What does Hinckle Von Vampton represent?
Hinckle Von Vampton is by far the most cartoonish and satirical character in this novel, mocked by Reed’s postmodernist irony throughout the book. He is meant to mimic a historical figure named Carl Van Vechten, a white man who promoted and represented black culture during the Harlem Renaissance and also some black stereotypes, which I think is where a lot of satirical imagery comes from here. Von Vampton is depicted as a controlling man who is an indeterminable number of centuries old, having worked with the Wallflower Order for many years to take down forms of Jes Grew and keep Antonists in control (Reed 56). They discover that Jes Grew has emerged in America, particularly in New Orleans, and attempt to destroy it over the course of the book. They create a faulty master plan to begin a newspaper called the Benign Monster to disrupt and eventually overpower Jes Grew. Most of all, I feel this plotline really plays up the cartoon character aspect of Von Vampton’s story; he might a...