Hamlets at the Ballot Box

Andy at Among the Ruins has a post on the dilemma of voting, using Walker Percy’s novel The Moviegoer as his jumping-off point:

I just finished re-reading Walker Percy’s novel, The Moviegoer. It’s been an extremely edifying read – especially since I was guided by an extremely competent literary critic this time.

I now resonate even more deeply with Percy’s protagonist: the modern-day Hamlet, world-weary suburban playboy, Binx Bolling. I’m currently deliberating over doctoral programs (both where and what to study – assuming I’m accepted). Like Binx, vocational clarity eludes me – and it almost always has. Unlike Binx, I’m excessively scrupulous about Doing The Right Thing….

From the other direction but with the same sentiment, the authors of The Ivy Bush enlist Papa Luther in their cause by urging any and all fenceriders to “sin boldly” and help get out the vote for Kerry. (A reminder I could always use. I have a feeling Luther’s advice to me during one of my recurring Big Decision crises would be: “Less oh-so-earnest prayer; more beer.”)

It’s hard to absorb the force of these attacks. I suppose since I live in a state whose electoral votes aren’t even slightly up for grabs, I have the luxury of thinking about voting (or not voting) as my chance to make a clear statement for what’s good and true.

Unlike Andy, I don’t even have the luxury of living in a non-battleground state! But I particularly like the invocation of Luther.