Gideon the Ninth

Stories featuring LGBTQ+ characters as their protagonists are often expected to deliver happy endings due to the real-life oppression of LGBTQ+ people. What is the significance of Muir deciding to create a world where anti-LGBTQ+ biases never existed, yet give her characters such sad endings?

Gideon the Ninth exists in a world with rich lore, magic systems, and history. Little of this is directly conveyed to the audience because the perspective character, Gideon, is ignorant of the world at large. What effect do you think Muir intends with this storytelling technique? Is it effective? Why or why not?

The Emperor appears very briefly in the Epilogue. He has a “ridiculously ordinary” face but his eyes look like the void of space (407). Every character in Gideon has a particularly striking visual motif: Harrow is a doom and gloom necromancer in all black, Naberius is a recognizably pompous and elite cavalier, etc. What, in your opinion, is Muir trying to communicate by making the man who became God look plain and nondescript? What is the significance of his eyes marking him out?

How does Cytherea’s betrayal of the Emperor complicate her 10,000-year-long sacrifice? The Emperor, when he learns about her actions, still speaks affectionately about her. What do you think Muir is trying to communicate about duty and sacrifice through Cytherea?

Gideon does very little for the first few weeks in Canaan House. She eats food, wanders the halls, and meets people whom she cannot speak to. She also visits several important rooms, such as the atrium, the pool, and the dining hall. Why do you think Muir introduces us to Canaan House and its characters like this?

How are the LGBTQ+ relationships and allegories in Gideon complicated by the genres in which Muir writes? How do they interact with the themes of Christian doctrine and the motifs of Catholic aesthetics? Cite specific examples when considering how these elements interact.

How does free and indirect discourse shape the narrative? Look for specific passages and imagine how they might be re-told if the narrator did not “dip” into Gideon’s head. Why does Muir choose to tell the story like this instead of from the first-person perspective of Gideon?

The inclusion of memes and present-day pop culture references in Gideon is often noted. Some readers love them, and others hate them, but they are attention catching either way. What sort of statement is Muir making about literature by including highbrow references to the Bible next to memes? What does her irreverent treatment of allusions bring to the novel?