Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Man in the High Castle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Prejudice and Power
History vs. Daily Life
Authenticity vs. Originality
Agency vs. Chance
Moral Ambiguity and Forgiveness
Art, Perspective, and Truth
Summary
Analysis
Shaken by the shooting, Tagomi reflects “there is no understanding. Even in the oracle. Yet I must go on living day to day anyhow.” He therefore resolves to “find the small,” and he takes the day off work. He considers going to a park and even taking the outdated—but still pleasant—San Francisco Cable Car.
Tagomi here articulates one of the novel’s central messages: if a complex, morally ambiguous world, understanding is impossible. But “living day to day” is possible: rather than chasing truth or trying to form history, Tagomi decides to seek out simple, joyful places like parks and the old Cable Car.
Themes
As he strolls, Tagomi wonders if he can ever return to his office—and even if he eventually can, he thinks Operation Dandelion will have destroyed the entire city by then. Tagomi rides the Cable Car to the end of the line and almost forgets his briefcase; it now contains the Colt .44, because after the incident with the Kommando squad he carries the gun everywhere with him.
Even as Tagomi resolves to “find the small,” he cannot totally distract himself from the historical forces at play; he cannot picture his daily routine of going into the office because he is so focused on the possibility of nuclear destruction. It is also worth noting that in carrying around the Colt .44, Tagomi is symbolically carrying the weight of his murders.
Themes
Tagomi wonders if perhaps separating himself from the gun will allow him to return to his former “delighted attitude.” Tagomi takes faith in the theory of “historicity,” which states that the past is “within the gun” just as much as it is within his mind. Accordingly, he decides to go to Childan’s shop and return the gun.
In contradiction to Wyndham-Matson, Tagomi feels that authenticity is so deeply physical that to get rid of the gun would be to get rid of his memories. Rather than moving toward a new future, Tagomi here is determined to erase the past.
Themes
However, when Tagomi tries to exchange the Colt .44, Childan grows cold and refuses to take it. Before Tagomi can leave, Childan takes him to a display case filled with the Edfrank jewelry. Childan boasts that this jewelry is “the new life of [his] country.” Tagomi admires the pieces, but he does not feel the same level of emotion that Childan seems to. Childan presses Tagomi to see the meaning of the pieces, and Tagomi tells Childan he is behaving rudely—but Childan does not seem to care.
Childan does not want to take the gun because he believes it is fake, and he does not want to be discovered. Yet while Tagomi tries to undo history, Childan pushes him to look toward the future and “new life.” Interestingly, Childan is so focused on the jewelry that he no longer seems attuned to the subtleties of racial behavior and status.
Themes
Get the entire The Man in the High Castle LitChart as a printable PDF.
As he leaves the store, Tagomi dismisses Childan’s obsession as “Anglo-Saxon fanaticism.” Before he can get far, however, Tagomi becomes envious of Childan’s newfound passion. He returns to the antiques shop and purchases one of the Edfrank pieces from Childan: “a single small triangle ornamented with hollow drops. Black beneath, bright and light-filled above.”
After the trauma of the day before, Tagomi struggles to find joy. He therefore pushes himself to ignore his prejudices and to lean into Childan’s passion instead of dismissing it. The appearance of the triangle might symbolize the Christian trinity, which is especially notable given Tagomi’s new interest in the doctrine of original sin.
Themes
Tagomi takes a pedicab to a small park. He sits on the park bench and stares at the little piece of jewelry, trying to meditate with it. A few minutes pass, but Tagomi still feels nothing. He gets up but then sits back down, trying to resist the constant pressure he feels to “rise and act.” He tries shaking the jewelry, he pleads it with to reveal its meaning, and he even holds the small triangle to his ear, but still Tagomi feels nothing. He tries smelling, touching, and tasting the triangle, all to no avail.
The novel has repeatedly suggested that appreciating and interpreting art is important—but in this almost satirical scene, it is clear that analyzing other people’s creations is easier said than done. This passage also suggests that artistic interpretation allows people to slow down, and to move away from the Fascist framework of constant action.
Themes
Tagomi begins to study the triangle more intently. He muses that it is made of metal, “from the earth […] from that realm which is the lowest, the most dense”—yet in the light, the jewelry glitters. Tagomi reflects that these jewelers have therefore “brought the dead to life […] the past had yielded to the future.” Tagomi begins to see the triangle as a perfect balance of bodily yin and soulful yang, and he hopes it will give him peace and understanding in his own life.
In this moment, the jewelry’s material—cold metal made to reflect warm light—takes on almost cosmic symbolism to Tagomi, in that it represents both earthly life and what lies beyond. Not for the first time, the novel associates art with the future. This association is also quite literal, as Ed and Frank have stopped trying to replicate the past (as they did in Tagomi’s Colt .44) and have started to create something new.
Themes
Suddenly, the light illuminating the triangle disappears and Tagomi looks up to find two white policemen in blue suits. Tagomi is upset that he has been “interrupted by that white barbarian Neanderthal yank”; then he stops and scolds himself for such “racist invectives,” which he sees as beneath him.
The policeman treat Tagomi with a level of disrespect unusual in the Japanese-run racial hierarchy of the PSA. Tagomi’s moment of racist weakness is also telling: when he feels low or insecure, he turns to biased “invective,” suggesting that bias is borne of fear.
Themes
Tagomi walks out of the park, but he is surprised to see that there are no pedicabs on the streets. Even more shockingly, an enormous metal construction hangs in the sky like a “nightmare of [a] rollercoaster.” Tagomi asks a passerby about this ugly metal stripe, and the passerby explains that it is the Embarcadero Freeway, which many people feel “stinks up the view.” There are still no pedicabs in sight, and Tagomi begins to feel that he is in a “mad dream.”
In real life, the Embarcadero freeway was a massive, elevated highway in San Francisco. It was built just after the Americans emerged victorious from World War II and was torn down in the early 1990s. The nightmare “rollercoaster” that Tagomi sees is, in fact, that freeway, suggesting that he has slipped out his alternate history timeline and into the reader’s reality.
Themes
Desperately, Tagomi heads into a dingy diner. White people are sitting on all the stools, and not one of them gives up their seat to Tagomi. When Tagomi insists that the white people give their seats to him, one snaps at him to “watch it, Tojo.” Tagomi is shocked by this disrespect; he realizes that he has wandered “out of [his] world, [his] space and time.”
Tagomi still cannot process what is going on until the racial hierarchy flips on its head—suggesting that in some ways, such hierarchies are the ultimate determinant of a society’s character. There are many meanings, therefore, to Tagomi’s reflection that he has wandered out of “his world.” He has left the world he belongs in, but he has also left the world he rules (to the extent that he is a member of the dominant racial group). Finally, the fact that Tagomi has stumbled into this other world emphasizes the role of chance and coincidence in creating individual and global history.
Themes
Realizing that he entered this alternate reality though the little silver triangle, Tagomi decides he must find the triangle again. He remembers that he left the jewelry in the park, so he heads back to the bench he was sitting on. Tagomi grabs the silver piece and begins to slowly count, hoping he will be able to return to his normal world.
Throughout the novel, works of art like the Edfrank jewelry and The Grasshopper Lies Heavy have been shown to open people’s minds and provide new perspectives. But here, Tagomi realizes that the Edfrank triangle has quite literally opened the door to a new world.
Themes
In order to determine whether he is still in the strange alternate reality, Tagomi summons two little Chinese boys. He pays them a dime and asks them to see if there are any pedicabs in the street—if there are not, Tagomi decides he will kill himself using the Colt .44. However, the boys come back and announce that there are many pedicabs in the streets. Tagomi hails one and heads back to his office.
While the jewelry transported Tagomi out of his world by chance, he is also able to actively use the jewelry to re-enter his normal timeline. The shock of accepting another reality is so great that Tagomi contemplates killing himself. (And, tellingly, his potential use of the Colt .44, which represents the ambiguous nature of authenticity, further blurs the lines between realities).
Themes
When Tagomi arrives in the Nippon Times Building, the whole mess from the day before has been cleaned up. He reflects that “historicity” is nevertheless “bonded into nylon tile of floor.” Tagomi learns that Tedeki is on his way back to the Home Islands, but that his co-workers have been unable to locate Mr. Baynes.
Upon returning to his office, Tagomi must come to terms with the fact that he cannot escape history—as Childan reflected at the Kasouras’ house, history is everywhere. The fact that Tedeki is on his way back suggests that the Japanese might be able to stop Operation Dandelion, largely because of Tagomi’s actions.
Themes
Tagomi’s secretary informs him that a man from the German consul, Mr. Reiss, is there to see him. After some formalities, Tagomi announces that he personally shot the two Kommando men. Reiss tells Tagomi that the men were not even working for the German government and assures Tagomi that he acted “properly” in shooting them. Tagomi asks for forgiveness, and muses that he wants to read Cotton Mather—the famous American preacher—on hell and repentance.
Though Tagomi’s shooting has not affected his professional status, he is no longer interested in this superficial marker. Instead, having to act with such moral ambiguity has caused him to seek forgiveness. His interest in Cotton Mather is particularly interesting, as he also represents classic ideas of original sin: that all men are born evil, and that repentance and faith are necessary to counteract this evil.
Themes
Tagomi tells Reiss that he believes Germany is “about to descend into greater vileness than ever.” Reiss listens to Tagomi’s anti-Nazi speech and curtly moves to leave. Before Reiss can exit, however, Mr. Ramsey appears with some papers relating to Frank Frink’s trial and extradition. Tagomi, however, refuses to sign the papers.
Previously, Tagomi tried to cater to Reiss’s preferences (even though he never respected Reiss). But his experience with the Kommando squad—and with the alternate reality—has changed him, and he now stands up for what he believes.
Themes
Reiss accuses Tagomi of taking out general frustration on this specific situation; Tagomi dismisses this claim as nonsense. As Reiss leaves, Tagomi starts having a small heart attack. He stumbles back into his office, crashing onto the floor.
Tagomi’s heart attack occurs at the moment where he is most clear-headed and valiant. Such a sudden illness suggests both the randomness of the human experience and the frailty of human life.
Themes
While he is transported to the hospital, Tagomi wonders if he has ruined his career forever by snapping at Reiss. Tagomi speculates that this heart attack is itself a form of the Inner Truth he has been looking for, and he instructs his assistants to call his wife.
Moments before, Tagomi had resigned himself to the fact that “there is no understanding.” Here, however, he finds not outer truth but Inner Truth: for the first time in the novel, he has started to pay attention to his own bodily needs and to his familial relationships.
Themes
That evening, a police officer releases Frank from jail with no explanation. The police give him back his personal belongings, and Frank marvels that this is a miracle of sorts. All of it—the arrest, the release—feels unreal. Frank wishes he could understand, but he realizes he will never be able to fully comprehend the world around him.
As Tagomi finds Inner Truth, Frank realizes that he will never understand his circumstances—he is free and deeply appreciative of that fact, but he will never know why it all happened.
Themes
Frank returns to the shop, where Ed is waiting for him; Ed evidently thought Frank had been killed. The two men say very little to each other, though Ed tells Frank it is “good to see you back.” Frank sits back down on his work bench and returns to forging jewelry.
Ed’s loyalty to Frank again testifies to the importance of everyday relationships. And even more tellingly, Frank gets back to work: he is focused on his art-making and, by implication, on building a new future.
Themes
