayed our country. When
Hitler came to power, the first
country that lost lives fighting him
was Germany.
Thus, the good-vs-bad conflict is usually exemplified
by a German company (A.G. Farber; go read your history!
Also, during the war Chase Bank (a Christian owned bank)
funded the Nazis, as did Bank of Boston (a Jewish owned
bank) -- these themes are never developed fully, and
I have not yet been able to find independent (historical)
verification of this -- although several main-stream
writers mention these facts as well, hmmm...).
Consistent with about half of Phil's works, the New Germany is
still a part of the world: Having never faced its past and its
own devotion to some Golden Age of German Romanticism, it is
forever doomed to trod the same road. And consistent with that is
the Superman obsession: To evolve humans into the next, superior
stage of evolution. Note too that it is E-men (evolved-men) that
guard the plaque that commemorates the death of Palmer Eldridge.
Like the Germans guarding their (mythical) past glories, the E-men
stand over the shrine that allowed them to continue. Phil doesn't
directly state the case here, but the concept of the group gestalt
that would transcend the experiences of any single individual is
a common theme in other works; notably, Eye in the Sky, and Island
of Death. In both of those cases, the shared reality is superior
to the one they find themselves in. In the same way, the shared
experience of the Barbie/Ken existence with Can-D is superior to
the mundane existance on Mars; I return to this theme later.
One can only wonder what the ultimate fate of mankind would have
been if the meld with the Proxer had been allowed to continue.
This is a constant theme in Our Friends from Frolix-9, since in
that case it "just so happens" that the problems on earth are
caused by the superiors, who in turn exhibit the same weaknesses
of normal humans in their lusting after political power. In this
case, it is unstated in the reality of the novel: To want to
evolve will take you to a higher plane of existence in which
the hum-drum problem of just existing day-to-day will disappear.
However, as I mentioned earlier, perhaps the Proxy's "superior"
existence is in fact deadly boring -- caused no doubt by the
dreadful boredom of immortality. "People can't figure out how to
spend a Sunday afternoon, what will they do with an eternity?"
-- as the quote goes.
Life on Mars
------------
The draft which condemns the unlucky to a dreary life on Mars is
presented as the only-way-out for Earth to colonize Mars.
However, in reality it is simply an encapsulation of the very
problem of existence. As Palmer Eldridge says, he would gladly
take the life on Mars in preference to his death at the hands of
Leo. And in the end, M... decides to "work his garden" as Voltaire
has his troupe discover at the end of Candide: Work alone makes
life bearable.
Religious Themes
---------------
As with much of Phil's works, the common base for much of the
religious background is the strict Catholic Christian faith. In
many ways, this is one of his most religious works, drawing
heavily upon the Catholic transubstantiation (which was borrowed
from the Greek Platonic forms, etc). Outside of the context
of the two drugs, religion plays only a minor role to the story.
However, in explaining the "translation" to the "other plane
of existence", the Catholic model is applied without stop.
Phil was actually an Episcopalian (?sp?).
I can not help but wonder exactly what comment (if any)
Phil was making when the participants in the transubstantiation
(from Can-D) are "blank-eyed and drooling". Unlike, other novels
of Phil (eg, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and Counter-Clock
World), religion is not really a part of day-to-day life of the
protagonists. In more ways that not, Phil's treatment of the
"translation" is simply a drug-induced trace; much as he points
out with the American Indian's use of Peyote (not me, but you know).
This is also a consistent theme with the robot story where it finds
out that it was programmed to think that it was real. And it's
probably along the lines that if we could just find a drug to
translate us to the REAL reality. (Although, strictly speaking,
the dream quest (which is the point of the peyote, and/or just
fasting) -- is more to find lessons and bring them back to
help other people in the tribe (well, that's always been my
purpose of it).
However, these two conflicting views of reality: The pure
escapist view that life on Mars is so horrid, that they need
CAN-D just to escape back to some semblance of sanity --
recall, the fact that when in the Perky Pat layout, they
do not have sex, but that once they are back in their
own bodies that they are "able to have" sex. That is,
they are at least reminded what its like to be a human
being again and/or they are "cleansed" by the translation
and actually feel "clean" again. Recall the "taste of grit"
in the food that they rescue from the UN supply drop.
Side bar on: Race Relations, and the plight of Blacks in America
And the view of reality that CAN-D actually does translate
them (temporarily) out of their state of sin (Mars/the UN).
I know this is "stretching it a bit", but this reminds me
once again that they are separated from Mother Earth --
there is a very old Negroe-Slave poem about why Adam sinned
and the line goes something like "He didn't have no Mammy
to teach him right from wrong" -- which is interesting since
many times on the plantations, the black mothers (Mammy's)
would raise the white children. This is consistent with
my own "view" of Mother Earth being in fact black. As
well as Phil's two incidents with the black man that "saves
the soul" of Felix in "Flow My Tears, the Policeman said".
This is also the SAME theme in Martian Time Slip where the
blacks are forced to wander off into the desert (much like
the Israel's -- these are the "martians", but there is
a VERY strong link to Bradbury's Martian Chronicle as well).
It may well be that he is refering to the American Indians
as well. The symbolism is defintely there.
The treatment of blacks in general is a constant theme in
Phil's works -- unlike most of the "no problem here" authors
of the main-stream and even sf genre's; see for example
"Eye in the Sky" which presents the "there but for the grace
of God go I" when the two engineers are trapped together and
the black one is merely a tour guide to the power plant,
while the white one is the "senior" engineer -- even though
both are qualified engineers: Not many other authors even
addressed such issues!
Also, in "Divine Invasion" it is a black prophet of the old
testament that the police targe to keep quiet (about the
return of Christ). Also, in "Man in the High Castle", once
the Jews and Slavs are eliminated the Nazi's start on the
blacks -- all of which are shipped to Mars.
Again the "separation from mother Earth" is pretty clear here
(this is my spin on things; there is in fact a pop song that
says "Come into my Black soul" -- and my view that all human
souls are in fact black, but that it is the separation from
Christ that we try and substitute light for understanding
-- moving "toward the light" is in fact a return to Earth
and life, rather than moving on to the next life.
But, I digress. And this really should be about Phil's
take on reality, not mine. Sorry.
Back to the treatment of blacks...
This symbolism is VERY strong and comes out in one of his
other '60's novels, when it looked like J. Edgar Hoover
would simply kill off ALL of the black leadership -- not
just Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Several of Phil's
novels deal with the "after-the-math" of the race war
that seemed inevitable in the '60's and early '70's --
remember this was what Charles Manson was "on about"
as well. This never happened (for other reasons) --
but again, the evil simply goes into hiding and then
works from behind the scenes -- which Phil clearly depicted
in "Radio Free Albemuth" which he wrote about the Nixon
White House (1974), but which of course applies to all
corruption in all politics in all countries of all worlds.
This is again a common theme with Phil: The Race War
is ruse dreamed up by the tops to keep the lower classes
at each other's throats. (In "The World that Jones Made",
Phil thought it might be possible to end such conflict
-- again by the institution of a benign international
police force that would protect ALL citizen's rights.
However, the "race wars" issue figures through most of
the other novels. The irony is this:
For the most part the common people band together,
but in order to maintain the status quo, the "big lie"
must be told (viz, "The International Jewish Conspiracy"
that was published by Henry Ford and then re-printed
in Nazi Germany -- Hitler awarded Ford the Iron Cross,
as well as the fact that they exchanged autographed
pictures; viz, in the "Remembrance of Daliks" in the
Dr. Who series (written superbly by Ben Aaronovitch),
one of the men in the show talks about how England
"backed the wrong side" and the entire theme of the
show is about "racial purity".)
And the big lie must clearly be (for America): That
white and black are natural enemies as are day and night.
And yet, (as Marvin Harris pointed out in his essay on
the origins of Witch Burnings ("Witches, Whores, ...")
it is necessary for the vassal lords to keep people
separated from each other, lest they become a democracy
and unite to over-throw the wealthy aristocracy.
By-the-way (and this is as good a place as any)...
From the sf point-of-view, the black and white concepts
of evil and good are completely reversed! It is space
that is our home, it is from black, empty space that
we all come, then forming together to make a planet
and all the life upon and in it. And in the end it
is the exploding sun of light that destroys us. Thus,
black is life, white is death -- or more correctly
(since the above metaphor is PURE main-stream literature
thinking): Dark is life, light is death. You can
of course extend this to the darkness of the womb
towards the (in-correct) view that "move towards the
light" as the view of "passing on".
And finally, the "white" as natural rulers of our world
(since I am in a "form-destroyer" sort of mood). When
the Romans (all, pretty much swarthy skinned) first
encountered first the Germans, then the Swedes, and
then worst of all the Brits they had the same
thoughts: These are the most primitive of peoples
and they can never be civilized and must eventually
be completely obliterated to save society.
Of course, the Roman empire fell (again, one should NEVER
think of the ancient Romans as anything like white
-- in fact, there is quite a bit of evidence that
Jesus himself was black -- but that's another story).
(I find it "absurd" that most Americans think that
Jesus was even white (some puritanistic, protestant,
scrubbed clean and wearing a cardigan, drinking a
highball (viz, "Adams Family Values"). He was
(and remains) Jewish (as were we all 6000 years
ago if we regard the Bishop of Usher's calculations
as correct).
Again, it is interesting that many
orthodox "big three" religionists (Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam) regard ALL other religions
as WRONG and EVIL.
(I once met a gentleman who was a Sikh, and he
told me that his faith did not require him to
believe that he alone had the truth!!)
Thus, the "big three" dismiss me and my people's
beliefs as the devil's handiworks. Or that by
worshiping the Earth and Sky we offend Allah.
Or at least we are one of the lost tribes of Israel
-- not even having our own history to comfort us,
it is appropriated by the sons of Adam.
The Christians tried to kill some of us by giving
us blankets with small pox on them (the second
recorded case of bio-ware-fare). Even the Mormons
won't leave us alone. (I am in fortunate to
embody to the two opposing forces: Both white
and red -- why I can hate myself in two totally
separate ways -- most other peoples have to
seek out "the other" (or "the not us") in order
to find conflict in order to "prove themselves".
This too is a common theme in Phil's works --
although not fully explored; I would really
like to have had a discussion with him
on this and many other topics. Especially,
the "natural opposites" concept and the Greek
tragic cycle.
However, as with the case of all sins, unless one
stops the cycle of destruction / counter-destruction
then both parties are forever doomed to war against
each other. As Albert Schweitzer put it: We are
again drawn to the philosophy of Jesus
(link to cloisters page)
-- and then from Joseph Campbell we get the fact that
such symbolism occurs in myths all over the world
The Myth of the Hero
born of a virgin birth, the hero who sacrifices
all for others, and the hero who is resurrected.
However, the "message of Jesus of Nazareth" has
been lost, obliterated by greedy churches and
those that would turn him into a demi-god for
their own purposes. But the path Jesus took is
clear: Birth, message, death, resurrection.
And the message is clear: He so whomever saves
a single life, saves the world entire.
This last theme is explored in Divine Invasion.
But, again (as is my way), I digress.
It is strange that the aristocracy actually believes
Marxist dogma (about the actual ability as a part of
evolution for the working classes to permanently
overthrow the leadership and establish a true communal
order) -- nature is naturally self-organizing and the
"top-to-bottom" structure will ALWAYS re-assert itself.
(This theme even emerges from Solar Lottery, and especially
in Our Friends from Frolix-9 -- since, the leader orders
the "philosopher" to be killed "just-in-case" he really
did summon the hero's return).
It is then a "test" for the "tops" (vassals, lords of
the manner, the elite, the famous, or what-have-you)
that they feel compassion for the "lower" members of
society. (This is the theme at the very end of "Flow
My Tears, the Policeman Said".
(I know this is a REALLY lengthy setup...)
And yet, it is that same symbolism is clear: It is the
wealthy, powerful white man (Felix in "Flow my Tears"
-- the most powerful man on Earth perhaps) that simply
reaches out and hugs the down-and-out cast-off black
man: It is that act of compassion that saves Felix,
that is his saving grace.
And it is the one-by-one saving of a black person that
redeems the sins of the past of the ancestors -- or
possibly of the previous lives -- of the white man.
The past can never be erased or changed, only the
future can be changed (nor excused) -- and that by each person
changing who they are, and what they do.
One time I was going to the used book store that
happens to be some distance from my home. And as
I was going in, an old black man approached me for
some money. (Now you must remember that I look
very white, except for the fact that I usually
wear my hair quite long), I took out a five dollar
bill and started to hand it to the man. And then
the absurdity of it all washed over me, of my
own yuppism and this man who so clearly had been
passed over by society (by the "us"). I then took
out a twenty as well and handed him the bills, he
was very startled and told me that he would go right
now and get some food. I took his hand and shook
it and looked directly into his eyes and said,
"There will be better times ahead" -- this was
just before Thanksgiving in 1999. And it was not the
money that was the act of compassion, it was the
"acknowledgment" that he too was a human being.
And that we ALL are victims of our own circumstances.
Even the power-holders, even the wealthy -- I think
that they are saddest of us all.
I bought a book on Picasso for seven dollars and
ninety-eight cents.
It is my own view of salvation as follows: None
may leave until all can leave. So, we must all
save each other if we are to ever "move on" --
otherwise, we are all doomed to repeat and repeat
the same mistakes -- Forever.
To return to "Flow My Tears, the Policeman said"....
(This is discussed in some length in a speech which Phil
gave and is recorded in the "I hope I Shall Soon Arrive"
collection). To recount it:
Phil wrote the incident in his 50's main-stream
novel. Then he re-wrote it in the Flow the Tears.
He discussed the incident with a priest, who
told him that the scene was almost identical to
Philip who helps a black man in the Book of Acts.
Then some eight years later the actual incident
occurred in Phil's own life:
I noticed a man loitering suspiciously
by a parked car. It looked as if he
were attempting to steal the car, or
maybe something from it; as I returned
from the mailbox, he hid behind a tree.
On impulse I walked up to him and asked
"Is anything the matter?"
"I'm out of gas," the man said. "And I
have no money."
Incredibly, because I have never done
this before. I got out my wallet, took
all of money from it and handed the money
to him. He then shook hands with me and
asked where I lived, so that he could
later pay the money back. I returned
to my apartment, and then I realized
that the money would do him no good,
since there was no gas station within
walking distance. So I returned to my
car. The man had a metal gas can in
the trunk of his car, and, together,
we drove in my car to an all-night
gas station. Soon we were standing
there, two strangers, as a pump
jockey filled the metal gas can.
Suddenly, I realized that this was
the scene from my novel -- the novel
written some 8 years before. The
all-night gas station was exactly as
I had envisioned it in my inner eye
when I wrote the scene -- the glaring
white light, the pump jockey -- and now
I saw something which I had not seen
before. The stranger who I was
helping was black.
We drove back to his stalled car with the
gas, shook hands and then I returned to
my apartment building. I never saw him
again. He could not pay me back because
I had not told him which of the many
apartments was mine or what my name was.
I was terribly shaken up by this
experience. I had literally lived out a
scene completely as it had appeared in my
novel. Which is to say, I had lived out
a sort of replica of the scene from Acts
where Philip encounters the black man on
the road.
Now the "really odd" part about this is. That when I
first started on my "novel in the style of Philip K. Dick"
I had planned to write a series of articles for one of the
hippie newspapers that is still around, I had planned to
call it "Dick's World" and publish it under the pseudo-nym
of Richard K. Dick (partly to give homage to Phil, and
partly because of the influence that his works have had
on my own life). Hence I was planning on publishing my
stories in that forum -- this was before the internet
came along. About 3 years ago, my own "incident" occurred
where-in I was driving a route that I rarely take
and "happened" to rescue 4 black girls in their car. This
too has haunted me as well, thinking that if I hadn't taken
that route, at that particular time, then they surely
would have died -- the lug nuts were loose on their front
wheels, and while driving along beside them, I heard the
sound -- which I KNOW so-well. I followed them for some
time until they stopped at a Sonic drive-in, and asked
the driver if she had recently had her car worked on.
She said, yes, that she had had the brakes fixed. When
I took off the hub-cap, two of the nuts fell out (that
was the sound that I had heard). One nut was loose, and
only one nut was holding the wheel on. Sooner or later
they probably would have gotten on the expressway. This
has bothered my more than any other "synchronicity" event
in my strange life.
The impact of the event in Phil's life of course changed
the direction of his last 10 years of life and writing.
Again, the "translation" issue is far more complex when
coupled with the fact that "Perky Pat" (Barbie) is white
-- oh so white.
Perky Pat
Phil was astounded by the popularity of the Barbie Doll
phenomenon. However, I think that it went much further
than that: The twin beds, the squeeky clean television
sit coms, and the moral leadership of the 1950's all
belied the fact that political corruption was as strong
as ever, and more-over, the sexual revolution had begun.
(Recall that almost any literature was banned that had
ANY hint of overt sexuality in it; eg, D.H. Lawrence's
Lady Chatterly' Lover.) Phil undoubtedly saw this as
a culmination of the post-war materialism that gripped the
country. Perky Pat is, again, a common theme in Phil's works.
Perky Pat: Materialism, Consumerism, and Slavery
One of the most important aspects to Phil's writing is that
for the most part (like Van Gogh), he was pretty much a
failure in his own life time. For one thing, he tried to
write main-stream novels which are as well crafted as
anything else (actually considering the volume of the
'90's I'd say it ranks up in the 99.9997% range).
But, since Phil barely made a living at writing (reminds
me of the Dvorak story)
-- as such, once an idea was written, it appears again
and again -- in some cases, there are novels published
that are "alternate plot" versions of each other.
One VERY important short story is: "Beyond lies the Wub"
In the story, a ship lands on Mars (or possibly Calisto),
and there is a Wub creature there, which turns out to
be an educated, refined, and sensitive "person" -- as
if you were able to meet a creature that turned out to
be all the finer aspects of Albert Einstein, Victor Hugo,
and Mother Terresa all rolled into one. As it turns out,
the wubs are reported to taste delicious; the captain has
the wub killed (right in the middle of a discussion of
how lovely the wub thinks Earth's poets express themselves)
and eats the wub!
Along the same lines, is the common theme of "consumerism"
-- which still exists to this day (2000). In order for
the "boom economy" to continue, everyone must buy, buy,
buy! In fact in some of Phil's stories, if people do
NOT consume they can be sent to prison!
In keeping with other common themes (especially in
"The Galactic Pot-Healer" and "Our Friends from Frolix-9"),
the common workers are under edicts to work and consume:
Both have become mandatory by law.
A theme that is also developed is that of the "tiers" of
society; see especially Solar Lottery. From the reports
that I have seen most of those cute "actors" at Disney World
refer to it as Mouse-schwitz. That is, they are forced to
wear the "chip and dale" outfits in blistering heat, without
proper breaks, etc. All of which is not even considered
by the common tourist (believe me, I was there, it was hot,
and I didn't even give it a second thought as to the fact
that there was actually a human being inside of those cute
outfits!) Thus, a common theme is that of the corporation
to whom everyone swears allegiance to and no one questions
because they want to keep their jobs; refer to the first
Robo Cop movie. Pretty much an exact expression of the
Roaring '80's and all of its yuppyisms of the "we can have
it all" attitude.
And human nature being a constant, the people who are now
aspiring to the lifestyles of the rich and famous are the
"us" -- we are all programmed by TV to want more, to get
credit cards and bury ourselves in consumer debt. Since
this materialistic programming goes on day and night, there
is almost no escape from pure materialistic consumerism.
In fact before there were slaves in the United States, and
then they were turned into second class citizens, and then
we had immigrants who replaced them, and then a steady supply
of immigrants to this day, but all of them are "unfortunately"
protected by constitutional law (as well as hungry lawyers).
So, the world has now turned to China and third-world countries
to supply its "slave class" -- that is, people who are
punished (tortured in some cases) if their production
quota falls below a certain level. People whose rights
are not protected. And of course, there are all those people
who are in prison in the United States -- mostly for victimless
crimes, which is the most absurd of hypocrisies since most
of the people consuming illegal drugs are in fact among
the upper echelons of our society (I know of very few
working poor who can afford the cost, let alone the habit)
-- hence, alcohol is the opiate of the masses.
Thus, between third-world countries and US prisons, there is
a steady workforce to produce consumer goods. And with constant
pressure from the TV there is the constant message to consume
without reservation. And all the while, the actual existance
is diminished, empty, and spirit-less.
To even the casual reader of Phil's works, these themes are
more than familiar, they are fully pervasive.
And it is in the "utopian" society that Perky Pat lives. She
only knows that she just luvs her Wub-fur coat and will never
even think that a wub calling itself "Joan of Arc" or "Dr. Seuss"
was the one that was killed to satisfy her insatiable desire
to consume.
And it is the bleak world of Mars (as well as the underground
"non-auto-fac" world of "The Penultimate Truth") that is where
most of us live. In fact, in those quiet moments of the early
morning (such as those that I am writing in right now), that
the tops (the top levels of our society -- the ones who
supposedly have everything), yes, even they find their lives
empty and without meaning.
It is entirely the vapid Perky Pat attitude that allows her to
be happy -- recall the Simpson's TV series take off of "Barbie":
The talking Barbie says, "I get a head-ache if I think too much".
And in order to be happy, we must all become Perky Pat and/or
her boyfriend. Sexless, mindless, and at last the product of
our own consumption.
THIS.
This is why Palmer Eldridge has the stigmata.
On a personal note, this is also the point of my version
of Arthur C. Clark's story "Mr. Pyme Makes his Point" --
"The Labors of Bishop Pyme". That the frustration that we
all feel when we watch the "public debate" on TV and have
something to contribute to stave off the self-serving
conservatives (nice phrase). The hypocrisy that they
put forth is that their point of view is equal to anyone
else's. When in actual fact they are merely defending
and justifying their own territory.
(In the story "Beethovan's Ghost"
the opening is from a debate between Dennis Weaver
(an actor who is very much a "Green") and William F.
Buckley -- when Buckley throws out the comment (like
a dead herring (not merely Red, but Dead as well),
and this completely derails Dennis Weaver; I was
shouting at the TV -- it is the author's revenge
that I turned it rather well into a nice little
story about the power of music, and the ignorance
of conservatives who "can't stand rap" -- in previous
times, they probably "couldn't stand that Beethoven
upstart", or "rock and roll", or "country and western"
or "punk" or "jazz".
Or
Orff's "Carmina Burina" -- the more conservative
monks DID manage to put down the hippie revolt back
then so as to continue the dark ages for another
century or two.
I will certainly enjoy the next
new stage in the evolution of music, and the consternation
of the conservatives. "We have met the enemy and he
is us" -- as Walt Kelley's Pogo the o'possum says).
(We become the they; viz, Heidegger).
(The Rock Music with the hidden Message is explored in
Phil's "Radio Free Albemuth" (during the cold war there
was a "propaganda" broadcast (but it was OUR propaganda,
er, truth, the truth, it IS the truth) that was broadcast
behind the "iron curtain" in Europe: "Radio Free
Europe" -- it would be interesting to examine the
content of THOSE broadcasts, as well as the equally
"truthful" pravada broadcasts by the Soviet Union.
-- It is classic absurdity that the Russia of today
disavows any connection with the Soviet Union of
yesterday; again, the "evil" merely crawls out of
sight and waits for people to forget. But of course
this isn't true here in the US -- vanquish the very
existence of the possibility of an inkling of such a
vagrant thought. Completely.
The Group Gestalt
However, the group gestalt phenomenon is unique to Palmer Eldridge.
In "Eye in the Sky" the gestalt (German for "mind-essence" -- as
far I can tell). Anyway, the group Gestalt ties the people
together in a common way, which of course allows Phil to explore
society, and our old friend Angst again. This theme is again
explored in Ubik and other novels as well. What makes the
experience unique is the fact that I view it as the post-war
apocalyptic world of Doctor Bloodmoney. That is, after WW III
everyone must finally work together to survive. Notice that
England as a society is much more cohesive than the US, since
they all had to bear WW II together. This is also true of
Russia, since they had to endure both Hitler AND Stalin --
much of the cold-war mis-understanding could "possibly" been
avoided if US policy makers had taken this into account --
certainly Viet Nam would have been handled differently.
But, I digress (it IS rather late, so if any of this makes
sense in the morning, *I* will amazed!)
In this case, it seems to me that Mars represents the prisons
of the 20th century -- where "mis fits" and
"politically in-appropriate" behaviour is rewarded by dumping
the un-desirables in prison.
This is consistent with the concept of "unc's" un-classified
individuals. Or more to the point: People that the tops
don't regard as useful (in my own novel, of course it is
Sakura that ultimately unravels the mystery of the alien
-- and the world (the tops) only come to get him when they
need him; having regarded his profession of xenobiologist
as un-needed when after 50 years of inter-stellar space
exploration no other life forms are ever found).
But, again, back to Palmer Eldridge. The people on Mars are
discards from Earth (regard them the same as the homeless:
Top machinists that used to build our cars, whose hands can
build anything -- obsoleted by the robots that don't get
tired, or complain; all perfectly logical when you run
the "numbers" and figure the cost-to-benefit ratio and then
simply ignore the human factor).
And then the Marsies are forced to be on Mars for no
particular reason -- and the government denies them drugs
to at least pass the time. Probably a reference to Viet
Nam (or all wars of attrition). And yet, there is more
to it than that. They are separated from Mother Earth,
they all dream of Earth, of the posh life-style of the
rich and famous (or at least what is portrayed on TV
as the Rich and Famous -- to judge by it, everyone in
the world is happy, well fed, and immune from any real
problems). None-the-less, all the Marsies want is to
escape from the reality forced upon them, and at the same
time the bureaucratic Earth-Gov doesn't even seem to care
that they aren't even doing anything.
So, Can-D merely "translates" them to Earth. But in reality,
this is merely paradise. They are translated back to an
Eden-like rendering of Earth: Because reality is too
harsh to deal with. And the paradise that they are
translated too, doesn't even exist for those that DO live
on Earth: Even the tops are trapped in bitter in-fighting,
trying to keep from becoming obsoleted or worse yet failing
to "swear" to the correct protector (political parties, etc).
These themes (political fall-out, worker obsolescence, and
the search for spiritual meaning) occur throughout Phil's
works; especially in Solar Lottery, where the unc problem
is first introduced: Early 20th century America had its
"Fortean Society", "the Utopians", all of these groups are
reflected in the "Fire Ring" group of mis-fits in Solar
Lottery. (Again, Phil (if I may sing his praises for a
minute), took a lot of chances, since he has the Rocket
captain being a "negroe" which was un-heard of during
the '50's -- for many years, I thought that he was
actually black, since (unlike so many other "would-be"
sf writers, he actually had "people of color" in his
novels! Especially the rendering of Martin Luther
King in his "Counter Clock World" after he returns from
the Dead (after time starts reversing itself in 2000,
and the "two splinter groups" that are awaiting his
return to resolve the differences that have grown out
of the mis-understanding of his ideas) -- it is all
together a travesty that most of Phil's works are
out-of-print !!!)
But, I digress.
So, we are left with the same question: Is the translation
on Mars back to Earth, a simple "escapist" point of view,
or the representation of "consumerism" as "heaven"?
Or.
Is it supposed to represent the HOPE that by translation we
can escape our earthly problems (at least for a while).
If only he had lived longer to write the "other" novel in
the Palmer Eldridge series.
As I said, I am re-reading this novel and will report back
as I progress through it.
Also recommended:
Martian Time Slip
Themes: The Kibbutz in Israel
Autism
Native Americans (Martians)
Radio Free Albemuth
Themes: The Nixon whitehouse
The Zap Gun
Themes: Real reality vs polticial propaganda.
The Penultimate Truth
Themes: Real reality vs political propaganda.
(The Yancemen were the speech writers
holding Reagan up during his presidency but
"of course" Bill Clinton writes ALL of his
own speeches, as I'm sure all presidents do!
It's funny, but if Bush HAD written his
speeches himself, he probably would have
still been president! "Read my lips" reminds
me of "loose lips, sinks ships" -- the warning
during WW II not to talk too much, lest there
be spies among us.) But such is the state
of the "Selling of the President" (excellent
book by the way), and the "it's just another
product to reel the suckers in (ie, we are
the consumer nation, the president is a
product, we are commanded (by law) to buy.
(I hear and obey, oh omniscient ones).
The Galactic Pot Healer.
Religion, angst, totalitarian rule.
The Solar Lottery.
(Still one of his best, even though most
literary types say it was "just a pot
boiler")
Doctor Bloodmoney, or how I learned to stop
worrying and survive AFTER the bomb.
This parallels very much the absolutely
superb Roger Zellany / Philip K. Dick
collaboration:
Deus Irae.
(Which I have never been able to figure out
"God of Wrath" or "The Wraths of God" or
-- Latin is WAY too non-redundant when it
comes to inflection!)
Well, one thing is for sure: Phil had more
compassion for all the peoples of Earth than
they ever had for him.
It is the hero's journey.
In the Dr. Who episode "Remembrance of Daliks",
they are burying a coffin.
Priest: It is the end.
Dr. Who: No, it is only the beginning.
--30--