Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk
Pygmy: “Begins here first account of operative me, agent number 67 on arrival Midwestern American airport greater _____ area. Flight ___. Date ___. Priority mission top success to complete. Code name: Operative Havoc.” Thus speaks Pygmy, one of a handful of young adults from a totalitarian state sent to the United States, disguised as exchange students, to live with typical American families and blend in, all the while planning an unspecified act of massive terrorism. Palahniuk depicts Midwestern life through the eyes of this thoroughle indoctrinated little killer, who hates us with a passion, in this cunning double-edged satire of an American xenophobia that might, in fact, be completely justified. For Pygmy and his fellow operatives are cooking up something big, something truly awful, that will bring this dumb country and its fat dumb inhabitants to their knees. It’s a comedy. And a romance.
Chuck Palahniuk. Always attempting to push the boundaries of what society deems acceptable, forever willing to explore and expose the dark, the macabre, the unmentionables hiding in the undergrowth of contemporary society. From masculine rage against the capitalist machine, to travelogues of the weird and wonderful in Portland, Oregon, to that horrifying moment of realization in “Guts“, he always manages to deliver an engrossing – heavy emphasis on the gross – highly enjoyable read. I wouldn’t claim him as one of my favourite authors, but I have enjoyed everything of his that I have read. I am in the middle of a Palahniuk binge, catching up on his books that I’ve missed out on over the years.
The first stop on this binge of the perverse is his most recent release, Pygmy. A thirteen year old unnamed operative agent from an unnamed totalitarian state is sent to the United States under the guise of being an exchange student. Through a series of dispatches told in unique pidgin English, he unveils his state sanctioned purpose of unleashing Operation Havoc upon America. The voice may be seen as a gimmick or distraction, but I found it rhythmic and managed to adapt to it quicker than expected. It is like reading an awkward Babelfish translation from English to another language and then spat back out in a mangled form of what only vaguely resembles English. There were some moments where I had to go back reread sentences once I had grasped what exactly Pygmy was talking about – that moment of illumination once it becomes clearer is satisfying.
“Along returning journey, encounter frequent memorial honoring American battle warrior, great officer similar Lenin. Many vast mural depicting most savvy United State war hero. Rotating statue. Looming visage noble American colonel. Courageous, renown of history, Colonel Sanders, image forever accompanied odor of sacrificial meat. Eternal flame offering wind savory perfume roasted flesh.”
Pygmy is incorporated into the decidedly American routines of the host family – those of the religious-like shopping experience, of the reproductive rituals of teen dating, of the consumption of religious values in church and school – and by showing these regular events through outsider eyes and language, Palahniuk makes them unusual, surreal occurrences that do not make much sense, highlighting just how meaning is arbitrary and culturally defined. Here, Pygmy takes part in a game of dodgeball:
“Immediate all student bidding for this agent warrior among team, beseeching accompany into battle of inflated latex bladders. Forced settle dispute using traditional ritual hurtling monetary coin at roof, allow final position of tumbling coin to decide: heads or tails. In capitalist nation, all is decided by money. Beyond this agent, each army assembled conscripting best physical specimen. Armies take position opposite walls gymnasium. Provisioned equal quantity inflated bladder.”
There is always the undercurrent of Palahniukian terror, violence and destruction but it is made comical and ridiculous by the bizarre and creative language. At the dénouement, there is a strong link to be made between Pygmy’s newfound attachment to his host family and country and the speech he delivers to Trevor, the bully who falls in love with Pygmy after he has violently attacked him. “No able accept how possessed of no power, helpless, so reaction bonded alliance with aggressor. Form identity with oppressor. Typical victim psychology mechanism. […] Cruel thrash become replace genuine gesture of familial affection. Violence synonymous love.” Politically controversial, of course, but an interesting consideration.
Throughout Pygmy, Palahniuk presents an indictment of capitalism through the eyes of those positioned outside of it, but simultaneously offers a celebration of the inherent weirdness and contradictions evident in such a society.
2009, book review, Chuck Palahniuk, fiction, Pygmy, September 2009