Hell is Empty
Date
2017-06-15
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Publisher
MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa
Abstract
Hell Is Empty reinterprets Arthurian myths by setting them in the world of drug
cartels. The title originates from The Tempest, a play often analyzed through a postcolonial
lens. In Hell Is Empty, different narrators explore America’s imperial conflicts
using Europe’s own legends.
Lance (Lancelot) lives near Big Bend in West Texas. Alarmed by border violence,
he joins a vigilante group that hunts down drug traffickers and cartel scouts. Its leader, a
Mexican-American named Arturo, does not reveal much about his past; but a powerful
cartel has a mysterious vendetta against him.
Across the border, Porter (Palamedes), the son of the vigilantes’ patron, visits the
ruins of Teotihuacán. He and his cousin, Tristán, seek an underground MMA ring that
competes in one of the ancient courtyards. During their search, they vie for the affections
of a Mexican archaeologist named Izarra.
Meanwhile in Alaska, Texan native Evelyn (Lynette) is trying to escape her home
state. Yet even in this distant land, problems pursue her. The same cartel sends scouts to
establish an Alaskan crystal meth trade, and one takes a twisted interest in Evelyn.
In Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, the Grail bears the following engraving:
“Any Templar appointed by God’s hand to be master over foreign folk must forbid the
asking of name or race and help them to their rights.” As Joseph Campbell points out, this
early Arthurian myth actually affirms universal dignity. Hell is Empty thus examines
what happens when colonialism attacks these unalienable rights.
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Keywords
Novel, Adaptation, Arthurian myth, Drug cartels, America