The Eyes Have It

For all the narrator’s obsession with physical description in the book he is reading, there is very little physical description of the characters or the setting of “The Eyes Have It.” Showing the influence of Gnosticism, which reflects the opposition between the physical world and another one that is unlocked through esoteric knowledge, Dick favors the internal psychological world of his characters. What is known of the narrator/the reader comes directly from his own confession and is revealed primarily through his actions. He takes a bus to an unspecified job, and he writes to warn governmental authorities about the invasion. He returns home to his wife and children, and he believes himself to be quite unextraordinary. He is obsessive, fixating on one particular book that he never names but from which he continually quotes. He is quick to judge and doubtful of others’ capacity to comprehend what has become obvious to him. Despite being unextraordinary, he acts like an elitist, believing himself to possess knowledge that is hidden from others, even if it is in plain sight. This also relates to Dick’s Gnostic theme.

With an apparent tendency to retreat and isolate himself, the narrator first engages in reading as a form of entertainment. Quickly, though, this entertainment turns into fear and paranoia as his “discoveries” threaten to undo his understanding of reality. Even as he relates his experience through figurative language, he fails to grasp the figurative language of the book he reads. Perhaps more absurdly and more humorously, he uses figurative language throughout the story to express his experience. Disgusted by the creatures he has discovered, the narrator/the reader retreats into passive resignation, confessing that he wants nothing to do with the creatures. Returning to his family, he chooses to play a board game and shut out the fear that he is not equipped to manage.