November 10, 2009 Literary Arts

A Jihad that goes nowhere

Portrait of a man’s mental illness missing something

by Simon Liem

Images like a baby holding a pistol to its face begin each chapter.

The Jihadist is a portrait of a troubled young man trying to reconcile himself with what he views to be a depraved world.

Inigo, the titular jihadist, is lonely and angry. He resents his mocking co-workers and feels no connection to the people around him, only contempt. He takes solace in listening to street preachers condemn sinners.

We learn that Inigo lost his mother as a child and was neglected by his father. He was and is a quiet boy, always misunderstood. Now he struggles to find a light in his darkness.

The character brings to mind Travis Bickle from Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. Both are angry men who cannot come to terms with society. Unfortunately, the complexities that made Bickle fascinating are not fully developed in Inigo. Bickle’s awkward flirting with women is charming and we identify with his desire to save a young prostitute from the streets, but his anger and inner dialogue terrify us.Author Emery More attempts to create a similar tension in Inigo, but is unable to produce the same effect, with his character ultimately coming off as one-dimensional.

Inigo is praised as being handsome, dignified and intriguing to women, but when More hints at Inigo’s mental and social problems, the language he chooses betrays his intentions. The ornate narration of Inigo’s paranoia almost gives it an air of nobility.

Inigo’s inconsistencies could have been redeemed by the context he was placed in, but the world More created for him is not believable. The peripheral people in the story—his co-workers and an innocent young girl—are designed to play to Inigo’s worldview and do nothing to challenge him.

One would think that such a controversial title would play some part in the book, but throughout the story there are no direct references to jihad and Inigo’s name—one of Spanish and English origin—has no apparent connection to Islam.

The reader’s immersion in the book is also hampered by confusing punctuation and visual art. The text is filled with colons and ellipses that stutter the rhythm of the prose, making it difficult to stay comfortable while reading. Pictures, including images of artifacts from the National Museum of Afghanistan and a baby holding a pistol to its face, begin each chapter. If they have any direct reference to the story, it is very difficult to tell and ultimately they are distracting.

Travis Bickle is proof that characters like Inigo can be engaging, but they need to exist within the right atmosphere to be complete.

If More can only rein in his prose and tailor his tone to be more appropriate to the world and characters he is trying to construct, he would be much more successful in creating a believable portrait of a man’s mental illness.

The Jihadist
Emery More
8th House Publishing
96 pp
$15.88