'Luna': A Literary Analysis
What I love about “Luna” is it's one of its first narratives of it’s time written for young adults. It includes in my opinion one of the best literary explanations of what it’s like to be transgender, (““It's horrible because you want to be this person you are in here, “ I pressed my heart, “and here”. I touched my temple. “But you can’t because you don’t look the way you should. You look like a guy. And that’s what people expect you to be. Every day you have to put on this act, play a role, and the only time you can ever be freeis when you’re alone, when nobody's watching and you can let yourself go”” (pg. 191-192)). It truly shows the evolution of queer literature over time because of relatable content yet outdated language.
In the LGBT …show more content…
community, especially in the trans community, terms are constantly evolving and changing.
Many of the things Luna says in the novel such as “TG” to represent transgirl or transwomen, or “genetic girl” to mean ciswomen, would seem completely out of place in current trans language. Also I need to draw light to the casual transphobia that's thrown around throughout the novel. There is plenty of transphobia throughout “Luna”. For example, “The expression on his face- God. Disgust, loathing, I don’t know what it was but it made me cower in fear” (pg. 115), “I only wanted to try on a dress ”His voice went flat. “They didn’t need to call security” (pg 181), and “I cried for her. I cried for me. I cried for a world that wouldn’t let her be” (pg. 211). One of the most memorable moments occurs when Luna is about to meet up with a trans friend. Regan retorts, “I’m sure you two need to talk. Compare the size of your adam's apples or whatever it is trannies do when they get together. Liam laughed” (pg. 181) Some of what you would expect to be hurtful, Luna takes in stride and actually turns it into a joke. I feel that this is because in the early 2000’s when “Luna” was written transphobia was rampant. Trans people were always considered to …show more content…
be the butt of the joke and more often than not they just went along with it, for fear of confrontation.
“Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan is unlike any novel I have ever read. It follows a variety of queer teens over a span of a weekend, which isn’t unusual. What makes the novel extraordinary is it is narrated in third person, by those who had passed away from the AIDS virus in the 80’s. This narration gives a perfect example of how LGBT history and literature has influence other works. Many of Levithan’s words closely mirror the theme of Monnette’s work “Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir”. At the novel’s beginning Levithan states “You can’t know what it is like for us now- you will always be one step behind. Be thankful for that. You can’t know what it was like for us then- you will always be one step ahead. Be thankful for that too. “ (pg. 1), symbolizing
that no one should ever have to go through a struggle like that again. Levithan continuously mentions the AIDS crisis, throughout the novel's opening, to give the narrator's some backstory. “Or the names on a quilt that rarely gets taken out anymore” (pg. 3), to reference the AIDS quilt used to memorialize the victims. Levithan uses the lines, “Just when we stopped wanting to kill ourselves, we started to die. Just when we were feeling strength it was taken from us”(pg 4) and “Some of us sweared we died of heartbreak not AIDS” (pg 8) to show the destruction AIDS had on the community. Just as we began making some progress toward public acceptance, the crisis hit, destroying what we had spent so many years building up since Stonewall.
Leviathan also frequently references Walt Whitman for the way his works have influenced and conforted our community. I especially like the line “Walt Whitman beneath our pillow”. (pg 24) because it shows how close Whitman was to their hearts, even though they felt he needed to be kept a secret. Whitman’s poem “Two Boys Clinging” is recited during a monumental moment in the book to give the two main characters strength. Further on in the novel Levithan writes, “He keeps thinking of Walt Whitman, of two boys together clinging. He wonders what Whitman would make of all of this. He’s kept Whitman’s bust on the table next to him watching over the scene” (pg. 138) to show how just the idea of his presence gives them support.
In the LGBT …show more content…
community, especially in the trans community, terms are constantly evolving and changing.
Many of the things Luna says in the novel such as “TG” to represent transgirl or transwomen, or “genetic girl” to mean ciswomen, would seem completely out of place in current trans language. Also I need to draw light to the casual transphobia that's thrown around throughout the novel. There is plenty of transphobia throughout “Luna”. For example, “The expression on his face- God. Disgust, loathing, I don’t know what it was but it made me cower in fear” (pg. 115), “I only wanted to try on a dress ”His voice went flat. “They didn’t need to call security” (pg 181), and “I cried for her. I cried for me. I cried for a world that wouldn’t let her be” (pg. 211). One of the most memorable moments occurs when Luna is about to meet up with a trans friend. Regan retorts, “I’m sure you two need to talk. Compare the size of your adam's apples or whatever it is trannies do when they get together. Liam laughed” (pg. 181) Some of what you would expect to be hurtful, Luna takes in stride and actually turns it into a joke. I feel that this is because in the early 2000’s when “Luna” was written transphobia was rampant. Trans people were always considered to …show more content…
be the butt of the joke and more often than not they just went along with it, for fear of confrontation.
“Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan is unlike any novel I have ever read. It follows a variety of queer teens over a span of a weekend, which isn’t unusual. What makes the novel extraordinary is it is narrated in third person, by those who had passed away from the AIDS virus in the 80’s. This narration gives a perfect example of how LGBT history and literature has influence other works. Many of Levithan’s words closely mirror the theme of Monnette’s work “Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir”. At the novel’s beginning Levithan states “You can’t know what it is like for us now- you will always be one step behind. Be thankful for that. You can’t know what it was like for us then- you will always be one step ahead. Be thankful for that too. “ (pg. 1), symbolizing
that no one should ever have to go through a struggle like that again. Levithan continuously mentions the AIDS crisis, throughout the novel's opening, to give the narrator's some backstory. “Or the names on a quilt that rarely gets taken out anymore” (pg. 3), to reference the AIDS quilt used to memorialize the victims. Levithan uses the lines, “Just when we stopped wanting to kill ourselves, we started to die. Just when we were feeling strength it was taken from us”(pg 4) and “Some of us sweared we died of heartbreak not AIDS” (pg 8) to show the destruction AIDS had on the community. Just as we began making some progress toward public acceptance, the crisis hit, destroying what we had spent so many years building up since Stonewall.
Leviathan also frequently references Walt Whitman for the way his works have influenced and conforted our community. I especially like the line “Walt Whitman beneath our pillow”. (pg 24) because it shows how close Whitman was to their hearts, even though they felt he needed to be kept a secret. Whitman’s poem “Two Boys Clinging” is recited during a monumental moment in the book to give the two main characters strength. Further on in the novel Levithan writes, “He keeps thinking of Walt Whitman, of two boys together clinging. He wonders what Whitman would make of all of this. He’s kept Whitman’s bust on the table next to him watching over the scene” (pg. 138) to show how just the idea of his presence gives them support.