Excess and Uncertainty in Philip K. Dick's Novel a Scanner Darkly And

―Reflected in a Mirror, Through a Mirror:‖ Excess and Uncertainty in Philip K. Dick‘s novel A Scanner Darkly and Richard Linklater‘s filmic adaptation by Stanley Robert Janz Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (English) Acadia University Spring Convocation 2011 © by Stanley Robert Janz, 2011 ii This thesis by Stanley Robert Janz was defended successfully in an oral examination on April 13th, 2011. The examining committee for the thesis was: ________________________ Dr. Paul Hobson, Chair _______________________ Dr. Anthony Enns, External Reader _______________________ Dr. Andrea Schwenke Wyile, Internal Reader _______________________ Dr. Jon Saklofske _______________________ Dr. Herb Wyile, Head Delegate This thesis is accepted in its present form by the Division of Research and Graduate Studies as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree Master of Arts (English). …………………………………………. iii I, Stanley Robert Janz, grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to reproduce, loan or distribute copies of my thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats on a non-profit basis. I, however, retain the copyright in my thesis. ______________________________ Stanley Robert Janz ______________________________ Dr. Jon Saklofske, Supervisor ______________________________ Date iv Table of Contents New Path: Introduction 1 Chapter One: Bob Arctor – Let‘s Hear it for the Vague Blur 29 Chapter Two: The Writing Appears Backward 63 Chapter Three: What Does a Scanner See? 93 Author‘s Notes 135 Works Cited 146 v Abstract This thesis views Philip K. Dick‘s novel, A Scanner Darkly, and Richard Linklater‘s filmic adaptation through the lenses of remediation and transmedia storytelling. It examines how mediative distancing, in the forms of narrative and stylistic excess, can facilitate understanding rather than confound comprehension. A significant part of my argument is comprised of the assertion that perceptually obtrusive and conceptually ambiguous episodes in the novel informed Richard Linklater‘s hypermediated adaptation; which, via its filmic excesses, expands or transmediates the source narrative, providing the potential for a clearer understanding of the film and, upon subsequent reflection, the novel as well. The further we are distanced from both works, the closer we are able to come to an empathetic and unified vision of each narrative. Both stories become comprehensible through comprehensiveness. More scanners, more mirrors, more dissonant perspectives enable the reader or viewer to penetrate the narrative layers that obscure the story. vi Abbreviations AO – Anti-Oedipus AT - The Aesthetics of Transmedia: In Response to David Bordwell ATF – Archaeologies of the Future ATOS – A Theory of Semiotics ASD – A Scanner Darkly CC - Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide CG – Computer generated DI – Divine Invasions DAR – Difference and Repetition FTC – Film Theory & Criticism HC – The Man in the High Castle HEUV - Human Emotion and the Uncanny Valley IPV – Philip K. Dick, In Pursuit of Valis: Selections from the Exegesis ODLT - The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms OSA - One Summer in Austin PATS – Plato and the Simulacrum PCL - Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism ROU - Revenge of the Origami Unicorn S.A. – Special Agent SR – The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick TIHR – Travels in Hyperreality WIP – What is Philosophy? WL – Waking Life vii 1 New Path: an Introduction ―The road of excess leads to the Palace of Wisdom‖ William Blake – Proverbs of Hell Excess often leads to dysfunction and confusion not wisdom. It ushers in new, unwanted trials and tribulations that foster confusion and turmoil rather than enlightenment. Although there is a good deal of truth to be found in Blake‘s deliberately paradoxical statement, uncovering that truth requires a willingness to go beyond conventional boundaries and see things from an unfamiliar, perhaps uncomfortable perspective. Excess imposes its own conditions. It insists on acknowledgement: if not by those engaged in immoderate behaviour then by witnesses who are empathetic enough to care, or prudish enough to reject such displays. Consider the myriad concerned parties (the authorities, as Philip K. Dick might refer to them), who, in the face of what they consider to be excessive and therefore unreasonable behaviour, feel compelled to intervene. In these instances, excess is acknowledged through an attempt to regulate and normalize such behaviours. Blake‘s words, conversely, suggest that the libertine, the anarchist or radical thinker might find wisdom by going over the edge and beyond socially imposed limits. After the fall, they might look back at the precipice and truly understand the restrictive factors that once confined them and in doing so gain a better understanding of how to successfully exceed them. For this reason, Blake‘s provocative words are a fitting epigram for Philip K. Dick‘s most personal and poignant novel of the 1970s, A Scanner Darkly. The story is a faithful illustration of Blake‘s notion that you can ―never know what is enough unless 2 you know what is more than enough‖ (71). In an attempt to reflect his own, often decadent lifestyle, Dick explores the ideas of, and relationship between, excess and wisdom in many of his stories. In his writing, he frequently speculates that there exists a perceptual impediment that obscures our interpretation of the various ―realities‖ we are regularly confronted with and that this barrier must be exceeded if we are to see clearly. He constructed A Scanner Darkly by holding a mirror up to his own excessive nature and revealing how, through addiction, one might go beyond the point of return. He believed there was a lesson to be learned from his tale of excess. However, because Dick held that he was only able to perceive distorted fragments of his world, a confused rendering of the author‘s own drug addled observations is perhaps the most evident narrative layer of A Scanner Darkly. Absorbed by the immediacy of his experiences, Dick, quite understandably, had a myopic and distorted view of the events transpiring around him. His novel, given its narrative fragmentation, communicates similar limitations. Because feelings of unease regarding perceptual awareness pervade Dick‘s work to such a great extent, the themes most commonly attributed to the writer deal with the nature of authenticity (what is reality? what does it mean to be human?) and how our perceptions alter our understanding of that nebulous term. In his 1972 essay ―Man, Android, and Machine‖ he explains the genesis of his skepticism: We see very much the same notion expressed by St. Paul when he speaks about our seeing ―as if by the reflection on the bottom of a polished metal pan.‖ He is referring to the familiar notion of Plato‘s, that we see only images of reality, and probably these images are inaccurate and imperfect and not to be relied on. I wish to add that Paul was probably saying one 3 thing more than Plato in the celebrated metaphor of the cave: Paul was saying that we may well be seeing the universe backwards. (SR 214-15) Dick‘s interpretation of St. Paul and by extension Plato intimates the complex reflective nature of his literary oeuvre. Plato‘s suggestion, that we see only shadows, is conflated with St. Paul‘s belief that we experience a simulation of reality in the form of a reflection and that reflection is a hidden, unconsciously manufactured agent of self-deception. Unlike a shadow, a reflection is very difficult to distinguish from its source image. Perceiving only a reflection would cause one to normalize that perception over time. The information received from the environment via St. Paul‘s glass would be unobtrusive, requiring a blatant indicator. To shatter the illusion, something overt such as writing that appears backwards, which would reverse the reversal of the mirror and actually produce something akin to the reality beyond the looking glass, would be necessary. Possibly, because of his suspicions regarding the inverted nature of reality, Dick consciously attempted to ―write backwards‖ by creating ambiguous, inconsistent stories or ―worlds that fall apart‖ (SR 259), so that the reader might comprehend the insidious nature of St. Paul‘s mediative mirror through attempting to put these ―worlds‖ back together. A Scanner Darkly, which takes its name from St. Paul‘s famous words: ―For now we see through a glass, darkly‖ (NKJV, 1 Corinthians 13:12), evokes a parallel between the Christian trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and Dick‘s: ―Man, Android, and Machine.‖ There is also a similar trinity established in Dick‘s novel with his protagonist, Bob Arctor, who eventually splits into a schizophrenic collage of Fred, Arctor and Bruce. Each example intimates the notion that there is one source which has taken on three integrally related and interconnected forms or states like the liquid, gas and solid forms 4 that water might take. The Christian trinity‘s Father corresponds with Man and Arctor; this is the condition of origin and authenticity.1 The Son corresponds with Fred and Android; this is a conflicted, altered or compromised state. The Holy Spirit corresponds with Bruce and Machine; this is a transformed, non-human form. These parallels suggest an affinity between the three texts (Bible, novel and essay) which Dick explicates through his treatment of Arctor; in this regard, he intimates a temporal progression that is meant to be illuminating for the distanced observer. That is, the reader who can use the novel ―scanner‖ effectively will be made aware of the perils of Substance D abuse. Initially, Arctor watches Jerry Fabin, one of his doper peers, move through each of the three stages but eventually, as his own addiction overwhelms him, he comes to realize that he sees through his holoscanner darkly, meaning he is unable to fully understand the excess of information that the scanner provides for him.

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