Imaginary Futures

When protest, occupation, and civil unrest crippled a capital city and, to some extent, crippled a nation, Mavis Gallant began to chronicle the moment so that she might work out something of a “theory of siege psychosis.” She watched as confusing if not conflicting demands were made of a government many thought had lost its way. She questioned the executive’s response to a multi-faceted crisis while showing qualified sympathy for a beleaguered leader. She contemplated the changing meaning of a nation’s flag, as demonstrators co‑opted it for their own purposes. And she tried to understand those who defiled the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, those who had forgotten the sacrifices made for such freedoms of expression. “They remind me of children who keep insisting they are not sleepy,” she said of some who had taken control of the streets, “when in reality they are virtually asleep on the carpet.”