Reading from Selected Short Stories of Phillip K. Dick introduced by Jonathan Lethem, pages 15-50

This novelette explores time travel from the perspective of its impossibility. As sci-fi of its time Dick’s treatment is well conceived. But the narrative execution is hollow, with virtually no characterization. In a sense this makes Paycheck a perfect example of classic science-fiction in that the genre was all about the ‘idea’, in this case the idea that Time could be impinged upon, but not travelled through.

The absence of characterization and the lack of artifacts—like clothing, and hence style—does prevent the story from being dated on some levels, imparting a sense of timelessness. Also, the shallow characterization does preserve the purity of the idea, as if suspended in Time, like the key to Mister Jennings’ survival after he discovers that he exchanged 2 years pay for a small cloth sack of trinkets without even a memory of his term of employment left to him, just this ‘little assortment of items’ ‘held in his palm.’