As I read The Invention of Morel, I thought that the use of the word “invention” in the title was a great choice in that it further added uncertainty to the subject of the narrative. As I set out to read it, I initially assumed that the “invention” would refer to some sort of new contraption that was unlike anything we’d seen before. In the end, this assumption proved to be correct, but during the first part of the novel, I found myself calling it into question time and time again. I started wondering if the “invention of Morel” might not have been talking about a machine that Morel created, but if it instead might have been talking about the narration’s creation of Morel within his own mind. Thus, the “invention” of Morel would have referred to the invention of something that wasn’t truly there, the consciousness tricking itself through the creation of an illusion. While this possibility was eventually discounted, I still find it very clever in that even the title itself was a matter of uncertainty and questioning throughout the novella. It caused the title to feel as though it was very much in alignment with the purposes and tone of the narrative.
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I went through a very similar experience when reading the novella. I initially thought that Morel was either going to be the narrator, or someone extremely close to him because I thought that we would witness Morel actually make something in the story. My predictions were called into question as I read the first half because Morel doesn’t have much of a role for the book’s majority. Until page 65, the only bit of information we know about Morel is his relationship with Faustine. Up to that point, I struggled to understand why Morel’s name is mentioned in the title and not somebody else’s like Faustine. I, like you, also entertained the idea that “the invention of Morel” could also mean the narrator’s creation of Morel. But again I questioned why Morel’s name was in the title and not Faustine or any of the other islanders. I was almost relived when Morel revealed his invention in the later half of the story because it put part of my mind at ease. Upon reflection I can’t help thinking that the author did this on purpose. This might’ve been a strategy to help us embrace the chaos, as is the post-modern way.