From Housewives to Republicans

Phillip K. Dick's use of stereotyping played a significant role in his political critique in the short story, "The Chromium Fence". There is a clear relation that the government in the story has with our own. There is a dichotomy between the Purists and the Naturalists, while we have our own Democrats and Republicans. People taking the stance of the Naturalist party is described as those with bad manners, who smell, and who sweat. Those in the Purist party are clean-shaven, have no bad breath, and have had their sweat glands removed.With our own two parties, the Democrats take on the northern side of the country while the Republicans dominate the southern half. During the Civil War era, the North was the foundation of industrial regions, while the South was typically farmland. There is a big difference in their respective ways of life. The North had more technology, while the South leaned on hard-labor and sweat.

The fact that no one could take the qualifying stance was interesting because those who do not vote were punished. In the modern day, those who do not vote are still punished. Peers who take stances wonder how one could be so indifferent about "the future of the country" and they assume that because they did not share a similar stance, that indifference inherently helped the other side, just like in "The Chromium Fence".