by Hayley Charlesworth
Written in 1989, AM Homes' debut novel, Jack, is one of the first young adult novels to explicitly tackle the subject of homosexuality. It is the story of a small-town teen rocked with the revelation that his father is gay.
Written in 1989, AM Homes' debut novel, Jack, is one of the first young adult novels to explicitly tackle the subject of homosexuality. It is the story of a small-town teen rocked with the revelation that his father is gay.
As a contemporary reader, Jack can be very uncomfortable to read. It represents a less tolerant time, with Jack frequently using derogatory terms and being ashamed to even associate with his father lest he be made out to be gay too. His intolerance only adds to his honesty. There are many times when we don’t like Jack, when we consider his prejudices unacceptable, but we understand Jack.
It’s made clear to the reader that Jack’s father is a decent man, as probably is his partner, although Jack’s perspective is overly critical of him. Slowly, gradually, Jack comes to recognise this, although his attitudes don’t magically disappear.
For a book written when it was, it is remarkable how positive Jack can actually be. It is the prejudices of the straight characters that are condemned, but these characters themselves are well-realised and multi-layered, and not considered bad people. Likewise, the gay characters are not complete angels either. Everyone comes with shades of grey, presented as they are through Jack’s opinion of them.
The then-19-years-old Homes’ narrative style is distinctive, but also reminiscent of Hemingway. Jack has a voice, and it is completely his own. He isn’t an author avatar but his own person and we understand exactly how his mind works. We see how homophobic slurs in his school breeds his own intolerance, and we see how dating a girl who also has a gay father opens Jack’s mind up to recognising that this is still the same father who loved and raised him. Cause and effect is on display, and in the subtlest of ways, Homes shows how our environment shapes our attitudes. For all teenagers reading this book, it is an eye-opener, encouraging readers to challenge their own prejudices and those of others.
As a society, we have moved much further towards acceptance and equality than in Jack. But Jack is one of the many factors that led us to this point, for being one of the first young adult stories not to demonise homosexuality and to show homosexuals as people.
It’s made clear to the reader that Jack’s father is a decent man, as probably is his partner, although Jack’s perspective is overly critical of him. Slowly, gradually, Jack comes to recognise this, although his attitudes don’t magically disappear.
For a book written when it was, it is remarkable how positive Jack can actually be. It is the prejudices of the straight characters that are condemned, but these characters themselves are well-realised and multi-layered, and not considered bad people. Likewise, the gay characters are not complete angels either. Everyone comes with shades of grey, presented as they are through Jack’s opinion of them.
The then-19-years-old Homes’ narrative style is distinctive, but also reminiscent of Hemingway. Jack has a voice, and it is completely his own. He isn’t an author avatar but his own person and we understand exactly how his mind works. We see how homophobic slurs in his school breeds his own intolerance, and we see how dating a girl who also has a gay father opens Jack’s mind up to recognising that this is still the same father who loved and raised him. Cause and effect is on display, and in the subtlest of ways, Homes shows how our environment shapes our attitudes. For all teenagers reading this book, it is an eye-opener, encouraging readers to challenge their own prejudices and those of others.
As a society, we have moved much further towards acceptance and equality than in Jack. But Jack is one of the many factors that led us to this point, for being one of the first young adult stories not to demonise homosexuality and to show homosexuals as people.
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