Invitation to a Beheading

Throughout Invitation to a Beheading, Cincinnatus cannot help but notice the displacement of objects in the world around him. From light fixtures to flowers to the scaffolding that is built in Thriller Square, nothing is quite where it should be. This displacement is illustrative of the way in which Cincinnatus is out of step with the world around him. Nothing conforms to Cincinnatus’s expectations, which compels Cincinnatus to wonder whether he is suited to this society.

Although the displacement is not materially harmful to him, he comes to experience it as a kind of psychological torture. For instance, he feels as though Rodion is placing the flowers slightly off center on purpose to spite him. The Irrational Bureaucracy of the court system, Pierre’s deception, and the threat of execution are the most obvious ways in which Cincinnatus is persecuted by the state, but even minor aggressions and inconsistencies accumulate to create an atmosphere of harassment and paranoia. That he feels as though the prison light system was designed purposefully to aggravate him is illustrative of Cincinnatus’s psychological disposition, but it also illustrative of the society in which he lives. A world that has condemned Cincinnatus to death for such vague, nonsensical reasons is a world conceivably capable of adjusting such minor details to persecute Cincinnatus.