Let us over-look, for the time being, the myriad inaccuracies of Ovoid life foisted upon an unsuspecting public by the author of 'Ovoid, Illinois'. Let us, instead, appraise the over-all tenor of the book.
One cannot but be struck by the thought that this is an immodestly inveiled inveiglement against authority and authority figures. It reeks of anti-establishmentarianism from the first word to the last.This flimsy narrative extolls anarchy and the dissolution of society time and again by relating incidents of revolution against civic, religious, educational and familial leaders. The dark anti-heroes of the story, Cheryl-Jean, Duncan, Daedelus, Mylo, Gene and their cohorts all rebel unconscionably against their betters.
Cheryl-Jean defies her loving, doting parents; even defying the very laws of nature with self-delusion.
Duncan refutes the decision of the school administrators.
Daedelus challenges every aspect of modern life, even the most fundamental.
Mylo blasphemes against Jesus and the teachings of Christianity.
Gene plans on nothing less than a megalomaniac take-over of society at large.
As these characters rabble rouse and spout their ill-conceived personal pseudo-philosophies, the others populating this thin screed to social disorder, are swept up in emotionally charged rhetoric of unbridled, unrestrained self-determinism.
Taken as a whole, this is nothing less than invocation to anarchy. Community leaders are reviled at every step. Public institutions are condemned as archaic. Long-standing conventions of social order are flouted and brushed aside as worthless. Patriotism is denigrated. Adherence to social mores is disdained. Respect for private property is undermined. The very fabric of society is rent and sundered to suit the whims of adolescent egos.
Clearly, what comes disguised as a nostalgic tale of simpler, more innocent days gone by is, in truth, a manifesto of anarchy and social dissolution written between the lines of banal prose.
There ought to be a law.
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