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Gnosticism and Dualism in the Early Fiction of Philip K. Dick

Author(s): Lorenzo DiTommaso
Source: Science Fiction Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Mar., 2001), pp. 49-65
Published by: SF-TH Inc
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 GNOSTICISM
AND DUALISMIN DICK'SEARLYFICTION 49

Lorenzo DiTommaso
Gnosticism and Dualism in the Early Fiction of Philip K. Dick
Introduction
It has been long recognized thatgnostic Christianityandother such dualistic
philosophies play highly influentialroles in the speculativefiction of Philip K.
Dick, and particularlyso in his later work. To illustrate,even the casual reader
cannothelp but notice the degree to which explicit gnostic Christianthemes and
components pervade such works as The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
(1965), A Scanner Darkly (1977), VALIS(1981), and The Divine Invasion
(1981). In fact, the categories and vocabulary of the various dualistic
cosmologies informed not only Dick's own literaryencounterswith all sorts of
religions and philosophies, but also his life experiences, not least of which was
the strange and remarkable series of events that occurred during the early
months of 1974. From these events stemmed Dick's dense and monumental
work, the so-called "Exegesis," and any studyof Dick's post-1974 fiction must
be conducted in the light of this massive and complex manifesto.
The question at hand, however, is to what extent this dualism, gnostic
Christianor otherwise, is reflected in Dick's early, pre-Stigmatanovels? The
best of the lot, and easily one of Dick's fmest works, is The Man in the High
Castle (hereafterMHC), Dick's ninthpublishednovel and the one that won for
him the Hugo award. In a previous article, I suggested that Dick relied on a
conflated amalgam of the fundamentalsof dualistic philosophies and basic
Pauline theology in order to frame and actualize the redemptive journey
experiencedby each of the novel's five majorcharacters-Robert Childan,Mr.
Tagomi, Frank Frink, his ex-wife Juliana, and the Abwehr officer Rudolf
Wegener (see "Redemption").The sojournsof these charactersaccordstructure
and meaning to the entire novel and are articulatedas a movement from a
sensible world to an intelligible one. While there is no evidence to suggest that
Dick adheredto a specific dualisttheology or cosmology in MHC, it does seem
to have been the case that he had a ground-floorappreciationof the common
elements of such philosophies, an appreciation most likely garnered via
secondary sources rather than primary ones. It cannot be stressed strongly
enough that Dick did not publish systematic theology until VALIS,and if in
MHC he quoted or engaged explicit passages or themes from a particular
tradition,he did so easily and withoutmuchthoughtto resolvingevery potential
contradiction.For its part, then, MHC representsa significantearly phase both
in the development of Dick's personal cosmology and in his use of dualistic
motifs in his speculative fiction.
In a recent provocative and stimulatingessay, UmbertoRossi discusses the
role of the logos in Dick's 1959 novel, Time Out Of Joint (hereafter TOJ).
Among other things, Rossi argues that the principalantecedentof the printed
"word" encountered by the protagonist, Ragle Gumm, is the creative and

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50 SCIENCEFICTIONSTUDIES,VOLUME28 (2001)

effectiveaspectof the Hebrewdabarthatlies behindthe Greeklogos of the

prologue to the Gospel of John. In response, I have arguedthat certainclues in
TOJ indicate that Dick understood the logos not as the linear descendant of
dabar,butmorein its senseas the hypostasisof the intelligibleworld,whose
functionis primarilyakinto a vectorthroughwhichrevelatoryinformation is
communicated (see "X6yoC'). If this is correct,it wouldmeanthatDickused
logos in a way mirroredby a numberof earlyChristianandJewishdualistic
philosophersand theologians.It also meansthat TOJ is in some ways an
immediateprecursorto MHC, andso oughtto be consideredas anearlyvehicle
for the categoriesthatwouldlaterfindgreaterdevelopment,complexity,and
consistencyin thatnovelandin his laterworks.Despiteits roughpresentation
in TOJ andthe completelack of a supporting philosophy,the "word"of this
novelis one of the earliestexplicitmanifestations of a peculiarlyDickianway
of interpretingevents, a way that, with respectto his fictionandto his life,
would reach its full flowering in the Zebra/VALISphenomenon.'
Themainpurposeof thispresentpaperis to continuethislineof investiga-
tionby examiningseveralof Dick'spre-MHCnovelsandshortstoriesandto
identifyanddiscussthemostprimitiveinstancesof thecomponents of dualistic
cosmologiestherein.The relevantshortfictionis culledfromthe five-volume
CitadelTwilight(Carol)collection,while Dick's firsttwenty-twonovels-of
whichseveralarenolongerextantanda significant portionaremainstream-are
identified on the basis of the list provided in Paul Williams's book, Only
Apparently Real (178-84).2 When compared to the complexities of MHC,
Stigmata, or VALIS,the philosophical discussionin thisearlyfictionis highly
unpolishedandnotalwayswell-integrated. Butit is presentnonetheless,despite
thecrudenessof formandtheawkwardness of presentation.Wewill unearthno
gnostictreatisesamongthesenovelsor stories,norbringto lightanycareful
philosophical expositionsor theologicalmonographs. Rather,whatemergesare
severalnascentideas that have some root in the fundamentals of dualistic
cosmologies,not exceptingthe conflictbetweenthe worldperceivedby the
sensesanda realmthatis apprehended by othermeans.
Mymethodologyin thisessayis verymuchin linewithmy articlesonMHC
andTOJ, in thatI refuseto resortto Dick'slaterwritingsor comments(most
especiallythose in the publishedportionsof the "Exegesis")to interpretor
clarify materialpresentin his earliernovels, even thoughmanyof Dick's
reflectionson themeaningof hisworkin factsupportwholeheartedly assertions
I will makehere. In the contextof an edifyingcommentor an interpretation
offeredregardinga specifictext, Dick is just anotherDick scholar-his words
neitherenjoy automaticprioritynor assumea preferentialperspective.Of
course,thisis trueforanyrelationship betweenanauthorandhis orherart,and
in most cases the gulf betweenthe artist'sart and interpretation is bridged
appropriately. Dick, though,appearsto havehad a penchantto forget,gloss
over, or in somecaseswildlyexaggeratepastevents,notablythosepertaining
to his youth.3Thisin itselfshouldcauseanyscholarto pausebeforeusingany
of Dick's manymusingson his earlylife andworkwithoutcarefulevaluation
of theircontextandcontent.

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 AND DUALISMIN DICK'SEARLYFICTION
GNOSTICISM 51

Evenmorerelevantto the issueof refusingto use Dick'slaterwritingsto

interprethis earlierones are the events of early 1974andthe overwhelming
effecttheyhadon Dick'slife andonhis viewof his life to thatpoint,theclosest
analogybeing a religiousconversion.As with any conversion,the discrete
experienceitself rarelystandsin vacuo, butrather,as ThomasMcGowanhas
shown, is likely to be the visible culminationof a long processof gathering
knowledgeandthe persistentself-adjusting of one's perspectivesandvalues.
Nordoesa conversionimplythatfurtherchangeis impossible.As proofof the
ongoingnatureof his "conversion,"Dick's own theology(thereis no better
wordfor it) continuedto matureandgainnuancesfromearly1974to his death
in 1982. Accordingly,it is notenoughsimplyto positthatDick'sthoughtand
opinionscanbe dividedneatlyintotwocomponents, i.e., "pre-1974" and"post-
1974."
At the same time, however, it must be recognizedthat Dick's 1974
experiencewas the sort of personaltransformation that usually forces an
individualto reinterpretlarge portionsof past events in light of the new
revelation.Hypothetically, a 1959eventor textthathada certainsignificance
for Dick in the year 1959 mightwell have been reconstructed or construed
differentlyby him in the year 1979. Becausethereare no hardor fast rules
governinghow to evaluatesuchoccurrences,andeachof Dick'scommentson
all the manyaspectsof his earlierlife needsto be examinedon its own merit,
thereexiststhe dangerthatthe criticwill unconsciously anticipateDick'sown
reworkingof his earlierlife andfictionwithoutsubjectingeacheventor textto
carefulscrutiny.4Putanotherway, thecloserthe substanceof anyearlierevent
or text is to his later revelations,the more likely it is that Dick will have
reinterpreted it in the "Exegesis,"in his laternovels, or in otherpost-1974
correspondence. Andnothingcouldbe closerto thegistof the 1974experiences
thanDick'spriorexplorationsandextrapolations of dualisticcosmologiesand
gnostic-stylephilosophies.As a result, I have confimedmy analysisto the
publishedformsof Dick'spre-MHCfiction(excludingTOJ), searchingwithin
the limitationsof the texts themselvesfor the earliest indicationsof Dick's
gnosticfantasies.
A concrete illustrationof the dangerof retrofittingDick's post-1974
reflectionsontopre-1974textsis whathe saysin the "Exegesis"aboutTOJ. In
severalplacesDickplainlyunderstands TOJ as an integralmemberof a long
sequenceof thematically-similar novelsandshortstorieswhoserelationship to
each other is most akinto the mannerin whichthe individualelementsin a
fugue or any other polyphoniccompositionexpress voices in an ongoing
dialogue.5Whilethereis everyindicationthatDickarrivesatthisconclusionin
thefull knowledgethatit is afterthe fact, it is difficultfor thecommentator on
Dick's earlyworksto keepthis in mindwhenhe or she is confrontedwithan
apparently rationalschemathatpresentshis life eventsandspeculativefiction
sequentiallyandcomprehensively. We can certainlyreadTOJin the lightof
MHC, A ScannerDarkly, or VALIS,butwe cannotinterpretit thisway, since
DickdidnotwriteTOJas anovertureto anoperain threeacts.To cite another
example,in a 1977"Exegesis"entry,DickreadsTOJin thecontextof his later

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52 SCIENCEFICTIONSTUDIES,VOLUME28 (2001)

conviction that time had stoppedin 70 AD [sic]6and had only resumedin early
1974. This reading, though, has absolutelyno basis in the text and so must be
limited to a study of this specific theme as it appears in Dick's subsequent
fiction or to a discussion and evaluation of the ways in which Dick himself
reinterpretedTOJ and his other novels after the events of early 1974. This last
is very much a desideratum, and such a study is greatly needed for a full
appreciationof Dick's later novels.7
"Jon's World"
This short story, published in 1954 but written in 1952,8 involves a world
decimated by war between humans and robots, wherein two men attemptto
travel back in time. They do so to change the past and thereby their present.
One of the men, Ryan, has a son namedJon, who sees things in visions. These
visions are not precisely of the same sort that the child Manfred Steiner
experiences in Dick's 1966 novel, Martian Time-Slip. There Manfred's
consciousness is intermittentlyout-of-step with the normal time-flow and for
that reason he sees specific events as they might happen, many decades in the
future. In contrast, Jon is subjectto visions concerninga general impressionof
the way the world ought to be, as if the present in which he and his fatherlive
is artificial or temporary. And so much is true, as we later discover-having
traveledback in time andeffected the requisitechange, Ryanandhis companion
returnto the present to discover that it now appearsexactly as Jon had seen it.
Jon, though, is dead, since he had no place in the new world. While it is
tempting to see Jon as a Christ-figurein this process, as one who pronounces
a world to come and who effects the changeby meansof his death, there are too
many anomalies for even a superficial fit. Rather,Jon's death is a result of the
new world ratherthan the precipitatingcause of it, and there is no sense of the
redemptive.
What is noteworthy is the natureof Jon's visions and the vocabularyused
by Dick to describe them. As noted, there is the sense that Jon's visions
describe the real world, the one that is hiddenby the present reality, which, as
it turns out, is ultimatelyunreal.
Jontooka deepbreath."They'revisions."
"What?"
"They'revisions."Jon'sfacewasalivewithradiance."I'veknownit a long
time. Grantsaysthey'renot, buttheyare. If you couldsee themyou'dknow,
too. They'renotlikeanythingelse. Morerealthan,well, thanthis."Hethumped
the wall. "Morerealthandust."
Ryanlit a cigaretteslowly. "Goon."
It all camewitha rush."Morerealthananythingelse! Likelookingthrough
a window.A windowintoanotherworld.A realworld.Muchmorerealthan
this.It makesall thisjusta shadowworld.Onlydimshadows.Shapes.Images."
"Shadowsof an ultimatereality?"
"Yes!Exactly.Theworldbehindall this."(57)
Standardelements of dualistic philosophies aboundhere: the two worlds, one
apparentlyreal but ultimately illusion, the other hidden but perfectly real; the
idea of images in one world being mere shadowsof theirreal counterpartsin the

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 GNOSTICISMAND DUALISM IN DICK'S EARLY FICTION 53

other; Jon's wish that his father could see (i.e., apprehend)them as well; and
an allusionperhapsto the famouspassage from 1 Corinthians13.12, "Fortoday
we see througha glass darkly, but in the future face to face; for today I know
in part, but in the future I shall know fully, just as I have been known fully. "
To be sure, these are mere elements, and no more thanthat, explainableequally
with reference to basic Platonicphilosophyor to rudimentarygnostic dualism.
But they are here nonetheless.
The CosmicPuppets
As with much of Dick's later fiction, the plot of The Cosmic Puppets
involves the protagonist,in this case Ted Barton,becoming awarethatall is not
right with his surroundings.'0But unlike Jack Hamilton of Eye in the Sky or
Ragle Gumm of TOJ, who graduallyawaken to the knowledge that the reality
they perceive is unreal, Bartonconcludes nearly from the very beginning that
his home town, Millgate, is not as it should be (?2:11-17). Bewildered at the
unexpectednessof it all, Bartonwonders,
Maybehe wasn'tTedBarton.
False memories. Even his name, his identity. The whole contents of his
mind-everything. Falsified, by someone or something. His hands grippedthe
wheel desperately.But if he wasn't Ted Barton-thenwho was he? (?2:17;
emphasisin original)
The theme of externalreferentsandcriteriabeing able to affect inner stateswill
be employed again in MHC, where the dynamic is far more developed and is
taken as a characteristicof the sensible world, or that domain from which the
novel's five major players seek redemption.Among its various expressions in
that novel is the relationshipbetween one's identity and the documents that
either supportor disprove it, and the problem of the consanguinitybetween an
artifactand its historical authenticity.Part of the discussion about these issues
has root in Dick's use of the apostle Paul's statementin 1 Corinthians 13.12
(see above). Sutin informs us that the original title of Cosmic Puppets was A
Glass of Darkness (292), and it is noteworthythat Dick quotes explicitly from
the biblical passage to explain the natureof the strangehappeningsin the town
(?1 1:91).
Having discovered that nothing is quite the same in Millgate as he
remembers(an adumbrationof the slightly skewed realities of MHC and of its
novel-within-a-novel, 7he GrasshopperLies Heavy), Bartonproceedsto collect
more clues to the mystery. He finds thathe cannot leave the town, that certain
children play prominentroles, and that Millgate is now home to the "Wander-
ers," the shadow-personswho have the strange ability to move throughsolid
objects. With the help of an old drunkardnamed William Christopher,Barton
eventuallyconcludes that the former Millgate and all of its objects are not gone
but merely obscured. After transforminga wine bottle into a coffee grinderby
the power of his mind, Christopher tells Barton: "[The old town] wasn't
destroyed. It was buried. It's underthe surface. There's a layer over it. A dark
fog. Illusion. They came and laid this black cloud over everything. But the real
town's underneath.And it can be broughtback" (?7:62; emphasisin original).

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54 SCIENCEFICTIONSTUDIES,VOLUME28 (2001)

Theclassicelementsof dualisticcosmologiesarepresent:theimplication of
two separatespheresof realityand the inferenceof a light/dark,good/evil
dichotomy.Butthereis moreherethanstraightforward dualism,andit is not
merely"Vedantism" (pace DouglasMackey16) or the simpleeliminationof
maya(illusion),sincethevocabularyof thequotation harkensbackspecifically
to the substanceof the passagefrom 1 Corinthians.Whatwe have here, I
believe, is an extremelyearly, undeveloped,but unmistakably characteristic
instanceof Dick'sconflationof similarelementsof differentphilosophies.This
readingis supportedby Dick'sdescriptionof the mechanicsof the movement
from one realmto another,which soundsat the same time vaguelygnostic
ChristianandIndianmonisticbut lacksutterlythe sortof scholarlyprecision
that Dick accords-to use an extremeexample-his theologicalpositionsin
VALIS.Bartonbringsbackthe old Millgateby remembering it (certainlynota
hallmarkof Vedanta!),by engaginghis intellectto castasidetheveil of illusion
andto recallthe underlyingverities(?8:68). This, watereddownas it is, is
classicgnosticphilosophy.Notealso thatthe Wanderers attemptto restorethe
old Millgateby mappingthe town with theireyes shut,becausethe illusion
reappearsthe instantthattheyopentheireyes (?11:89).Theoverallinference
is thatDick is describinga distinctionbetweenthe sensible(temporal)andthe
intelligible(eternal)worlds,a core tenetof Platonicandmanyotherdualistic
philosophies,bothWesternandEastern.Knowledgeis thekeyto understanding
the quintessentialnatureof things: when Peter/Ahrimanmocks Barton's
helplessness,he says, "Youdon'tknowanything,"andtaunts,"I knowwho
you reallyare"(?3:26;emphasisin original).Likewise,whenBartonattempts
to helpDr. Meaderealizehis divineself, he saysto him, "Iknowwhoyouare.
I know who you really are" (?14:114; emphasis in original).
Thereis animportant sectioninthetenthchapterof TheCosmicPuppetsthat
bearsparticular scrutiny.HavingrestoredMillgateto itsformerself, Bartonand
Christopher encounterMary,thedaughter of Dr. Meade/Ormazd, whoasksthe
pairaboutwhattheyhavebeencreating.Bartonrespondsby denyingthatan
effective,creativepowerhasbeenin operationandreasserting thatall theyhad
donewasto makethings"emerge"frombehindtheirunrealdistortions (?10:83-
85). Thisis strikinglysimilarto the functionof the "word"of RagleGummin
TOJ.Butthereis an added,cosmologicaldimensionto Barton'sactions.Mary
inquires, "Is that why you came here? To bring things back?" (?10:84;
emphasisin original).All of a suddenthe readerrecallsthatBartonis the
anomaly,the only visitorallowedintoMillgatein the pastdozenor so years.
Somehow,he is special.The themesof renewalandrestoration,the focuson
the efficacy of remembering(i.e., knowledge),on the underlyingdualistic
reality,andon thefigureof TedBartontogethersmackof thegnosticredeemer
myth,'1albeit in a capsulizedpresentationmore likely to be found in an
undergraduate textbookor a popularintroduction
to worldreligionsthanin any
gnostic Christiantractate.Furthermore,their efforts notwithstanding, the
Wanderersare ultimatelyunableto restorethe formerMillgate"[blecause
they'redistortedthemselves"(?11:89;emphasisin original).This argument
reflectsclassicPaulinetheology,whichpresentsChristastheexternal,superior,

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 GNOSTICISM
AND DUALISMIN DICK'SEARLYFICTION 55

liberating,redemptivePowerwho is necessaryto free humankindfrom the

Powerof Sin, a Powerthatmererepentance andforgivenessarenotenoughto
overcome.Bartonis featuredasthisexternalagent,almostsalvificin character,
who is requiredto transformandrenewthe town. It is only laterthatwe find
thathis role was in a sensepredestined,directedfrom its very beginningsby
Mary/Armaiti, thedaughter of Ormazd,whoalsodisplaysredeemercharacteris-
tics (?14:119).
All the same, and despite the conflationof several ratherinteresting
Platonic,Pauline,and gnostic Christianingredients,the chief lens through
whichDickprojectsthe dualismof TheCosmicPuppetsis Zoroastrianism, the
pre-Christian religionthat is understoodby manyscholarsto be one of the
important contextsfromwhichsprangJewishandChristiandualism,especially
in their apocalypticor gnosticvarieties.The contestis ultimatelybetween
AhrimanandOrmazd,andtheage-oldbattlebetweentheevenly-matched forces
of lightanddark,good andevil. Thisaspectof thenovelhas beenexploredin
detailby othercommentators, thougha few additionalpointsmightbe made.
First, Sutinsees Maryas "a precursorof Sophiain Valis... andZinain The
DivineInvasion-bothyouthfulfemaleincarnations of thedivinespirit"(292).
The Sophiaof VALIS,however,is the sophia(i.e., "wisdom")of the Greek
philosophers,of the Jewishauthorsof Wisdomliterature,andof the gnostic
Christiantheologians.Thereis anenormoushistoryof ideasbehindthiskindof
Sophiathatis quitedistinctfromthegoddess-figure of theClassicalandAncient
NearEasterncivilizations,andthishistoryis one of whichDickis bothaware
and exploresfully in VALIS.But Sutinmay be correctin highlightingthis
"femaleincarnation" aspectin The CosmicPuppets,for in Mary'sdeathand
rebirththere are hints of the regenerativecycle of Persephone.Also, it is
fascinatingto findthatMarygiveslife to littleclaygolems,therebymimicking
the primalact of creationfromdustandclay. Second,the Zoroastrianism of
TheCosmicPuppetsis one thathasbeenstrippeddownto its essentials12and,
as noted,has hadnon-Zoroastrian elementsappendedto it. Thisdemonstrates
thateven at this earlystagein his career,Dick was competentandconfident
enoughto absorba numberof differentreligiousandphilosophical systemsand
arriveat a personalsynthesis.It is not enough,then,to envisionTheCosmic
Puppetsas being Dick's one-timeexperimentation with Iraniancosmology.
Rather,Dick'samalgamation of certainthemesin thisnovel(notexceptingthe
Zoroastrianones), comparativelycrude as it may be, is the first instance of a
processthatwill reoccurtimeandagain,thoughneverquitein thesamefashion
as we findin thisbook.
The WorldJones Made
Dick's next novel revolves aroundthe mysteriousJones, a "precog"who has
theabilityto witnesseventsoneyearintothefuture.Jonesexistsin whatwould
veryquicklybecomethestereotypical early-Dickian
Sitz-im-Leben:a smallslice
of a worldof the near-futurethatis shapedlargelyby a peculiarideology(in
thiscase, "Relativism"),"3
whoseeconomicandpoliticalinstitutions arequasi-
totalitarianandratherremovedfromthe commonpeople,andwhose society

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56 SCIENCEFICTIONSTUDIES,VOLUME28 (2001)

laborsunderthe problemsof urbanandmoraldecayandcollectivization. The

protagonistis Cussick,a secret-serviceagentwhosejob is to seekoutandquell
absolutistideologies.As a precog,Jonesis theultimateabsolutist,andmostof
the novel describesthe rise andfall of his power,oftenin the contextof his
relationshipwith Cussick and his superior, Pearson. Cussick, however,
is-contra Mackey(21)-more thanjust a foil or doublefor Jones. Jones's
absolutistunderstanding of thefuture(i.e., it is or it is not)cannotchange,even
thoughhe becomesdisillusioned withitseventualinabilityto savehimselforthe
species from a slow death, the latter as a resultof their treatmentof the
"drifters,"who arelateridentifiedas thesporesof a highly-evolved interstellar
plantspecies. As Mackeyrecognizes,thereis "noredemption,no transcen-
dence, only entropy. [Jones] is caughtup with 'sin and retribution'and
condemnshimself for trying to extend human freedomto the stars but
accomplishing thereverse-causingEartha Fallof majorproportions" (21). In
contrast,Cussick questionsand modifies his interpretation of the world
constantlyandmakesconcreteandefficaciousdecisionsabouthis future.And
whereJones andhumankindsuffer a catastrophic"Fall,"thereis a defmite
redemptive/restorative aspect to the fates of Cussick and the diminutive
inhabitantsof the Refuge, who are a collectionof genetically-engineered
mutants,all of whomfindnew life on theplanetVenus.
The figure of Jones represents,I think, a very primitiveattemptat
expressingtheconceptof anin-breaking information vectoror, in otherwords,
thelogos(andits variousincarnations) of so manydualisticcosmologies.To be
sure,Jonesis also a lot morethanthis, andthereis no sensein the bookof a
divisionbetweenthe sensibleandintelligibledomains(or a transmission from
the latter to the former), even thoughthe clash in the novel is between
"relativism"and "absolutism."But certainaspectsof Jones's actionsare
enunciatedin ways that,in a clearerandmoredevelopedformat,will become
thoseby whichDick expressesaspectsof dualismin TOJandMHC.Jonesis
calleda "prophet" andis comparedto JohntheBaptist,or the one who actsas
the informativeforerunner(?9:83). Earlier,havingwitnessedthe comingof
Jonesandof the driftersandthe relentlesspassingof the realitywithwhichhe
is familiar,Cussickremarks,"Ourlittlecosmosis breakingup. Therealworld
is on its way"(?8:67),andtheagentof thisbreak-upandtheheraldof the "real
world"is Jones.
Ononehand,it seemsalmosttoo easyto interpret thisstatement by Cussick
exclusivelyin lightof the distinctionbetweenthe idioskosmos(theprivate,or
egoistic,cosmos)andthe koinoskosmos(thecommon,or shared,cosmos),a
distinctionthat is a stapleof the scholarlystudieson Dick. After all, Dick
himselfconfessesthathe hasbeen "verymuchinfluenced" by suchexistential
philosophyandthatin nearlyall of his books"theprotagonist is sufferingfrom
a breakdownof his idios kosmos."But Dick wrote this in 1970, and it is
noteworthythatbothMackey(22-23)andKimStanleyRobinson(15) cite this
quotationin the contextof theirdiscussionsof Dick's 1950snovels. My own
feelingis thatthesimpleapplication of thisidioskosmos/koinos kosmosdynamic
to explainDick's novelsis quiteunsatisfactory, sincethe dynamicitself is so

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 GNOSTICISM
AND DUALISMIN DICK'SEARLYFICTION 57

generalandits specificpermutations are so wildlydiversethatthe categoryis

meaninglessoutsideits functionas a basicintroduction to Dick'sphilosophy.
Whatarewe sayingwhenwe notethattheprotagonist's idioskosmosis under
stressin a particularDickiannovel?All we have done is call a cat "a cat."
Moreover,the applicationof the idios/koinoskosmosdynamiccannotbe used
to explaincompletelyanyof Dick'sclassicworks,whichcontainnuanceswell
beyondthebasicerosionof theidioikosmoiof his characters.Furthermore, the
dynamicis notalwaysappropriate; forinstance,in TheWorldJonesMadethere
is a clearcollapseof thekoinoskosmos(cf. ?8:69)in favorof theidioskosmos
of Jones.Whatwouldbe infinitelymorehelpful,therefore,is an examination
of how (andperhapswhy)Dick's understanding of the clashbetweenthe two
kosmoichangedand grew more complex, and (most importantly)how this
changeis illustrated in his works.Andsincethisunderstanding is almostalways
expressedby meansof Dick'sgnostic/dualistic Weltanschauung, perhapsherein
lie fruitfulinsightsregardingthe evolutionof the dynamicfrom its earliest
beginnings,throughitspowerfulexpressionsinworkslikeMHC,MartianTime-
Slip,ThreeStigmata,andUbik(1969),to thematureandmethodical philosophy
of the VALISnovels.
To returnto thenovel, TheWorldJonesMadelacksthedistinction between
the intelligibleandsensibleuniversesthatare foundin TOJandMHC.Butas
Jones operatesin a mannervaguely akin to the logos, Cussickresembles
somewhatthe figureof Ragle Gummas he watchesthe gradualdeathof his
world.Therearelong sectionsdealingwithFedgov'scollapse(?8:67,69) that
parallelthe erosion of the Earthgovernment'sauthorityin TOJ, and the
desertionof its critical personnel(?11:104) foreshadowsthe incremental
disappearance of the Old Town of Ragle Gumm'sexperience.One of the
intriguingfeaturesof MHCis thatwhile theyare enmeshedin the processof
comingto grips with the self-recognitionthatthey live in a state of Sin, a
numberof the novel'smajorcharacterssufferpronounced mentalandphysical
anguish.Ina longepisodespanningtwo fullchaptersof 7heWorldJonesMade
(?9-10:74-97)and includinga descriptionof drug use and sex-changing
hermaphrodites, Cussick'spersonallife disintegratesbefore his eyes. The
illusionof his marriageto Ninacrumblesintodustas masksaredroppedand
innerselvesarerevealed,a mirrorof thewayinwhichthefalsehoodsof society
as a wholehavebeenshatteredandleft to rotby Jones.Thehermaphrodites that
theCussicksencounteratthenightclubaretheultimateexpressionof relativism,
andfull-borecontactwiththemin the companyof an obviouslyinterestedand
experiencedNinacausesCussick'songoingstrugglewithhimselfandhis views
of realityto reacha climax.Throughout, Cussick'spsychesuffers.Thescene
ends in a smallroom;therebothCussickandNinacomprehend thatas their
marriagehas reachedits end, so too has the societyof whichthey are a part.
Thereis, however,a tinyrayof hopeforthelatter,thougheventuallyit will be
expressednot in the way the readerexpects. Describingthis room, Nina
confesses:"It'ssortof-like intheMiddleAges,"sheanswered."Justthislittle
room,justthe singlebed-like a cot. Thedresserandthewashstand.Chastity,
poverty,obedience... a sort of spiritualcleansing,for me. For all of us"

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58 SCIENCEFICTIONSTUDIES,VOLUME28 (2001)

(?10:97).The ideaof a "spiritual cleansing"(anideathatDickwill recyclein

MHCin the personof JulianaFrink)not only foreshadowsNina's eventual
returnto Cussick,but also acts as a harbingerto the unmentioned butantici-
patedreturnfromexile on Venusof Cussick,Nina, andtheirson Jackie.
As withthe questfor the FlameDisc in SolarLottery(1955),' the sections
involvingthe Refugemutantsandtheirsearchfor a home are not completely
harmonizedwiththe restof TheWorldJonesMade.Thethemeof a groupof
peoplewho live andoperatein a world-within-a-world wouldeventuallycome
to be recognizedas classicDick, but it is left quiteundeveloped
in thisnovel.
Thereis littleexplicitconcernwith redemption; perhaps"deliverance"might
be a betterway of explainingthe flightof themutantsfromtheRefugeto their
new homeon Venus.Typicalelementslike landanddescendants arestressed,
but the individualpersonalitiesof the Refugeneverrise beyondstock. More
unusualis the reversalof fortunethatcausesCussickandhis familyto become
prisonersof a VenusianRefuge.Butthis new Refugeis unlikethe old one on
earth, which was neithercreatedby its occupantsnor occupiedby them
voluntarily.Cussickis thereof his own free will (?20:190);if Earthis "The
World Jones Made," the VenusianRefuge is most certainly"The World
CussickMade."Likea latter-dayNoah, Cussickhas broughtwithhim to his
ark as muchas he could of Earth'sflora and fauna.And in this situationis
impliedthe redemptiveaspectof the book,howeverstuntedit mightbe when
comparedto laternovels.Fromtheirexile, Cussick,Nina,andJackiewaituntil
the timewhentheycan returnto the Earththathasfallenfromgraceby virtue
of Jones'sactions.He is RagleGummas RagleGummwouldhavebeenhadhe
been awareof his situationfromthe beginning.Cussickexistsin an artificial
world,butit is of his ownmakingandhe lives in thefullknowledgethathe and
his kin will one day returnto Earth.
Eye in the Sky
Alongwith TOJ,this workis the best of Dick'spre-MHCnovels. In it, a
freakparticle-acceleratoraccidentrendersJackHamilton,hiswife Marsha,and
six other personsunconscious,their individualpersonalitiesin thrall to a
successionof realitiesthataredetermined by the impositionof one personality
afteranotheroverthegroupas a whole.In sequence,thegroupsuffersthrough
the religiousfanaticismof ArthurSilvester,the censoriousbanalityof Edith
Pritchet,the paranoidclaustrophobia of Joan Reiss, and finally the secret
communistsympathiesof CharleyMcFeyffe,who in the worldoutsidethe
Bevatronis theforcebehindtheanti-communist attackon MarshaHamilton.In
anessaythatremainsas freshtodayas it waswhenit firstsawprintoverfifteen
yearsago, PeterFittingrightlyeschewsreferenceto the idios/koinoskosmos
dynamicandinsteadidentifiesthetwomostsignificantthemesinEyein theSky:
"a critiqueof the technologicaloptimisminherentin the AmericanDream"
(222) andthe exposureof pluralismas an ideologythatin somecriticalways
cannottolerateconsensusany more than can Silvester'stoxic Babismor
McFeyffe'santi-individualisticcommunism(223-224).Underpinning bothof
thesethemes,though,is the ideathatthe worldof senseperceptioncannotbe

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 GNOSTICISMAND DUALISM IN DICK'S EARLY FICTION 59

trusted,a hallmarkof a hostof two-worldphilosophies.Thenovelis, in a broad

fashion,verymuchconcernedwithredemption, if nottheparticular
redemption
from the state of Sin that characterizesMHC. Eye in the Sky begins and ends
withHamilton,hisjob, andtheallegationsof Marsha'scommunistsympathies
thatso threatenthisjob. Accordingly,we canunderstand how the conception
of redemptionstructuresthe novelby gaugingthe differencebetweenHamil-
ton's internalstateat its startandat its end, andby observingthe mannerin
whichthischangeis effectedby his experienceswhilehe is unconscious.
Mostimportant, of course,is theclashbetweenthediverserealitiesthatJack
Hamiltonapprehends withhis sensesandtheworldthathe hasleftbehindwhile
trappedon thefloorof theBevatron.Evenfromthetimeimmediately following
the accidentandwithoutthe knowledgeof how or whyhe hascometo existin
this state,Hamiltonfeels intuitivelythat"something was wrong,"and, "deep
insidehim, therewas a naggingsensethatsomethingbasicwas out of phase"
(?3:27). Later,Jack,Marsha,andBill Laws,theirerstwhileguide,wonderif
theyhave "sunkdownto the realreality"(?4:45),a view that,as it turnsout,
is incorrect,but neverthelessindicateshow Dick perceivedthe relationship
betweenrealityandits false shadowsas beingorientedalongtheverticalaxis,
just as he woulda few yearslaterin MHC.Eachof the superimposed realities
is incompleteand lackingsomethingessential,since none of the individual
gestaltsextendsbeyondthelimitationsof thepersonality thatcreatedit. Fitting
recognizesthateachgestaltis "totalizing" in its lackof consensus,butthereis
a physicalincompletenessas well, as if (to borrowthe analogyemployedby
many dualisticphilosophies)each one representedonly a shadow-imageof
reality.Thereis anelementof causalityandaninternallogicwithintheconfines
of eachgestalt,butthesehavebeenmoldedby theperceptions of thepersonal-
ity. Reality,therefore,is seen differentlyby eachperson,andoftennot very
well at that;still, eachpersonbelieveshis or herrealityfunctionsas well as or
betterthanwhathadcomebefore(cf. JoanReiss'scontentionthathercreation
is perfect [?13:186]). Althoughnot quoteddirectlyin Eye in the Sky, the
passagefromthe apostlePaulaboutlookingthrougha glassdarklywouldnot
be at all out of placein thisnovel.
Thegulfbetweentherealityof theBevatronfloorandthevariousgestalten
is onlytraversedby thosevectorsthatarenotsense-dependent, namely,intuition
(see above)anddream-visions,the last functioningin Eye in theSkyas the in-
breakingagent (i.e., the logos) of the real world into the false shadow-
demesnes.Again, the basic parallelwith all sortsof dualisticphilosophiesis
undeniable.Soonaftertheaccidentoccurs,MarshaHamiltontellsBillLawsand
herhusbandthatshehadthestrangestdream,whereinshesawall eightpersons
unconsciouson the Bevatronfloor. BothLawsandHamiltonconfirmthatthey
too haveexperiencedthe samedream.Throughout the novelthe dream-vision
reassertsitselfatthetimeswhenonegestaltis replacedby another.Marshaalso
wonderswhentheyaregoingto wakeup(?15:224),anotherindication thatDick
is exploitingthecommonlanguageof dualisticcosmologies,andonethathasno
referentin an idios/koinoskosmosdynamic.Whatis the implicationof these
themesandlanguage?Fittingis absolutelycorrectwhenhe notesthatbecause

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60 SCIENCEFICTIONSTUDIES,VOLUME28 (2001)

of theirrejectionof consensus,"thefoursubjectiverealities... areportrayed

as extremes"(224). Butthedeepermessageof thebookthatis surelyconveyed
by Dick's deliberateuse of the categoriesof dualisticcosmologiesis thatany
realitywhoseantecedent is sense-perception(andthus,eachof thegestaltenthat
imposesitselfon the collective)is essentiallybankruptas a barometerbothby
whichothersmayjudgeanindividualandtheself mayjudgeitself.Incontrast,
thevisionof theeighton the Bevatronflooris universal;all see it, andit is the
same for each person.15
Therefore,the stateaboutwhichHamiltongainsknowledgeandwhichhe
transcendsis the one wherefalse opinionanduntrustworthy sense-datahold
sway.It will comeas no surpriseto discoverthatthenovelwasoriginallytitled
WithOpenedMind(Rickman296; Sutin90).16 Partlyto bringa close to the
locomotiveplot of the novel, Dick translatesthis revelation/redemption into
Hamilton's critique of McFeyffe's accusationsagainst Martha, but its
application is by no meansrestrictedto thisonecase. Hamiltonunderstandsthat
the criterionof evaluationin the sensibleworld cannotprove his wife's
innocenceor McFeyffe'sguilt.LikeRobertChildanof MHC,Hamiltonrealizes
thatpersonalidentitycannotbe provedusingexternaldatawhenhe observes
that it is what goes on inside that counts (?16:247;contrastthis with the
presentation of thedocumentation of theevidenceagainstMarshain ?1:10-13).
Thisview is furtherreinforcedwhenhe assertsthathe couldbe hiredat another
firm, not becauseits directorknew his father,which is mere opinion,but
becauseHamiltonhas faiththathe is a first-rateelectronicsman(?16:249).In
fact, he and Laws will go on to work togethercreatinghi-fidelitymusic
equipment,and in this decision and in the insistenceon faith in oneself,
Hamiltonprefiguresthe characterof FrankFrink in MHC.17In the end,
Hamiltonrecognizesthathis experiencewas one of "awakening conscience,"
whereinhis perspectivehasbeenalteredirrevocably(?16:250).WhetherDick
here drew on Asianmysteryreligionsor gnosticChristianity is impossibleto
determine;as mentioned,it is far more likely thatDick at this stage in his
careerhada deepyet conflatedandunrefinedappreciation of variousphiloso-
phies. The pointis thatthe foundationsfor Dick's laterandmoredeveloped
gnosticexplorationswere clearlyin placewell beforetheeventsof early1974
andthe novelsof the lastyearsof his career,andevenbeforesuchnovelsas
Stigmataand Ubik.
The Man Who Japed
Thisnovelis amongtheveryweakestof Dick'sefforts.AllenPurcellis the
directorof the officialtelevisionnetworkof MoralReclamation (Morec),the
Big Brotherthat is the backlashagainstthe previousage of conspicuous
consumption andtheorganthatregulateslife andlifestylethroughpropaganda,
blockmeetings,andso on. ButPurcellhas anothersideto himof whichhe is
only dimlyaware:he is the rebelagainstthe system,a manwhohasjaped(or
"madeparodyof") a statueof the founderof Morec.The rest of the novel
involvesPurcell'sattemptsatdiscoveringandcomingto gripswithhistrueself.
Inthisprocessdreamsandhallucinatory visionsplaya largepart,mainlyin the

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 GNOSTICISM
AND DUALISMIN DICK'SEARLYFICTION 61

service of communicating the fact that the world in which he exists is not
exactlyreal.NotonlydoesPurcellmakethebreakfromtheenforcedpuritanism
of Morec,he also rejectstotallyits antithesis-namely,his life as JohnCoates
in a typical,middle-classsuburban family.
The easiest explanationfor what is occurringhere is also the most
AlanPurcell,likeJackHamiltonorTedBartonorRagleGumm,
unsatisfactory:
is simplyDick's "everyman"vehiclefor exploringthe questionof "WhatIs
Real?" But this clearly will not do, since in each of the latter three cases both
the questionandits answerare clothedin somesortof dualisticdress,even if
notyet (at thisveryearlystage)in the full regaliaof gnosticChristianraiment
thatwe findin Dick'sfinalworks.Mackeyobservesperceptively that"Purcell's
ascendancyto Morecpowerin his outerlife coincideswitha breakdown in the
controlMorechas on his innerlife" (25). Thisstrugglebetweenthe facadeof
the externalbody andthe innerself's wanting to do the right thing (an overt
themein TOJ andMHC) is at the core of The Man WhoJaped.
At the start of the novel Purcell is engaged in defending one of his ad
packetsto the Morec people. The packetconcernedsomeone's failed attemptto
growan appletreeon a colonyplanet;Purcellexplains,"Thetreesymbolizes
an Earthproductthatwitherswhenit's transplanted. His spiritualside died"
(?2:15). Lateron, while relivinga lost half-hourin Dr. Malparto'soffice,
Purcellrecallsmeetinga gang of teenagers,who tell him aboutthe various
effortsto grow food and raise animalson otherplanets(?9:57-59).One lad
notesthatthe pigs they breedon Orionusare so real thatone cannottell the
differencefrom the original. The connexionwith Purcell'sviews on the
transplantedappletreeis obvious,andin a momentof insight,Purcellrealizes
"Morecwasn'tnatural"(?9:59). In thishe expressesthe essenceof whathas
beenhappeningto him. The secretjaping,the growinguneasewiththe block
meetingsandthepropaganda, his disquietoverthesystemin general-all of this
washis innerself rebellingagainsttheexternalillusionit couldno longerbear.
The enforcedbanalityof Morec was not natural;it was an externalpseudo-
realitythathadbeen superimposed forcefullyon humankind.
LikeRagleGummof TOJ, Purcellfindsa hordeof booksandotherprinted
materialwhose contentsdo not appearto fit into the universein which he
currentlyresides(?9:60-65).Thesebooksandarticlesfunctionin thesameway
for both men, namely, they containdata about a reality that cannotbe
understoodsubstantively or contextuallywithinthe restrictionsof thatpresent
world. As Purcell exclaims, such books "tell the truth"(?9:65). They are in-
breakinginformationsystems, and so are the most remote and primitive
forerunnersof Zebra/Valis.Thus, The Man Who Japed essentiallyrevolves
around the escalating clash between Purcell's inner self and an external,
inimical,andsuperimposed
reality.OncePurcellrealizesthesourceof theclash
that has caused him to do all sorts of odd things, he resolves to use the very
apparatusof thesystemto destroyit. As Mackeynotes,Purcells'svictory"lies
in breakingout frombeinga passivereceiverof Morec'srealitystructureand
becomingthe activeshaperof his own reality"(26).

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62 SCIENCE FICTION STUDIES, VOLUME 28 (2001)

Summary
There can be little doubt that the complex and systematicgnostic Christian
fantasies of Philip K. Dick's later writings find their first manifestationin his
early fiction, albeit in extremely simplisticandundevelopedforms. All too often
Dick's speculative fiction-his early writings, his masterpiecesof the 1960s, or
his mature novels-has been narrowly viewed either in the light of the
idios/koinos kosmoi distinction or by reference to dualistic philosophies, but
rarely by both, at least until one encountersthe many scholarly commentaries
on VALIS.Perhaps one key in proceeding to a better understandingof Dick's
fiction is to accept that this conflict between the kosmoi is most often expressed
by means of the grammarand in the vocabularyof dualisticcosmologies. To be
sure, in these early works the grammaris undistinguishedand the vocabulary
extremely limited. But they are present all the same.

NOTES
In my previous articles (see Works Cited), the title of this present essay was listed
as "Reflections on the First Five Novels of Philip K. Dick." I have since decided to
include a few of Dick's pre-Manin the High Castle short stories in my examination,and
so the title was altered accordingly.
1. Rossi and I continueour scholarlydebatein a forthcomingissue of Extrapolation:
Rossi's reply offers some fresh insights into the novel and is followed by my essay, "A
Response to U. Rossi." Meanwhile, KennethKrabbenhoft'srecent SFS essay is a case
in point aboutwhat I call an "open"approach.Commentingon his method, Krabbenhoft
writes, "This essay approaches Dick's achievement by taking Don Quixote as a
model-consciously emulatedor not-for the creationof charactersand themes in Time
Outof Joint" (218). No attemptis made to justify the applicationof the model otherthan
by meansof pursuingcertainsimilaritiesor parallelsbetweenboth works. WhetherDick
used this model in such a way is irrelevant,andKrabbenhoftnotes this. To be sure, such
an approach is not without merit, and indeed Krabbenhoft'spaper is intriguing and
enlightening. It sheds no light, however, on Dick's philosophy or theology, since no
connectionbetween these things and Krabbenhoft'sconclusions is demonstrated.
2. These works are, in chronological order, with the date of first publication in
parentheses,and with mainstreamtitles indicatedwith an asterisk:Returnto Lilliput(not
extant; Williams suggests that "there are probablyother early novels of which neither
manuscript nor name survive" [178]); The Earthshaker(only partially extant); The
Cosmic Puppets (1956; expanded into a book 1957); Voicesfrom the Street*; Gather
YourselvesTogether*(1994); Solar Lottery(1955); The WorldJones Made (1956); Eye
in the Sky (1957); Mary and the Giant* (1987); TheMan WhoJaped (1956); A Timefor
George Stavros* (not extant, but partially recycled in HumptyDumpty in Oakland
[1986]); Pilgrim on the Hill* (not extant); TheBrokenBubbleof ThisbeHolt* (published
as The Broken Bubble [1988]); PutteringAbout in a SmallLand* (1985); Nicholas and
the Higs* (not extant; mainstreamwith fantasy/science-fictionelements, according to
Williams [180]); Time Out of Joint (1959); In Milton LumkyTerritory*(1985); Dr.
Futurity(1960; rewrittenfrom his 1953 novelette "TimePawn"); Confessionsof a Crap
Artist* (1975); Vulcan'sHammer(1960; rewrittenfrom a 1953 or 1954 novelette); The
Man WhoseTeeth WereAll ExactlyAlike* (1984); HumptyDumptyin Oakland*(1986).
3. See Sutin, chapters3-5 passim, covering the years 1944-1963.
4. There is also a real danger in interpretingDick's fiction in light of the motion
pictures based on his works. In the late spring of 2000 I attendedan interestinglecture

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 GNOSTICISMAND DUALISM IN DICK'S EARLY FICTION 63

given at the University of Guelphon Dick and Blade Runner(1982). While I very much
enjoyed the arguments and conclusions regarding the motion picture, I was deeply
disturbedthat the film was being employed throughoutthe lecture as evidence of Dick's
philosophy. Moreover, reference to Christianelements in the film-again, presentedas
Dick's own views-were made withouteven a passingmentionaccordedto like elements
in Do AndroidsDream of Electric Sheep? (1968).
5. See Dick, In Pursuit 165-203 passim.
6. Dick, In Pursuit 168. By the time of VALISTractate18, Dick adoptsthe current
scholarly fashion and calls the date "70 C.E." ("CommonEra").
7. Of course, this reluctanceto use Dick's later writings to interprethis earlier ones
could be used to supportthe extreme view that gnosticism was completely unimportant
to Dick until Three Stigmata (or VALIS).I think that this perspective is readily refuted
by this essay and by my previous paperson the subject. Consideralso Dick's outline for
a novel-lengthwork called "TheEarthshaker," whichRickman(216) guesses was written
in 1948-49. Part of the outline deals with a chapter (?) labeled "The Quest," and in
describing this quest, Dick writes that the search occurs "throughBooks. Faust. the
gnosis. [sic] Cabala" (qtd in Rickman 216-17). To be sure, "the gnosis" could on the
surfacemean a variety of differentthings, but the object of this quest is explicit: it is the
"JWHserpent"that is gnawing on Yiggdrasil [sic], the world-tree. "JWH"is of course,
the "YHWH"of the Hebrew Bible, but in classic gnostic theology (or at least a scholarly
synthesisof classic gnostic theology, from which Dick likely drew), Yahweh is the name
of the mad, bad demiurge-creator,the evil and malicious god of the Old Testament.
8. The story was originallypublishedin the 1954 anthologyTimeto Come, editedby
August Derleth.
9. My translation. In MHC Dick is interested only in the passage's concern with
questionsof the two worlds, and not with the Christwho is the centralsubjectand object
of Paul's theology. Paul's words (and Dick's special interestin them) will again surface
in the title and in much of the substanceof Dick's A ScannerDarkly.
10. This theme resurfaces in his later novels UbikandA Maze of Death (1970).
11. There is great debate among scholars as to the origins, antiquity,development,
and ma-nifestationsof this gnostic redeemerfigure. This need not concern us, however,
since it seems evident that Dick relied at this time on secondarysources mostly, and the
scholarshipon the subject in the 1940s and 1950s (from which Dick would have drawn)
was more convinced of such a myth than it is today.
12. Mackey suggests thatDick's "theologyis more complex thanmeets the eye," and
argues that there is the implication that the supreme divinity stands above the dualistic
struggleand thus thatDick begins here his search "foran absoluteprinciplebeyondgood
and evil" (15-16). But Dick's presentationof Iraniandualism is sophomoric at best;
Mackey reads too much into it. The real complexity of the theology resides in the
amalgamationof the common elements of several dualistic cosmologies.
13. Other examples of such quirky systematic ideologies include "Minimax" (in
Solar Lottery), "Anti-communism"(in Eye in the Sky), and "Morec"(in TheMan Who
Japed).
14. Solar Lotteryis mostly concernedwith problemsof productionandurbansociety
and with the interfacebetween governmentand business. The only aspect that concerns
us here is the Prestonites and their search for the Flame Disc that lies well beyond the
orbit of Pluto, a plot-line that is not entirely integrated into the rest of the book.
Robinson and Sutin more or less ignore it; Mackey merely calls it "intriguing"and
stresses Preston's final speech as one that sums up "Dick's largerphilosophy"(19); and
Thomas M. Disch opines that its "sequencesfail because they haven't been sufficiently

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64 SCIENCE FICTION STUDIES, VOLUME 28 (2001)

transformed from orthodox Christian eschatology" (24). It is unclear to what Disch

alludes by this last: "orthodox"presumablyis intendedto mean "normative"ratherthan
"EasternOrthodox," but this does not explain his utilization of "eschatology," which
properly deals with the occurrences of the eschaton, or the end-time. There is nothing
eschatological about Solar Lottery or the quest for the Flame Disc, and Disch's bold
statementthat in the novel "Dick is not about to make a declarationfor Christ, though
he always seems to be flirting with the possibility" (24) is neither supported nor
explained. Nor is there anythingparticularlyredemptiveaboutthe search for the Disc,
either in an individualsense or a corporateone.
Even a close readingof the Prestonitesequencesin SolarLotteryis of little analytical
value. A clue, perhaps, to the natureand purposeof the Flame Disc lies is the name of
John Preston, which immediatelycalls to mind the figure of PresterJohn, the legendary
priest-kingof the late middle ages whose wealthy and powerful Christiankingdomwas
believed to be somewhere in either Africa (usually Abyssinia) or Asia. Many explorers
searchedfor this fabulous kingdom, a quest that seems to find a parallelnot only in the
Prestoniteship sent to the OuterVoid, but also in the book's final quotation,highlighted
by Mackey, which speaks of "the need to grow and advance ... to find new things ... to
expand" (?17:200). That Dick knew of the PresterJohn legend is confirmedby his use
of the term in the short story "Souvenir,"originally publishedin Fantastic Universein
October 1954. Edward Rogers, upon landing upon the surface of the centuries-lost
Williamson's world (the world colonized by "the first Terranto develop an outer-space
drive") comments, "We've searchedfor Williamson's world for three centuries. We've
wantedit, dreamedof finding it. It seemed like PresterJohn'sEmpire-a fabulousworld,
cut off from the rest of humanity. Maybe not real at all" (361).
The Flame Disc itself is intriguing, althoughthere seems to be no direct antecedent
for the concept. Noteworthy also is the fact that whereas the struggle in The Cosmic
Puppets between Ahriman and Ormazdis one with otherworldlyattributes,the trek to
the Flame Disc takes places very much in this reality, even though it is in outer space.
Overall, we must conclude thatSolarLotteryis one of Dick's works thatdoes not present
at least some aspect of his fascinationwith dualistic cosmologies
15. In his short story "Shell Game," publishedin Galaxy in September1954, Dick
plays with the question of whether a thing might be evaluated by means of internal
criteria only.
16. Rickmannotes that "originallyit was the Judeo-ChristianGod whose Eye stares
at Hamiltonand McFeyffe," and that editor Donald A. Wollheim at Ace forced Dick to
remove these references and to substituteinsteada vaguely Arabesque"Babism"(296).
But what kind of "Judeo-ChristianGod" was there in the first place? In Eye in the Sky,
the supreme deity is not "Allah" but "Tetragrammaton."The tetragrammatonis, of
course, the ineffable and unspeakabledivine name, ;T1V (YHWH), composed of four
Hebrew consonants. But Christianson the whole do not refer to their god as "YHWH"
or "the tetragrammaton."We have seen that Dick was familiar with the basic gnostic
myth, including the view that YHWH was the evil creator-deityof the Old Testament
(see note 7 above). The use of the tetragrammaton,especially if it was a holdover from
Dick's first draft, may be anotherclue that Dick is flirting with basic gnostic dualism
here.
17. On the value of craftmanship,see also his short story "Pay for the Printer,"
originally published in Satellite Science Fiction in October 1956.
WORKS CITED
Dick, Philip K. The Cosmic Puppets. New York: Ace, 1957.
. Eye in the Sky. 1957. New York: Collier, 1989.

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 AND DUALISMIN DICK'SEARLYFICTION
GNOSTICISM 65

. In Pursuit of Valis: Selectionsfrom the Exegesis, ed. LawrenceSutin. Novato,

CA: Underwood/Miller, 1991.
. "Jon's World." 1952. In The CollectedStories of Philip K. Dick, VolumeTwo:
Second Variety. Los Angeles, CA: Underwood/Miller, 1987. 53-81.
. The Man WhoJaped. New York: Ace, 1956.
. "Pay for the Printer." 1956. In The CollectedStoriesof Philip K. Dick, Volume
Three: The Father-Thing.Los Angeles, CA: Underwood/Miller, 1987. 239-52.
. "Shell Game." 1954. In The CollectedStoriesof Philip K. Dick, VolumeThree:
The Father-Thing.Los Angeles, CA: Underwood/Miller, 1987. 189-202.
. "Souvenir." 1954. In The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume Two:
Second Variety. Los Angeles, CA: Underwood/Miller, 1987. 355-65.
Solar Lottery. 1955. New York: Collier, 1992.
The WorldJones Made. 1956. New York: Vintage, 1993.
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ABSTRACT
The gnostic Christianthemes that so characterizePhilip K. Dick's later writings find
their first manifestationin his early fiction, albeit in simplistic and undeVelopedforms.
This essay identifies the dualistic elements in Dick's pre-TimeOut of Joint (1959) short
stories and novels, thereby continuing the line of inquiry established by the author in
earlieressays on the topic. Certainmethodologicalissues are addressedas well, including
the matterof employing Dick's later writingsand musings to interprethis earlierfiction,
and the question of whether the idios kosmos/koinoskosmos dynamic favored by some
commentatorsis an appropriatelens throughwhich to interpretthis fiction.

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