Wyndam-Matson and Rita

Wyndam-Matson and Rita form a relationship that, while brief, serves as a sharp lens on the novel's central themes of power, authenticity, and moral decay. Wyndam-Matson, the wealthy owner of W-M Corporation, is introduced as a man of considerable influence but dubious character, while Rita, a young woman visiting his apartment, becomes the audience for his most revealing—and damning—philosophical performance. Their encounter, set against the backdrop of a late-night phone call about forged Civil War artifacts, exposes the cynical mechanics of the art market and the emptiness of the man who profits from it.

The Encounter and Its Setting

The relationship unfolds in a single, charged scene in Wyndam-Matson's apartment at the Muromachi Hotel. The evening is interrupted by a phone call from Ray Calvin, a wholesaler, who reports that a customer—Robert Childan—has discovered that a Colt .44 revolver supplied by W-M Corporation is a fake. Wyndam-Matson, initially puzzled, quickly suspects his former employees Frank Frink and Ed McCarthy, whom he believes are behind the exposure. Rita, who has been listening from the bedroom in a black silk slip, urges him to call the police, but Wyndam-Matson dismisses the idea, preferring to pay off the men rather than risk legal complications. This moment reveals the casual corruption at the heart of his business: he is accustomed to paying people off as part of his overhead, and he even contemplates using Frink's Jewish identity as leverage, threatening to notify the German consul and have him extradited to the Reich.

The Historicity Demonstration

Seeking to justify his indifference to the forgery scandal, Wyndam-Matson launches into a philosophical monologue about 'historicity.' He produces two Zippo lighters, claiming one was in Franklin D. Roosevelt's pocket when he was assassinated and is worth forty or fifty thousand dollars, while the other is worthless. He challenges Rita to feel the difference, insisting that there is no 'mystical plasmic presence' or 'aura' distinguishing them. The value, he argues, lies not in the object itself but in the mind and in documents of authenticity. He retrieves a framed certificate from the Smithsonian Institution to prove his point, but the demonstration backfires. Rita, instead of being impressed, becomes pensive and withdrawn, and she asks to leave. Wyndam-Matson's attempt to reduce all value to a cynical game of perception fails to convince her; it only reveals the moral void at the center of his worldview.

Rita's Discomfort and Departure

Rita's reaction to the demonstration is telling. She is not swayed by Wyndam-Matson's logic; instead, she seems saddened and disturbed. When he asks if she can feel the historicity, she responds with a simple question: 'What is historicity?' Her subsequent silence and her request to leave suggest that she perceives the emptiness behind his philosophy. Wyndam-Matson, frustrated by her lack of engagement, tries to explain further, but Rita's mind is elsewhere. She notices a book on his shelf, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, and tells him he should read it. When he dismisses it as popular fiction, she reveals that it is a story about war, and that its author, Hawthorne Abendsen, shares the same theory as her parents: that if Franklin D. Roosevelt had survived the assassination attempt, he would have led America to victory in World War II. Wyndam-Matson scoffs at the idea, but Rita's earnestness and her reference to the book's alternate history plant a seed of doubt about the inevitability of the Axis victory.

The Drive and the Argument

As Wyndam-Matson drives Rita home in his Mercedes-Benz, the conversation continues. Rita, animated by the book, explains Abendsen's theory in detail: Roosevelt's survival would have led to a stronger America, a different outcome in the Pacific, and ultimately an Allied victory. Wyndam-Matson dismisses her arguments with condescension, insisting that no strategy could have defeated Erwin Rommel and that Japan's victory was destined. He even claims to have met Rommel in New York in 1948, though he only saw him at a distance. The argument reveals a fundamental divide between them: Rita is open to the possibility of a different world, while Wyndam-Matson is entrenched in the cynical acceptance of the status quo. His praise of Albert Speer and his dismissal of the concentration camps as a necessary part of the Reich's efficiency further alienate Rita, who finds his callousness repugnant.

The Significance of the Relationship

The relationship between Wyndam-Matson and Rita is significant not for its duration but for what it reveals. Wyndam-Matson's attempt to seduce Rita with his wealth and his philosophy fails because he cannot offer her anything of genuine value. His 'historicity' demonstration, meant to impress, only exposes his moral bankruptcy. Rita's departure, and her parting reference to The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, foreshadows the novel's central question: what if the world had been different? Her discomfort with Wyndam-Matson's worldview mirrors the reader's own unease with the novel's dystopian setting. The scene also establishes Wyndam-Matson as a figure of corruption and cynicism, whose power is built on forgery and exploitation, and whose relationships are as hollow as the artifacts he sells. Rita, though a minor character, serves as a moral counterpoint, her brief presence highlighting the emptiness of Wyndam-Matson's world and the possibility of a different, more hopeful reality.