Indecision
When I started reading Indecision I expected it to be another novel with dystopian themes and ideas about terrorism. However, I found this book to be less about terror and more about our ignorance to its existence. It seems like the main character Dwight is immune to the terrorism around him. 9/11 is an event that occurred, but it doesn’t seem to scare him or bother him. It seemed surprising that he could watch the 9/11 events as they occurred, and yet be so un-phased by what was going on. He goes on with his life—frivolously taking drugs and living without a sense of care to the outside world. In Ecuador, too, Dwight is oblivious to the hardships and poverty that define the lives of the Ecuadorian people. It isn’t until the end of the book that he finally seems to gain some realization about the terror in which poor people in Latin America must live. I felt like this book was somewhat of a critique on the selfish American culture. Terrorism doesn’t even bother the average American to the degree that it should. People go on living their lives without really thinking about the implications of terrorism in the modern day. Dwight continually mentions 9/11, but it seems like just an event that occurred and nothing more. Since it didn’t specifically affect him, he seems immune to the terror of the event. What happens if people ignore terrorism? I feel like in part what makes terrorism so scary is its psychological effects on people. So, if people can just blindly put the knowledge that we are living in an era of terrorism, then does it can it continue to be as terrifying? Is It bad that people go on living their lives, instead of living in fear of terrorism or trying to find a way to combat it?
Holler wrote:
This perhaps is a red herring comment, but although terrorism plays a minor role in exposing the Dwight’s often drug-induced otherworldly ramblings (and existence), Indecision does not really incorporate terrorism explicitly as a theme. The (non)response to 9/11 albeit partially due to ecstasy shows the type of hallucinogenic dystopia Dwight lives in. His world blurs reality with narcosis, placebo with medicine, natural and artificial. Dwight’s “democratic socialist” rants uniquely relate his chronic indecision and new-found decisiveness if it can be called such. His dystopia generally does not correlate to the terror -ism driven dystopias of past texts. We should clearly delineate that dystopia does not presuppose terrorism, although often it does include terror. Dwight’s certain incorporates terror, understated terror, maybe only mild, repressed fear, but regardless some anxiety (and a willingness to contemplate suicide) that results from his dystopic wanderings.
Posted 29 Nov 2007 at 10:11 pm ¶
Samantha wrote:
I agree that it’s important to delineate between dystopia and the existence of terrorism. One does not necessarily imply the other. However, I was wondering what makes this book dystopian. Is it just a dystopian life for Dwight in the beginning? Or is Kunkel commenting on the society as a whole? I’m actually not sure that I consider this novel dystopian at all, and I was wondering, like Sean said at the end of class on Friday, what everyone else thought. Just one of my thoughts: is it possible to live a dystopian existence in a non-dystopian society?
Posted 01 Dec 2007 at 11:05 pm ¶