Triggering the Atonists
Mumbo Jumbo. A phrase we have all heard throughout our lives to describe gibberish, nonsense, and the ridiculous. As a extremely stigmatized term, I wonder: why would Ishmael Reed use it to name his novel? In fact, for someone who seems to be trying to destigmatize a lot of the things in his book, why would he seemingly make his novel so much more confusing for readers who have probably never heard these terms before? I think the answer has been right in front of us the whole time: he's trying to weed out the atonists. Now, hear me out. In the context of the novel, a possible explanation is that the atonists are purposefully trying to delegitimize the book by adding in typos, making it seem more confusing, etc. But let's take it outside of that context for a second. What is Reed's actual reason for making everything so confusing? I think it's to both weed out and anger the atonists, the enemy. What would be an atonists worst nightmare? A nove...