Essay Questions

Although published almost exactly three months to the day after the inauguration, how does the Trump administration loom over the narrative?

Early on, the narrator muses over the psychology of why democracies turn to authoritarian leaders during times of crisis, suggesting that it comes down to the simplest of psychological motivations: fearful children desiring a protective father, no matter the consequences. The character of Jean de Men is one such leader and the particular specifics of his rise to power, characterized as "a journey from opportunistic showman to worshipped celebrity, to billionaire, to fascistic power monger" is chilling in the prescient way it completes the then-still-unknown final chapter of Donald Trump's inexplicably successful life.

By the time the story ends, why does the quote from Marguerite Duras in the epigraph which opens the novel seem confusing?

The quote from Duras is as follows: "Heterosexuality is dangerous. It tempts you to aim at a perfect duality of desire." The natural response to such a concept given prominence as a quote in the epigraph is the expectation that story at hand will examine, at least thematically, the idea expressed here. While issues related to gender are at the center of the narrative, the expected link between gender and sexuality is all but missing. More to the point is that the one thing that one is led to expect is missing entirely. The quote from Duras creates a certain expectation that alternatives to heterosexuality will be explored. Instead, for the most part, the narrative is dominated by comrades of the narrator who are described, in the words of the narrator, as "sexless, but filled with...repressed energy" they have no idea how to channel.

What is the significance of the opening line of Chapter One?

Following a one-page Prologue which basically catalogues the cosmic cataclysms which preceded the most recent example, Chapter One kicks off with a one-sentence paragraph: "Burning is an art." It is the type of opening line that is intended to immediately set a mood or tone relative to the specifics of setting. Obviously, there is no context provided in that sentence to suggest anything at all, and thus the only connection one can make is from personal experience. But since the reader is almost certainly already aware that this is a story taking place in a strange future, the odds of most people's personal experience hitting the bullseye of determining meaning are pretty low. Especially since the burning references a new form of artistic expression related to tattooing called electrosurgical branding which literally vaporizes the skin. This new art form will prove to be of great significance to the story.