Reality

Dick asks the question what is reality? In Ubik, the story begins with all the characters apparently alive and in New York. They leave for Lunar and Runciter dies in an explosion. However, in proceeding chapters, the reader finds out it is not Runcitter who is dead, but Joe Chip and the rest of the anti-telepaths. Dick further throws this into confusion in the last few lines of the novel, suggesting Runciter has been dead all along. In fact, within the uncertain environment Dick creates, the reader may ask if the characters have been in half-life from the beginning, and if the characters have always been part of Jory's world. The reader can go back through the book and find a few clues pointing to such conclusions. For example the anti-telepaths have dreams about characters called Matt and Bill, and at the end of the book, Jory admits...