In a Perfect World

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    In the novel, Boy Meets Boy, Levithan compares reality to an unrealistic perspective of homosexuality in an attempt to describe how the world should really be. In a perfect world, everyone would be like Paul, and they would have accepting parents and be “lucky.” As Tony says, “ ‘I honestly couldn’t believe that someone like you could exist, or even a town like yours could entirely exist… I thought I would get up every morning with a secret and go to sleep every night with the same secret.’ ” (Levithan, 150). Although in the novel Paul struggles through some obstacles, he never really has to struggle to find himself, unlike other characters. The character that struggles the most in the novel is Tony because his parents are unaccepting of him being gay, and Tony struggles internally on how to show them that it’s okay. The other characters such as Kyle and Tony are not really lost, but they struggle in finding out how they can really be themselves. While through the eyes of Paul everything is normalized, through Tony’s hardships he struggles with limitations and how to be himself without anyone holding him back. 

    When incorporating the relationship of Joni and Chuck, it stands in the background to bring a bit of normativity in so the reader has a comparison. I believe the author chose Paul’s perspective to relate to other heterosexual relationships because, in reality, gay relationships are just the same as any other. As seen in the novel, Joni and Chuck go on dates, and Noah and Paul go on dates. Although we are unable to see everything Joni and Chuck do together, we still see everything Paul and Noah do. They have little outings together, they pass notes in school, they go over to each other’s houses to hang out. Every bit is normalized, but that is not seen in our world outside the novel for several kids. Overall, the point of the novel is to normalize homosexuality and I think the author did a pretty great job in it by creating an almost “perfect” world for Paul.

Comments

  1. Shaekwon HeardSeptember 26, 2021 at 3:29 PM

    What's WILD to me is that I never viewed the two relationships in comparison to each other. It makes sense that in a book to help normalize LGBTQ relationships, heterosexual counterparts are apart of the supporting cast. I wonder why I never thought to compare the two.?

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