University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 2011 Hands of the Tyrants Micheal Laverty University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Laverty, Micheal, "Hands of the Tyrants" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 14. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/14 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. HANDS OF THE TYRANTS by Micheal Laverty A Creative Writing Project Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Department of English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2011 © 2011 Micheal Laverty Hands of the Tyrants by Micheal Laverty APPROVED BY: _________________________________________________________ L. Walsh Dramatic Arts _________________________________________________________ R. Douglass-Chin Department of English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing _______________________________________________________ K. Jirgens, Advisor Department of English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing ________________________________________________________ [Chair Name], Chair of Defence Department of English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing April 26, 2010 Author's Declaration of Originality I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of this thesis has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone's copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my thesis and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis, including any final revisions, as approved by my thesis committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree at another University or Institution. iii Abstract Hands of the Tyrants is a satirical novella featuring a protagonist (a CSIS agent named Lucas Young) who infiltrates a collective of performance and conceptual artists known as Apollo’s Army. Placed firmly in the literary tradition of Menippean satire, this novella offers the reader a mixture of prose and verse, extended dialogues and debates, multiple genres, absurd situations, and a journey—all of which equally satirize artists and the institutions they rely upon. Lucas’ initiation into the art world is a 21st century transposition of the adventures of his fictional ancestors: Alice, Candide, and Gulliver. In Hands of the Tyrants, a cross-country tour of Canada is told through two first-person narrators (Young and another agent, Dr. Pangloss) in the form of surveillance reports. The contrast between these characters and their reports becomes heightened as Lucas fails to distinguish the line between his assumed and actual identities. The object of satiric attack in this novella is the ironic relationship between avant-garde artists and a government which funds their artistic dissent. Although Hands of the Tyrants is set in Canada during the summer of 2010, it transcends this specific time and place by satirizing the universal vices of decadence, hypocrisy, and vanity. iv Dedication This novella is dedicated to Natalie and our beautiful son Isaac. Natalie, From talking me out of making this project hopelessly complicated before a single page was written to editing the final draft, you’ve blessed me with your patience, insight, and love. Isaac, Your limitless energy and happiness are the reason this work exists. Also, your performance art character, Tweets Paterson, has been especially inspiring for my creative process. v Acknowledgements I’m grateful for the guidance and encouragement I received from the following people: Karl Jirgens, my advisor, for being ruthless when presented with mediocrity, offering me an insider’s view of the Canadian arts scene (one informed by a healthy mixture of cynicism and reverence), and always urging me to take my humour to the next level. Richard Douglass-Chin and Lionel Walsh, my reading committee members, for reading initial drafts of my work. All my colleagues in the English Department, but especially Brianne O’Grady, Brian Jansen, Vic Kulinski, and Jeff Pardy, for their thorough edits and feedback. Susan Holbrook, my creative writing professor, for taking my head out of the cumulous clouds and planting my size 11 feet onto Sunset Avenue...also, for telling me to use more specific details. The 2010-11 Writer-in-Residence at the University of Windsor, Rosemary Nixon, for her encouraging words and critique during the final weeks of this project. My brother Matthew, for his inexcusable desire to institute a Canadian Monarchy, and never backing down in an argument...ever. My father, for being a gifted storyteller with impeccable taste in music. My mother, for raising a dreamer and being damned proud of that. And finally, My grandmother, for praising and publishing my plagiarised version of The Hungry Caterpillar. vi Table of Contents AUTHOR'S DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY iii ABSTRACT iv DEDICATION v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vi HANDS OF THE TYRANTS 1 AUTHOR’S STATEMENT 166 WORKS CITED 186 APPENDIX 2 190 VITA AUCTORIS 226 vii Preface: My ten years as director of the Freedom of Conscience Group provides me with the authority to identify this book as fully representing the mission of our organization, perhaps even our country: to perpetually fight for universal autonomy and equality within the boundaries defined by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A brief explanation in regards to the provenance of our sources is necessary for two reasons: to insulate ourselves against scrutiny and provide the reader with an entrance into this aberrant world. The following documents were delivered to our offices inside a large costume trunk (which also contained a megaphone, fragments of a broken guitar, protest placards bearing cryptic messages, and the casing from a spent bullet, among other debris). A typed message, taped to the inside of the lid, offered specific instructions on how to release this information to the public. This document is signed by a CSIS intelligence officer, Dr. Pangloss. We chose to ignore most of these stipulations as they required us to violate Canadian law and assemble the various reports through “Aleatoric Composition”—or random chance. Instead, we simply arranged the reports chronologically (to the best of our knowledge), but we were unwilling to release such highly confidential material. Fortunately, recent amendments to the Security of Information Act (SOIA) have allowed us to legally publish these once top-secret documents. Lucas Young, the primary author of these surveillance reports, is still missing after being discharged from CSIS over five years ago. Although the other reports (which describe Young and other members of Apollo’s Army) are attributed to Dr. Pangloss, 1 CSIS denies the existence of anyone operating under this code name. Critics of our organization (clearly biased given their connections to the federal government) have speculated that Young wrote everything found below; a computer analysis, however, reveals this to be improbable at best. After numerous inquiries into the events of 2010, both official and unofficial, many questions remain unanswered. The actions of Apollo’s Army still forge a division between the citizens of this country. After considerable expense to our financial resources, a lengthy legal battle, and years of patient preparation, we are finally ready to expose this information for public scrutiny. The manner in which our history books remember these artists is irrelevant; the final decision lies with the reader’s discretion. Gratefully Yours, Marcel Rheaume The Freedom of Conscience Group 2 π Surveillance Report 17417XH Operative: Dr. Pangloss. Location(s): Ottawa, ON. CSIS Headquarters, Interrogation Room 303. Date / Time: 19 May 2010. 2:41pm. As the first and only intelligence officer with direct access to Apollo’s Army (essentially as a low-ranking roadie), I’m conducting my initial evaluation of Lucas Young’s training; his reaction to being chosen for such a significant operation is of special