The Man in The High Castle is a thriller set in post World-War 2 Axis controlled America, and follows multiple characters in multiple plots. One of which plots stars a man named Mr. Baynes, or later revealed to be Rudolf Wegener, a German spy masquerading as a Swedish businessman. Mr. Baynes is a static character, his role in the eye of the reader changes, but his character does not.
At the beginning of the book, The fact that Baynes is a spy is kept from the reader, instead he assumes the role of a Swedish businessman on his way to the Japanese controlled Pacific States of America (PSA) on business. The first doubt that Baynes isn’t what he seems is when a Japanese student attempts to converse with him in Swedish, and Baynes, not knowing Swedish, fails to understand.[1] Although Baynes is a German spy, he doesn’t do very much throughout the book, many scenes are just him alone with his thoughts, often critiquing the Nazis for their greed, arrogance, and faux superiority. Baynes delivers many thought provoking quotes through his times of self reflection, this quote being one of the more notable ones in the book, as it thoroughly lays
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They identify with God's power and believe they are godlike. That is their basic madness. They are overcome by some archetype; their egos have expanded psychotically so that they cannot tell where they begin and the godhead leaves off. It is not hubris, not pride; it is inflation of the ego to its ultimate — confusion between him who worships and that which is worshiped. Man has not eaten God; God has eaten man”[2].
Having much of Baynes’ views be conveyed through personal thoughts is an effective tool in showing the reader that these are his actual views, and not lies he tells other characters in an attempt to deceive them; at one point he tells another character that he is jewish[3], but the reader has no way of knowing whether or not this is true since he is a