Gay Characters in America's Favorite Novels. Part 1

Last summer PBS broadcast "The Great American Read," a listing of the top 100 best-loved novels as derived from a survey. Many of them I've never heard of, and others  I've heard of but ran away from.  Let's see if it's all men and women gazing into each other's eyes, or if there are any gay texts, subtexts, or characters.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird.  Never read. It's about a girl named Scout, whose father is defending a black man accused of rape in the Jim Crow South.  Some people die.  Sounds awful.

2. Outlander.  Never heard of it. Seems to be about a woman zapped into 18th century Scotland, where she falls in love.  It was turned into a tv series starring Sam Heughan, who seems a bit chunky for a romantic hero.


3. Harry Potter. Read.  Excellent series about the Boy Who Lived and his life at Hogwarts, a magic academy, and eventually a final confrontation with arch-mage He Who Must Not Be Named.   Ron-Harry subtext.  No gay characters except Dumbledore, who isn't outed.

4. Pride and Prejudice.Read. The Bennett family tries to marry off its house-ful of daughters.  It can be kind of queered.  In the 1995 mini-series, Colin Firth played main squeeze Mr. Darcy.




5. The Lord of the Rings. One ring to rule them all.  A fantasy trilogy, one of the iconic books of my childhood.  I still only like alternate-world fantasy, nothing set in the mundane reality.  It can be queered five ways from Thursday. 

6.Gone with the Wind.  Never read.  Did the survey respondents actually read it, or are they going with the movie? Of course, Clark Gable played the iconic Rhett Butler who has a tempestuous romance with Southern Belle Scarlet.  Frankly, Scarlet, there are no gay characters.



7. Charlotte's Web.  Never read, but I think it's about a pig who befriends a spider, who dies.  As Louise from Bob's Burgers said, "Children's literature is about cool animals who die."

8. Little Women.  Never read.  Again, I wonder if the survey respondents have actually read the reputedly ponderous 19th century novel about girls growing up.  Some of them die and some of the marry.  To rephrase Louise's Dictum: "Children's literature is about cool animals or kids who die."

A 2019 film version will star Timothee Chalamet as Laurie, who marries one of the girls.

9. Chronicles of Narnia.  Read.  Excellent children's fantasy series, a little topheavy with the preaching toward the end, and in the last book they all die (remember Louise's Dictum).  But until then, it's a wild ride. Some gay subtexts here and there.

10. Jane Eyre.  Read.  Jane becomes governess to the mysterious Lord Rochester, who has a madwoman in the attic.  The first of the governesses-in-danger tropes.  Not much of a gay subtext.

In the 2011 movie, Michael Fassbinder (not to be confused with director Werner Fassbinder, which I always do) played Lord Rochester.

11. Anne of Green Gables. Never read.  Isn't about a girl in the 19th century who goes to live with some relative or other, and has feelings?

I'm going to look it up on wikipedia.  $5 says that someone dies.

Yep: Louise's Dictum strikes again.

12. The Grapes of Wrath.  Read.  Some of it, anyway.  It's very long and very pretentious, about Okies from Muskogee who seek their fortune in California during the Dust Bowl.  In one chapter, breast milk figures prominently, to the disgust of generations of schoolchildren. No gay characters.

13. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  Come on, I know not one person in a hundred has read this antique novel about a girl growing up in a poor New York family, with some deaths and marriages.  Was it an Oprah's Book Club selection or something?

14.The Book Thief.  Ran away from.  A "children's" novel about a girl in Nazi Germany who reads stolen books and hides Jewish people in her basement. Gross. It was made into a 2013 movie starring Robert Allam as the Narrator and Death.  I'll wager Death had a lot of lines.

15. The Great Gatsby.  Read. During the Jazz Age, Nick befriends the mysterious Gatsby, who is obsessed with his old girlfriend.  So he buys the mansion next door and throws lavish parties in hope that she will eventually drop in.  Nice gay subtext, but I could do without the heavy-handed symbolism.

The 2013 movie starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby.

16. The Help.  Never heard of it.  A black maid and a white socialite in the Jim Crow South collaborate on a book about a black maid and a white socialite. Is this like one of those infinite puzzles?  There seem to be some gay references, anyway.

The 2011 movie had a male actor half way down the character list: Chris Lowell.

17. Tom Sawyer.  Read.  19th century Hannibal, Missouri scalawag Tom is totally in love with Becky Thatcher. I'll give it a pass.  Now, Huckleberry Finn -- there's a novel with subtexts!

18.  1984.  Read. It's about how totalitarianism quashes true love.

19. And Then There were None. Read.Agatha Christie was a great writer,maybe a little judgmental, and I really liked the mystery of who is killing off the guests on the mysterious island.  But she was not very gay-inclusive.

In 2015 it became a tv mini-series (really?  a short novel into a mini-series?), with Aiden Turner as Philip Lombard, the only semi-positive character.

20. Atlas Shrugged.  Ran away from.  Ayn Rand, selfishness as political philosophy?  I didn't even know it had a plot.

It doesn't, really.  It's mostly people giving speeches.  But the main character, a businesswoman named Dagny, does get a boyfriend.

21. Wuthering Heights. Read.  Heathcliff and Catherine are tempestuous lovers.  Heathcliff has a terrible secret,but being gay isn't it.

22. Lonesome Dove.  Never read.  It's a Western, for heaven sake.  Who reads Westerns anymore?  Especially Westerns about a cattle drive.  What's next, a Western about a chicken ranch?  No gay characters, but apparently there are lots of gay subtexts, such as between Gus and Call (Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones in the 1989 miniseries).


23. The Pillars of the Earth.  Never read.  I make a point of not reading novels that are on the book racks at airport gift shops.  It's about building a Gothic cathedral in Medieval England, and men and women falling in love.  The 2015 mini-series (have any of these NOT been made into movies?) starred Eddie Redmayne.

24. The Stand.  Read.  Well, skimmed.  If I read every word, it would take days.  The world ends due to a plague, and the few survivors gather in Boulder, Colorado (good people) and Las Vegas (wicked people).  Stephen King is not good at gay inclusion, but there are some subtexts.

25. Rebecca.  Never read, but I saw the movie. The narrator marries Mr. DeWinter, but soon discovers that she can never replace...Rebecca!  Stern housekeeper Mrs. Danvers is probably a lesbian, but it is only hinted at.

f the top 25, I've read 13.  None of them have major gay characters (who are out), and only one has a non-closeted gay reference.  Pretty bad job so far.

Next up: #26-50.