Domestication of Nazism in the Man in the High Castle Tv Series

Abstract

Continuing the study of Philip Dick’s alternate historical novel «The Man in the High Castle» (1962) and Frank Spotnitz’s eponymous television series (2015–2019), the author focuses on the domestication of Nazi ideology, on «the banality of evil» in the series. The authors of the show strive for such an effect for the sake of immersing the viewer in complex historical processes, to demonstrate that following a dangerous ideology can happen to almost anyone. The series features, in particular, the East Coast of the United States, primarily New York in the 1960s, under the rule of the Nazis. The article compares the models of the world in the novel and the series and emphasizes that certain features of ambivalent American society provide its immunity against Nazi ideology, while others, under certain conditions, enable compromise with Nazism.In the TV series, among the main characters are the Smith family: John Smith, Reichsmarschall and later Reichsführer of North America, his wife Helen, and their children (son Thomas, daughters Amy, and Jennifer). All of them are absent in Dick’s novel, but the introduction of these characters is the success of the series and helps its authors raise the painful topic of collaboration with the Nazis and even the full acceptance of their inhumane ideas by ordinary Americans (moreover, by any people). A former Captain of the US Army, Smith makes a difficult choice after the surrender of his country to save himself and his family from starvation and repression. John agrees to work for the Nazis, then he betrays his best friend, a Jew, later Smith brutally investigates the Resistance, learns to survive under the Nazis, and participates in their power intrigues. Like a true predator, Smith becomes part of the inhumane System, but throughout the series, the audience feels that John’s soul does not yet fully belong to this regime.In our reality, John Smith also exists: he is also a former US military man, but later John becomes a successful sales clerk, a decent citizen, a true gentleman, and an ideal family man. Traveling to our world, Smith sees what he could be like in a country without the Nazis. At the end of the series, before committing suicide, Reichsführer Smith says that he has become the worst copy of himself of all possible, but his last actions show that he can only get out of the game, but not stop the System, which he has been building for many years.The author concludes that John’s life reveals the initial contradiction and splitting of the components of the American Dream: materialism and idealism, individualism and national interests, success and ways to achieve it. On the one hand, Smith as a Nazi is a successful person, a great family man, and almost a superman. On the other hand, John Smith betrays the American Dream in terms of the ideals of democracy and freedom. The end of his life coincides with the beginning of the end of Nazi America.