Analysis Of Time Out Of Joint By Philip K. Dick

After World War II, only two world superpowers remained: the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The contradictory political regimes of the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union were believed to be mutually exclusive which increased bitterness between them. Inevitably, the apparent tension between the two superpowers led to the Cold War which lasted about 45 years. It was war without bloodshed or battle, instead it was a metaphorical war where the U.S and the Soviet Union increased their weapons and fought for political influence, one always wanting to excel or maintain within the range of the other. The United States’ desperate need to contain the communist political ideology from spreading any further and meet the Soviet Union’s increased development of nuclear weapons led to the their involvement in the Cold War. The impact the Cold War had on life during the 1950’s and 1960’s can be measured through the creation of the House Un-American

The late 1940′s were a time when much change happened to the American society. As a result to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stand that lead it to the Cold War.  Although the war didn’t involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected the American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his “witch hunt”. The Cold war lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies.

The Cold War was a pivotal time in American history. To a greater degree than most other wars, the Cold War affected American society in unfathomable and profound ways. More specifically, American culture transformed immensely during this time. From a constant state of anxiety, to changes in media and the arts, to McCarthyism; the Cold War fervently affected the quality of life, personal expression, and American politics. Predominantly, the Cold War inflicted fear and apprehension within the American people that was so overpowering that it affected every aspect of their lives and overall American culture.

Philip K. Dick’s novel, Time Out of Joint, is set in an artificially created town from the 1950’s in a dystopian 1990’s society. Published in 1959, Dick’s novel was met with criticism from those who feared the Communist threat of a third world war. In making “time out of joint” in his novel, Dick blurs the line between fiction and reality by distorting narrative structure and employing the symbolism of words to satirize 1950’s American society’s willful ignorance and fear of the unknown. As power and moral authority shift, the reader questions the postmodernist novel’s world, instilling a sense of doubt and curiosity.

The irony he pointed out, was that American truly can not be as truly virtuous as we claim to be, if we are truly as innocent as we pretend to be (Niebuhr, Pg. 19). After World War II, both the US and the Soviet Union emerged as the world’s two “superpowers” which would lead them into a fierce competition for political control over Europe and their resources. During the Cold War in the 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union were involved in many covert conflicts that eventually shaped foreign policy during this war. Because decolonization was becoming popular in the 1950’s and 60’s, the US and Soviet Union directly competed for influence in many third world countries, such as in Guatemala, Iran, and Indochina. The US government use of the CIA to disrupt many governments with ties to communists in the 50s was their primary tactic in an aim to support the allied countries. With conflicts going over ideological territories, both countries undermined their own political ideologies in order to undermine their each

The Cold War, which was considered the “years of maximum danger,” lasted from 1949-1962. This period brought an increasing sense of danger to America because the Soviet Union came into possession of an atomic bomb in 1949; an idea many Americans thought to be impossible unless the Soviet Union had a spy in the United States, which they did. Because the Soviet Union had an atomic bomb, a nuclear war became a reality. In Kenneth Rose’s “One Nation Underground” he told of rising issues associated with the Cold War and the threat of nuclear bombings. The Cold War, in conjunction with the inventions of (total destructive) bombs, generated new dangers, fears, and morality issues among Americans, which led to further increased fears.

It promotes posturing; encourages speculation; and creates hysteria. This theme permeated American politics and popular culture during the McCarthy era of the 1950s. As WWII ended, nations began to polarize. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the leading economic and military states, and began competing for influence throughout the countries they now occupied upon liberation from Germany and Japan. Under the banner of their own brand of idealism, they individually sought geopolitical control and economic benefit. As the stakes increased, competition between the two powers spread to the atomic arena and the exploration of space. The result for the next 45 years is a saga of fear not only of the other side,

Between 1945 and 1960, the United States was confronted with a colossal predicament. A Cold War had emerged between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This war did not involve any direct attacks between the two, instead indirect confrontations. Subsequently, the war took a massive toll on the U.S. An era of high tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union posed a communist threat to America.

Prothero’s criteria for choosing the novels and speeches for his collection can be classified as only choosing “the most influential writings of Americans, by Americans, and for Americans”(5). Prothero aims to include works that contribute to the controversial aspect of America and it’s important because “it is a record of what Americans value enough to fight about”(6). Instead of choosing one side of the argument, Prothero seems to report on both sides of the controversy and he wants to convey what Americans truly believe in. Prothero doesn’t want to voice his personal opinion instead, he wants books that “Americans themselves have made sacred” that demonstrate what Americans ideals

“It’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written, the books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers” (Blume 1999). Judy Blume can not explain the problem of book censorship any clearer. The children are the real losers because they are the ones that are not able to read the classic works of literature which are the backbone of classroom discussions all across the United States.

During early 20th century, American writers were influenced by the changing world of industrialization and globalization. The horrors and World War 1 and the invention of new technologies had people questioning the future of humanity. Writers and journalist used this time to voice their views and experiences during these troubling times. Henry Louis Mencken is well-known writer who had a powerful influence on America’s writing style during the 1920s. His writing style was known for it’s wit, and harsh criticism towards American social and cultural weaknesses. His essay “The Libido for the Ugly” sends the message to the reader that America needs to change its way of living because they are too content with their current ugly lifestyle.

Philip K. Dick acts as the Charles Dickens of science fiction in his sheer density and detail. Nearly all of his works come from the real place, which is reality. What he sees is disintegration, dirt, corruption, and that was him; Dick looked on the dark side of the human element saw how the dark side was romantic and incorporated those dark corners into his books. Inside this

‘The Man in the High Castle’ tells the story of a parallel world, one in which the Japanese and the Germans won the war, and the world now operates in their favor. The story line revolves around a book that is written by a man who only writes what the Ching says to. One book in particular is forbidden to many, and it is because the contents tell the story of ‘what really happened’, how we got to the world we live in today. Philip K Dick wraps this intriguing story around themes of power, deceit, racial discrimination, fate, and gender norms of the 1950’s and 60’s.

In this his insightful article, Weinstein discusses how reading literature that deviates from our now increasingly liberal views, is still pertinent today. He argues that books can take us to where society has been and awaken us to the past. I agree with Weinstein in the sense that reading literature abundant with conflicting opinions shapes our views and helps us better understand society as a whole and how it has changed.

Panopticon is essentially an architectural concept developed by Bentham in the late 18th century (Foucault, Panopticism). The image of the Panopticon underlines Foucault’s notion of the individualization of the masses. Contradicting this theory is the notion of the synopticon, which is essentially the antithesis of the panopticon (Brunon-Ernst and Tusseau). The synoptic theory presents “the many see the few” concept due to technology and the mass media, which is the reverse of the panoptic that theorizes the concept of “the few seeing many” (Mathiesen). The synopticon is tied to a top-down, instrumental way of theorizing the media. It neglects resistance, alternative currents in media production and reception, the role of culture and the increasing centrality of the internet (Doyle). This analysis will present a comparison of Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish” to Palahniuk’s “Fight Club” through an examination