Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department/Program

English

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Laura M. Nicosia

Committee Member

James F. Nicosia

Committee Member

Jeffrey Gonzalez

Abstract

Alex London's novel Proxy explores the life of a male queer teenager named Sydney Carton, who resides in a Science Fiction dystopia, and is forced to evade punishment for crimes he did not commit. Benjamin Alire Saénz’ novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe explores the life of a male queer protagonist Ari Mendoza, who lives in an idealistic version of the 1980s, and struggles with coming to terms with his sexuality. In this essay, I assert that each male queer protagonist is shaped by their respective settings due to the nature of their constantly changing environments. Each character’s ability to navigate their initial setting, along with their growth through a change in setting, allows them to undergo a transformation throughout their stories. This transformation not only applies to their view of the world, but how they view the most important people of their lives. Each novel explores these characters’ sexuality, as well as the relationships with their father figures through their evolving views of the world that they reside in and the environments they encounter.

File Format

PDF

Download

Share

COinS