Geek Love

             In the book Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, Dunn displays the character Arty as .
             narcissistic, power hungry carnival freak. Arty's power allows him to accumulate a .
             large amount of respect over impressionable people, which later builds into his .
             Arturan cult. Arty's power, which is used purely in a selfish way, ultimately .
             brings the downfall of him and his carnival empire. In an extreme opposite, Dunn .
             portrays the character Chick as a child with almost limitless, telekinetic powers who is .
             kindhearted and a faithful servant to his family. Arty wields his power, in a .
             narcissistic, ill-hearted manner, over helpless weak minds, while Chick uses his power .
             in selflessness and in a pure heart for the good of his family.
             Just as many cults today Arty receives his power from the weak, hopeless .
             outcasts of society and those that are curious of what his Arturan cult stands for. Arty's .
             first source of power was Alma Witherspoon who had no family or friends. Alma, .
             heartbroken from a relationship that could not be, desired to be unique like Arty. In .
             addition, Arty decide to remove her limbs, one by one, until she appeared without .
             limbs, as he was. In doing so, Arty began one of his most valuable sources of power, .
             the Arturan cult. Arty's gained publicity from the news took the publicity of his cult to a .
             higher level and strengthened his power tremendously. For instance:.
             "An hour after the first broadcast of a breathless on the-spot reporter describing .
             bandaged stumps in a wheelchair, the newspaper people started popping up. .
             After a few months reporters drove out to meet us on the road.(Dunn188).
             In addition, as soon as the first reporters began to spread the news of Arty's cult, each .
             news company wanted to know more about him and his ideals. In return for sharing .
             the Arturan beliefs, Arty gained extreme publicity and his power grew in leadership .
             Gonzalez 2.
             over many Arturans. Lastly, Norval Sanderson, a well respected journalist, .