Summary

Chapter 9 is composed of a series of tweets that discuss the upcoming election. While some accounts excitedly predict that “Tuvy will win by overwhelming majority,” others argue, “we need new leaders” (164). Many accounts acknowledge that “the Opposition has upper hand” (165). Some Jidadans discuss the potential for electoral fraud on Tuvy’s part.

The Old Horse wanders around Jidada, disguised as an old woman. He talks with several vendors and expresses deep incomprehension at the country’s poverty and general squalor. He leads an apparent “procession” (172) of dead Comrades to a school, where he observes several girls making sexual jokes. Aghast at this lewdness, the Old Horse enters a classroom and attempts to exert control over the students. Although the Old Horse was once a teacher, the students refuse to listen to him. The Old Horse later gallops along a railway and imagines “Jidada...