According to Mountfort (2006), what role does the I Ching have as an organisational device in the structure of High Castle? How does the use of this device illuminate the character of the novel’s protagonists?
Mountfort clearly states that the use of the I Ching helped Dick organize and structure his novel.
"There are 10 oracle consultations outlined within the covers of High Castle that Dick received from the I Ching when he posed it questions at various critical junctures in his novel regarding the situations his characters faced, how they should interpret events, what they should do next and what the result would be." (Mountfort)
This small passage stood out to me, as it clearly and obviously answers the question. It helps Dick organize when main events happen to main characters, and more importantly, how they respond. This is a helpful device and would have influenced the end result of Dicks novel immensely. The 10 oracle consultations clearly played large roles in the creation of his novel, and played as its central organizational device.
"These ten consultations also illuminate the sub terrain fate-lines that connect characters who never meet but who's decisions and actions effect each other in concrete ways." (Mountfort.) This quote answers the second part of the question, as the I Ching helped create the 'fate-lines' that connect the protagonists. That means it was directly responsible for what happened between the characters.
Reference List:
Mountfort, P. (2006) Oracle-text/Cybertext in Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Conference paper, popular culture association/ American culture association annual joint conference, Atlanta, 2006.
Really good response dude, i agree with everything you wrote. I too believe that I Ching is directly responsible for what occurs between the characters and the relationships that form. Keep up the good work
ReplyDeleteHi Byron I'm totally agree with you and Tristan. what you have written is very clear, I also have found something but I'm not sure whether it's right or not. The man in The High Castle has l Ching readings implanted into its text at 10 crucial points which help formulate the structure of the work (Mountfort, 2006). Furthermore, Dick pointed to the device to obtain information about how he should work to develop the reading of 10, According to Mountfort, "physical construction seams of Dick novel." The l ching (a cybertext)centres on the the "mechanical organization of the text" (Aarseth, 1997, cited in Mountfort, 2006, p.4). Because l ching make the most of Dick's work, the reader can more than just meaning of the story, including how "act of choice" (Mountfort, p.4) have developed the work.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting (albeit brief) response Byron (supported by some good comments from Tristan and Bita). However it would have been useful if you had delved into tMitHC for yourself and described some of the moments when the i-ching was used to support your argument.
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