I just completed reading the Philip K. Dick novel, The Man in the High Castle. I am left perplexed. The book tells the story of an alternate universe in which Germany, Japan and Italy win World War II and have segmented the globe. Slavery and racism are prevalent. The Nazis still hold power and a book, which tells the story of an alternate reality in which the United States wins the war is banned. The book follows a handful of characters as they travel through this alternate universe. 

What I am stuck on is the reality of the story. It is tricky. In the book the plot is the reverse of how history has played out, the characters in the book are reading a book whose plot is the reverse of that reality, but is not the reality of the world that I am living in. And yet it is true. The book ends with truth. I will not spoil the plot's ending, but I will say that as I write this a revelation is unfolding. The book illustrates individual truth. It allows one to realize that if one pays attention to one's truth, it will not be in line with the rest of the world because we are unique with our own experiences thoughts and feelings. Expressing these will put one at odds with anyone trying to fit it, will often put one at odds with popular culture, will definitely put one at odds with a totalitarian regime. Being someone that expresses one's individual truth will cause one to be seen, be a rupture, to cause discomfort.

I was perplexed by the ending of this book because this is where it stops. It reveals a character that sees and speaks her truth and then it ends. My expectations wanted something more. I thought that Dick would somehow expand on this phenomenon, judge it somehow, encourage the reader to think something or another about it. Never did I expect that he would just let it be. Inner truth. The end.