Zulus Alphabetical Structure

In Percival Everett 's Zulus, a clear alphabetical order makes up the format of the book, seen through each lettered chapter. This order is similar to that of an archival structure. Murfin and Ray 's Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms archives its information in a similar abecedarian format. Similar to Zulus, The Bedford also applies a clear alphabetical structure. However, unlike Zulus, it is impossible to read The Bedford as though it were an actual story. Page one starts off with the word “Absence: the idea that authors are not present in texts”. The next word is “Abstract: terms and statements describing ideas, concepts or qualities”. Reading The Bedford as though it were a story would be absurd. Accordingly, reading Zulus …show more content…
Going against such structures must occur in order for creative and humane thought to continuously exist, develop, and flourish. Everett strengthens this point through not only the imaginative story he tells, but he shows resistance to such order through consistent grammatical errors, irrelevant paratexts, a chaotic storyline and character choices, and the overall theme of rebellion. All of this juxtaposes the alphabetization seen throughout the book and the assumption of perfection in publication; also enforcing the point of opposition to order. In order to better understand the overarching theme of rebellion throughout Zulus, it is necessary to outline the book not as a whole, but based on each instance of rebellion. The story starts off unpleasantly, as Alice gets raped by a drifter, causing her to become pregnant: “The man ran out through the back door”, “now crying and smiling and knowing that she [Alice] was pregnant” (page 11). Newly pregnant Alice Achitophel first shows signs of outward rebelliousness after dismantling her neighbor, Mrs. Landers’, antennae. Alice gets