The illusive nature of reality is one of the primary themes of this novel. Don explicitly tells Richard that his supernatural powers are all illusions. He claims that all of reality is an illusion that people are free to manipulate, but only if they are able to accept the illusion. Don often teaches through analogies, and he uses movies as an example of a person’s potential to accept new illusions and reality. The immersive feelings people have when watching a movie are the foundational actions for letting go of the limitations of reality. When Richard is able to immerse himself in Don’s philosophies and truly let go of the limitations set by his own reality, then he is able to manipulate the illusions that constitute his reality.

Richard comes to learn that his limitations are the illusion. The Messiah’s Handbook warns Richard against arguing for his own limitations and seeing the world in either-or terms. Richard’s initial beliefs that the world operates on logic closed him off to Don’s philosophies. When Richard dismisses the levitating wrench as a party trick and ignores Don’s insight into his dreams, he is reinforcing the limits he learned from society. He cannot truly reach enlightenment until he abandons these limits and opens himself up to believing in the impossible.