Essay Questions

Explore the character of Thivai as brought out in Kathy Acker’s Empire of the Senseless.

Thivai is visionary. While a lot of things go wrong in his life, Thivai dreams of one day being a pirate. He is also a murderer and a terrorist. Thivai murders his mother after which he joins his father in prison. After his release, he continues to be a terrorist as does his love-interest, Abhor. Thivai is also suicidal as well as an irrational individual. When he learns that Abhor is not interested in becoming a pirate as he does, he informs the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) about Abhor’s location after which she is captured and put in a prison seeing as she is a wanted terrorist. In this way, some of the character traits exhibited by Thivai are brought out.

How is sexual abuse brought out in Empire of the Senseless?

As the novel sets off, the writer employs the point of view of Thivai to describe his life as well as the life of Abhor, a woman who is half robot and half-human. Through this narration, the reader’s attention is drawn in on the rape that Abhor had suffered previously. This becomes one of the instances in the work in which sexual molestation is brought out. Later, after the Algerians take over Paris, Thivai is imprisoned. Soon after his release, he is raped by a man before he reunites with his love, Abhor. Sexual abuse of both genders becomes quite a theme explicitly presented in this novel.

How is irony brought out in Empire of the Senseless with particular attention on the relationship between Thivai and Abhor?

Empire of the Senseless follows the lives of the characters, Thivai and Abhor who are the main characters. Thivai grows to like and eventually falls in love with Abhor. Even though Thivai loves Abhor when she brings to his attention the fact that she is not interested in being a pirate, contrary to Thivai’s expectations. An instance of irony is brought forth through Thivai’s irrational decision to inform the CIA of Abhor’s location after which she is arrested since she had been a wanted terrorist. While this action is in line with the title of the work, it does not make sense that a person who loves another would work against them. Because of the love that Thivai has for Abhor, it would be expected that he supports her decision of not being a pirate. In this way, this forms a great part of the irony of the relationship between Thivai and Abhor.