Juliana Crane: Living Beyond the Pages
August 12, 2022 | Dara Marie | @thornfield_laneHistory was made by a series of chance. Without the French’s help, America might not have won the revolutionary war. Without Joan of Arc, France might not have withstood the one-hundred-year war against England. These chances shaped our future. It begs the question of how different our lives would be if even one of these moments didn’t happen.
What if, for example, Hitler won?
This is the question posed in Phillip K. Dick’s 1962 historical sci-fi, The Man in the High Castle. In an alternate 1960s, twenty years after the Axis powers won World War Two, the United States no longer stands; instead, it is divided with the Nazi Reich controlling the East coast and the Japanese Empire governing the West. Rumors circulate of a book (or in the show, a film reel) that shows a liberated world; a world without the Nazis. Some characters believe it's proof change is possible while others continue their lawless ways without the thought of a future.
To my shame as an English major, I didn’t read the book until after finishing all four seasons of the Amazon Prime original show. I loved the show and yet the book still surprised me. I had heard the show took a lot of liberties and that is an understatement. The basic concept is the same, but there are many more characters and newer technology in the show.
But this post is not a comparison of the book to the show. Today, I want to look at one specific character: Juliana Crane. While there are many characters, I would like to argue she is the true protagonist due to her central role in both the book and show. I was most excited to read about her in the book due to my love for her in its adaptation.
For those unfamiliar with this story, Juliana is best described as a simple woman. She was a child during the war and has lived most of her life in the Japanese-controlled San Francisco. The only thing extraordinary about her is that she comes into contact with rebellion fueled by rumors of a liberated world and chooses to stand with that. This is how we first meet her, but by the end, she is a full blooded rebel.
People often wonder, ‘What would I do in this situation?’ ‘What would I do if I’d been around during World War Two?’ Those are hard questions because it’s all situational on how our unique fight or flight instincts kick in. So, who’s to say how we would have acted in that time period? But I would like to think I would be like Juliana, this woman who has a pretty comfortable life but when she stumbles into something that’s way beyond her, she’s so curious and believes so much in that cause that she puts in the work and the effort and she risks her life for it; she puts herself on the line to try to create this better reality and eventually achieves that. I would like to think I would do that which, I think, is why I’m so drawn to this character.
I also have to give a huge shoutout to actress Alexa Davalos who was born to play this role. Chef’s kiss to this talented woman.
What I found most interesting in the book was how it reminded me of several episodes in the first season in terms of Juliana being innocent, naïve, and traveling in the mid-west ‘no man’s land’. My suspicions were confirmed when, about ¾ of the way in, a scene conspired between Juliana and another character that is nearly exactly copied in the show’s third season. For purposes of not spoiling, I will not detail the event, but I will say it was a significant point of the season’s finale and left me utterly mind blown and caught off guard in both the book and show.
What Juliana then goes on to do in the book and how it ends with her, I felt, implies what the character does in the third and fourth seasons of the show.
So what?
So, it’s almost as if the show started in a prologue and worked up to the book–the book’s events, at least for Juliana, were in the middle–and took it beyond the pages.
This is a fascinating and unique way for an adaptation to tell a story. I took theatre in high school and my teacher used to always say, this character had a life five minutes before they come on stage and they’ll have a life five minutes after they leave it, we’re only seeing a small bit. Whether he knew it or not, Philip K. Dick was able to this effect to the point a creator could read his book and work backward with Juliana Crane to understand how a simple woman grows into a complex force; how they could draw out the plotline to create a longer, more natural look into her arc for the audience.
This is something writers can learn from: what is your character’s main arc? Where can you start and end your character’s story that leaves you doing half the work? How can you make your characters live off the page so the audience fills in the rest without you spoon feeding them everything?
I know I will return to Juliana Crane in both book and screen to learn how I can achieve this.
Have you seen or read The Man in the High Castle? What do you think of Juliana? I'd love to hear from you! You can connect with me through thornfield.lane@gmail.com or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter: @thornfield_lane.
