I found Brian Francis' Fruit: A Novel About a Boy and His Nipples a refreshing break from some of the heavier material we've been exploring in class. However, the complicated potency of language is still present, especially in the way Francis employs the term "boy friend". Let's break it down!
BOY [space] FRIEND vs. BOYFRIEND
I added the [space] to emphasize the void between the two words because Francis relies on this visible morphology to create tension. In popular language "boyfriend" denotes romance and the other usage of boy [space] friend to describe a platonic friendship between two males has become uncommon because of homophobic associations with the former. When the two words are spoken they sound the same and thus "sound" the same as they run through the mind. However, our eyes contradict what would otherwise be a homograph by registering the space that Francis has placed between boy and friend:
"The truth is, my nipples are right. I do need to get myself a boy friend." (p.62).
Especially in proximity to "my nipples" (not mine people, I mean Peters. Sheesh!) the use of boy [space] friend heightens the tension between Peter's sexual ambiguity and the assumptions of homosexuality that can be extracted from his behavior (think homoerotic dreams and cross dressing). Francis uses the cherry nipples as a feminine quality that might be read as the mark of a homosexual but cannot be confirmed by Peter's usage of boy friend because a simple [space].
PS: I love that [space] at family reunions. When a distant relative asks if I have a boyfriend (and I don't feel like a tedious heart to heart because I've been into the special fruit punch that is a crutch on such occasions) I hear boy [space] friend instead and answer honestly: "More than I can keep track of!"
1 comments:
I really like what you said about contradiction between our eyes and our ears. I listened to the audio book on itues that was read by Brian Franics and I really notices that the way he read it, there was no space.
What got me about the boy friend part was there was almost a sense of yearning there. It was as though Peter was trying to connect the words but was not able to because of his lack of language to explain his own physical sex and orientation. Without that understanding of self, he could not explain his feelings towards others. The instand he got the to sexual parts of his bettime movies, he would fall asleep. It was asthough he wanted a
boyfriend so badly, but could not express it creating another type of tension, a tension between his desires and his ability to express his feelings.