Ending of season 1 of "The Man in the High Castle"

 Ending of season 1 of "The Man in the High Castle"

I suggest reading the book which will give a much greater insight into the 'meaning'.

The Man in the High Castle stands out when looking at all the books Philip K Dick wrote. They are all wacky in their own way and all have an element of not knowing the difference between something that is fake and reality.

Spoilers for the book follow!

But in this book Dick took it a step further, using the I Ching to actually write the book, and in the final chapter of the book  make some revelations that The Man In the High Castle is actually in some way Philip K Dick himself. It's a book about himself writing a book about the 'real world' in an alternative reality.

What does it all mean? The book more deeply explores themes faced by Tagomi and Childan around racism, balance, war etc. It tries to emphasise that the world they inhabit is different from our own world in a historical sense, but the same as our world in terms of moral perspective and human nature.

It concludes with each character reaching a 'higher ideal' - for example, Childan is tormented in the book as someone who sees the Japanese as superior to the Americans. He sees himself as an inferior race. In the book he finally finds the strength to stand up for American culture and artwork. Frink finds a way to instil truth into his own artwork and create something beyond forgeries. Tagomi rebels against the Nazis and finds balance.

I don't think the series explores these themes as seriously or deeply, so the ending is especially hard to interpret. I don't think the book is as cryptic - it's showing how in either world there are fundamental themes of morality that are important.