In a reality where the Allies lost WWII, Germany occupies much of the eastern United States and Japanese the west; most of the storyline occurs in San Francisco, California.
In no particular order, we get to know:
Robert Childan a scheming and racially frustrated white businessman who owns American Artistic Handcrafts Inc.
Nobusuke Tagomi a Japanese bureaucrat and buddhist.
Frank Frink a Jewish factory worker/laborer.
Juliana Frink Frank's ex-wife. A judo instructor living in Colorado.
Mr. Baynes disguised as a Swedish gentleman. His true identity is Rudolph Wegener, a member of a German political organization wishing to halt Nazi takeover.
The barriers between reader and character blend together. Reality and truth are playthings for PKD; as if he wished the reader to become as mad as he was.
The blur of reality touches all characters in the piece. Frank Frink loses his job, is jailed away and headed for extermination due to his race, and then released as if nothing happened. Mr. Tagomi (a pacifist) is driven mad after killing two German officers; he attempts to awaken a piece of jewelry and is momentarily transported to another reality where the Allies won the war (our reality?). Juliana realizes and accepts the Allies did in fact win the war after meeting with the author of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, proving her existence and reality is fictional.
The author does not do this subtly, he is upfront. Taunting. There is a book within the storyline, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. Grasshopper portrays a reality where the Allies won WWII. Without getting too much into this mind fuck, the Grasshopper's existence completely distorts the reader's sense of reality. The reader lives in a reality where the Allies won WWII but is reading a book where the Allies lost WWII but within that book there is another book where the Allies won WWII. It's all blurred. Nothing clear. Nothing true. All true. I can hear PKD laughing as I write this.
Now, consider the title of this book. At first glance, the phrase "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" may be a cryptic way of saying: an incomprehensible reality exists where a grasshopper is heavy.
But looking deeper, the phrase "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" is derived from an excerpt in the bible, Ecclesiastes 12:5. From the King James version it reads:
"Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets."
In summary, everything leads to death. Quite nihilistic if you ask me. But the point here is, did PKD want the reader to dig deeper into the meaning of this phrase? Is PKD taunting the reader? One wishes to find meaning in this phrase, as one wishes to find meaning in life, but any meaning you find will ultimately lead to death. PKD laughs again.
PKD's taunting reveals our next topic: human's desperation of control for one's reality and the strive for the comprehensible.
Just as the reader wishes to understand and comprehend, naturally, the characters find themselves grasping for answers too; wishing for something to lead them to meaning or point them in the right direction.
In the possession of most of the characters is the I Ching, the Chinese "Book of Changes". Characters consult the I Ching as an oracle, in that they ask it questions in search for answers and direction; particularly when they've met a cross-roads or non-trivial decision to be made. Perhaps this is a note on the laziness of individuals.
Frank uses the I Ching to determine whether or not to begin a business venture. Mr. Tagomi consults the I Ching when he is apprehensive of upcoming appointments, Juliana carries around the I Ching, never letting it out of her sight. She says, it helps me decide.
The author does not provide answers for the reader or the characters but one particular event in the story leads me to believe that there is a way to, for lack of a better term, cope with uncertainty.
Of the goods that Mr. Childan swindles from Ed McCarthy, Childan attempts to gift Mrs. Betty Kasoura, a pin. As to not make the poor seduction attempt so obvious, he gifts the pin to Mr. Paul Kasoura to gift to Betty. However, Paul never gives the pin to his wife. He finds the pin dull and lifeless, so much so that he is amused by it. He shows it to some of his business acquaintances to get a laugh. Paul explains this to Childan.
Yet, Paul mentions, after several days of inspection of this inanimate blob he is rather emotionally fond of it. He explains the blob partakes in Tao, is at peace with the universe, and has wu. Profoundly, he says, the blob must have had wu flow into it by the hands of its creator (Frank Frink) and by studying the blob one gains wu as well. It is complete.
Wu, 悟, context dependent, means to comprehend or realize. To have wu means to be enlightened; to be holy. One might be familiar with the monkey king from Chinese mythology, Sun Wukong 孙悟空.
Frank Frink created this blob, poured his energy, soul, and wu into it, thereby releasing wu into his reality. Frank's story ends with him picking up where he left off: creating and perfecting.
Perhaps that is one of the secrets.
One can never be certain of their reality. One can never be in control of their perceived reality.
But one can create.
One can control and comprehend those creations; even if it is just a distraction from uncertainty.
Creation gives way to certainty.
Creation gives way to the comprehensible.