Winter break is just outside my grasp, but I have to wait just a little longer…

I felt exactly like this when reading this week’s book as well. Sadly, due to having mountains of homework for both my classes, I wasn’t able to finish it all. But, nonetheless, I found it to be interesting from what I read.

I think the number one theme that stood out to me in the book was the hyper-masculinity the narrator constantly talked about. Moments like father giving him condoms and forcing him to do sports definitely left an impact on the author later on in life in both good and bad ways. The narrator describes this feeling as being that of being uninformed; for example, his dad gave him a box of condoms and walked away without giving him “the talk”.  The narrator also goes on about how he never wanted to be into sports, but his dad forced him. However, there was no reason as to why he forced him; he just did. It seems that men avoid this sort of topic for some reason, and the narrator seems to point to the idea that it’s just passed down through the generations. His grandfather did it to his father, and now his father did it to him.

The lack of sex talk is definitely shown to affect the narrator later on, as he is shown with many lovers, to the point of even nearly accidentally having a child. However, despite this, the narrator also seems to try and push away the ideas that his father and his surrounding implemented in his brain, such as the objectification of women. He becomes a self-proclaimed feminist, becoming pro-choice and the like, only to have his ideas challenged by the women he dated. Was he forcing this mindset; did he truly believe what he claimed he did?

I think all of this was my favorite part of the book, as well as how the narrator doesn’t let his current opinions in the present time affect his writing. He only describes what he thought and did at those times without saying things like “I don’t believe that now!” I feel like it adds a layer of truth, owning up to the shitty mindset he had in the past without trying to defend or cover it up. Really shows that difference between the author and narrator, despite them being the same person.