Percival Everett’s, Zulu, has been one of the most interesting books that I have read so far since arriving at this college. I had never before read a book with these seemingly irrelevant, but most certainly important chapter titles. Reading all the names from various time periods and various stretches of life makes one think about where he or she first learned of them. Reading names such as Plato, Solomon, Napoleon, Hades, etc. made me stop in my train of thought and go, “Oh I know this person” and, “I read about so-and-so or read so-and-so’s work.” It was like a little light bulb was going off in my mind each time I read a name I recognized.
At first I saw no relation between these little page headers and the rest of the chapter, however, I did know they had to be there for some reason. All of these various authors, philosophers, cultural characters, etc. had to be from somewhere and their lives had to be intertwined with this book in some way. It wouldn’t make sense to talk about these people whom the reader may or may not know without having some sort of reason. Today’s class exercise helped me to see the interdisciplinarity between the references in the chapter heading and the rest of the book. Talking about this in class with everyone really helped me to clear my head get outside ideas flowing in.
After doing further reading into the book, all the bits and pieces started to fall into place. All of the references to biblical characters could be insinuating Alice’s baby as the new child of God; the miracle child to help bring people hope for a better future. The government wanting the child dead as it could destroy their power structure and the rebels coveting the child as their new, possible religious icon. The references to philosophical leaders could be the author pointing out that Alice questions why she has been put in this situation. That she questions why she was raped and given this baby and if she even wanted this child to grow up in this horrible world. Everything is written for a reason and figuring it out is all part of the fun.