Tag Archives: The Turner Diaries

A Manifesto for the Paranoid Mind

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In this class thus far, we have read and viewed some troubling things, but none on par with The Turner Diaries.  After reading some of it a few days back, I thought of that, and of course the reason, for myself at least, is the original-source nature of such a text (not sure if this is the correct terminology): this is not a text about anything, but rather was meant, to some people at least, to be a sort of manifesto.  In some cases, the Oklahoma City bombing notably, the manifesto was carried out.  Reading such a text as this can be quite disturbing, but ultimately, it teaches in a way a review, or other scholarly or journalistic work on a text cannot: it forces direct confrontation with such disturbing ideas, with no distance allowed, just the raw message, not distilled by a third party for easier consumption. Continue reading →

The Sacrifice of Dissociative Identity and a Sympathetic Response

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Last week, I posted about the ways I noticed Earl Turner falling into the identity of a dissociated, paranoid fundamentalist. I can’t say I was shocked by the fact that throughout the last half of The Turner Diaries  Earl only became more dissociated, remorseless, and absolute in his dualistic mindset, but it is so hard for me to imagine thinking or feeling the ways he expresses feeling that I had a difficult time processing everything I was reading. Furthermore, I was constantly reminded that this book is the creative work from the imagination of Andrew Macdonald. I still cannot believe that this imagining represents what he believed would be the means by which an ideal world would come into being. Continue reading →

Apocalyptic War

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The Turner Diaries presents very interesting insight into the networks of apocalyptic groups. Its details and progression allows us to juxtapose the policies of the two opposing sides, and provides an opportunity for more thorough evaluation of the two extremities of this apocalypse-ridden storyline.
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Who is Earl Turner?

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It seems that our stopping point for the first week of reading the Turner Diaries was the perfect break point – right before the trauma (being arrested, beaten and tortured for a year) that cements Earl’s disassociation. The issues of sexuality that so struck me while reading the first part of the Turner Diaries seemed to fall away given the massive, gruesome scale of the violence perpetrated by the Organization and Earl himself (though it was certainly still evident in statements such as “womanly handwringing” (77)). Continue reading →

Apocalyptic Rhetoric in “The Turner Diaries”

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One of the points of contention during the discussion for “Colossus: The Forbin Project” was whether the movie explored a realistic fear of the dangers of technology or whether the sci-fi trope of computers gone wild was merely a lens through which to examine the human condition. In our class, for example, we focus less on the actual details of the apocalypse in the various media we study and more on what apocalyptic belief reveals about human fears and anxieties. I found that sort of critical detachment not only useful, but necessary while reading The Turner Diaries. I know that there is an idiom along the lines of forewarned is forearmed, but I still wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of racist ideology. I have never before been exposed to unfiltered extreme right wing rhetoric and I never realized how deep the hatred cuts.

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Trigger-happy Humans

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The Turner Diaries offers a unique perspective in comparison to the other apocalyptic stories we’ve read/watched thus far. Written as several journal entries, it brings us directly into the mind of a fundamentalist, Earl, who serves as our only biased source of information. This piece of historical fiction seems much like what a delusional, racist, paranoid fundamentalist would have imagined would result from the Civil Rights Movement – an apocalypse. Continue reading →

Rabbit-Frogs and Lukewarm Christians

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Well, I can’t say I wasn’t warned about the Turner Diaries. From the introduction of the book to discussions in class, we were all sufficiently cautioned about the hatred that pervades the text. Nonetheless, it is still an important piece to analyze and what do you know? There is apocalyptic thought woven throughout. Continue reading →

Paranoid Progression

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The Turner Diaries offers truly fascinating, though incredibly difficult to imagine, insight into the dissociated and dualistic mind of a paranoid, fundamentalist. From the beginning of the novel it is evident that religious thought is working underneath what looks like an entirely politically themed plot. As I neared the end of the first section of the novel, I was actually very surprised at how completely religious the book began to sound. As Earl becomes more immersed in his role for the Organization we see the story shift from that of an impassioned bigot into the story of a fundamentalist soldier for the “army of God,” in his case the “army” for the Organization/Order. Continue reading →

From Page to Screen

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The Turner Diaries, by Andrew Macdonald, and the film, “The Forbin Project” offer insight into a unique apocalyptic experience. They deal with controversial issues, which can have consequences of epic proportions, as we later learn. I find that the controversy excites very narrowly defined extremes, and it is these exact ramifications that encompass the truth and individuality consistent with apocalyptic nature.
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