“A Scanner Darkly” by Philip K. Dick – Loss of the Self

The question as to what makes us who we are is one that has puzzled the brightest minds in human history for countless generations, and will certainly continue to do so for the longest foreseeable future.

The only way to find a conclusive answer to the subject is to explore it from every perspective possible, and in his classic science-fiction novel A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick does just that, amongst other things of course.

For those who aren’t familiar with the plot of the book (which was also made into a movie starring Keanu Reeves), it follows the lives of multiple junkies living in a run-down house, particularly focusing on one of them: Bob Arctor. Unbeknownst to everyone, Arctor is actually an undercover narcotics agent trying to work his way to the source of Substance D, a severely debilitating and mind-altering drug.

When Arctor acts as a law enforcement agent, he reports as Fred and wears a scramble suit, which allows him to hide his identity from everyone in every sense of the word, a security measure implemented to ensure the covertness of operatives such as him.

However, when Fred is tasked with taking Bob Arctor down, the lines between reality and imagination begin to blur and identities begin to clash with each other.

A Scanner Darkly is a novel where the plot and events truly serve to give the author a canvas upon which to paint his thoughts, ideas and philosophies… though that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its fair share of twists and turns to keep you entertained in that regard.

Speaking from a technical perspective, the book is written in a superb way and manages to actually convey the loss of identity and confusion experienced by Arctor/Fred as a clear separation between the two emerges, almost like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation.

Along this spiral into madness centered on the idea of what defines us as who we are, Dick also brings up a number of other interesting themes, including: how much trust there can really be between friends, how the way we act when nobody watches defines us, the attitude of society towards drug addicts, how good times can spiral into bad ones in the blink of an eye, the paranoia of being watched, and more.

Though the book is rather heavy in regards to its subject matter, the author has taken care to disperse bits and pieces of dark humor here and there, just to lighten the mood a bit.

All things considered, A Scanner Darkly truly deserves its status as a literature classic, will drag you into its bleak and dying world, and keep you reading until the very end of it.

This is one of those novels you’ll probably keep coming back to after the years, provided of course you are willing to take your time and effort to think about what is said within.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who prefers the use of science-fiction for the exploration of grand themes and ideas before anything else.

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Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) Philip K. Dick was a novelist, short story writer, essayist and author of American origin, who almost exclusively dealt with the science fiction genre. He is most famous for bringing gems such as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (The movie Blade Runner was based on this) and A Scanner Darkly, based on which a movie was also made.