The Father Thing

It is a familiar premise but an interesting one. Works like The Thing and, most famously, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, were especially popular in the 1950´s, expressing the fear that people are not what they seem to be. The idea that something sinister may be lurking beneath a façade of suburban complacency is certainly an important component to Jack Finney´s novel, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the movie of the same name. But while that work is largely about the country´s paranoia and suspiciousness during the McCarthy years, Dick´s story has a much more personal focus.

The Father-Thing is more personal because it is not about the invasion of a community, but of a family. The alien takeover serves as a metaphor for estrangement, as the "Father-Thing" represents the agency - driven by seemingly inscrutable motives - that irremediably damages the household and the family´s stability. Dick´s story, then, is both a chilling science fiction tale and a emotionally resonant work about a child´s coming to grips with a home in turmoil. Where Charlie turns when he finds himself an outcast from his home is somewhat surprising, and it reveals much about Dick´s ideas about community and exile.

• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
• The Divine Invasion

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• The Breach
• Boneyard