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The novel’s various Colt .44s symbolize the ambiguity between authenticity and inauthenticity. Though the guns (which Childan sells in his antique shop) are supposed to date from the American Civil War, they are in fact forgeries that are being manufactured in Wyndham-Matson’s shop. Many of the Colt .44s are therefore definitively inauthentic, as experts at the University of California confirm. Nevertheless, the guns still require tremendous skill and care to make; Frank Frink and Ed McCarthy, the primary fabricators of the guns, are later revealed as some of the most gifted artisans in the Pacific States. And even more crucially, the guns actually work: Tagomi has a (likely-fake) Colt .44 in his office for decorative purposes, but when he faces hostile intruders, the gun works perfectly well as a lethal weapon. The Colt .44 therefore symbolizes that something can be inauthentic (a “fake”) and yet still be real: the gun really is beautiful, and it really is effective. The presence of the Colt .44 then casts further doubt on the idea of authenticity, one of the most contentious concepts in the entire novel.
Colt .44 Quotes in The Man in the High Castle
The The Man in the High Castle quotes below all refer to the symbol of Colt .44. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2
Quotes
The cipher was the metaphor type, utilizing poetic allusion, which had been adopted to baffle the Reich monitors—who could crack any literal code, no matter how elaborate. So clearly it was the Reich whom the Tokyo authorities had in mind, not quasi-disloyal cliques in the Home Islands. The key phrase, “Skim milk in his diet” referred to Pinafore, to the eerie song that expounded the doctrine, “. . . Things are seldom what they seem—Skim milk masquerades as cream.”
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Chapter 9
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The Colt .44 affair had shaken [Childan] considerably. He no longer viewed his stock with the same reverence. Bit of knowledge like that goes a long way. Akin to primal childhood awakening; facts of life. Shows, he ruminated, the link with our early years: not merely U.S. history involved, but our own personal. As if, he thought, question might arise as to authenticity of our birth certificate. Or our impression of Dad.
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Chapter 11
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Life is short, [Childan] thought. Art, or something not life, is long, stretching out endless, like concrete worm. Flat, white, unsmoothed by any passage over or across it. Here I stand. But no longer.
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Colt .44 Symbol Timeline in The Man in the High Castle
The timeline below shows where the symbol Colt .44 appears in The Man in the High Castle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
Childan presents the visitor with an “authentic historic gun”—but the visitor recognizes the gun, a Colt .44, as a forgery. To Childan’s dismay, the...
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Chapter 5
...his meeting with Childan, Ray Calvin calls Wyndham-Matson with the bad news: the factory’s fake Colt .44s have been discovered. Wyndham-Matson feels that Frank and Ed are behind this snafu, but he...
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Chapter 9
...of the forged antiques. He is still deeply troubled by the discovery of the fake Colt .44 , which implicates not just U.S. history but also his own history. “As if,” he...
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...“with these,” he realizes, “there’s no problem of authenticity.” As the incident with the fake Colt .44 proves, the authenticity problem may one day destroy the antiques industry.
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Chapter 12
...War-era Colt .44 from his desk, to Baynes’s and Tedeki’s surprise. Tagomi explains that the gun is part of his personal collection, but that he sometimes practices shooting it for fun....
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Chapter 14
...contains the Colt .44, because after the incident with the Kommando squad he carries the gun everywhere with him.
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Tagomi wonders if perhaps separating himself from the gun will allow him to return to his former “delighted attitude.” Tagomi takes faith in the...
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However, when Tagomi tries to exchange the Colt .44 , Childan grows cold and refuses to take it. Before Tagomi can leave, Childan takes...
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...pedicabs in the street—if there are not, Tagomi decides he will kill himself using the Colt .44 . However, the boys come back and announce that there are many pedicabs in the...
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