Brutality Etc.

p. 384

Eleanor Roosevelt
-Joe does not understand that he can't just call up ER
-Rosa and Joe believe that if it wasn't for them, boat wouldn't have been blown up and Thomas would still be alive


Is Joe trying to commit suicide with underwater trick after Thomas' death
-Most likely a suicide attempt
-Irony that Thomas almost died in Joe's first underwater escape, and now he actually dies
-Joe is ashamed that he didn't finish the trick and angry that he was saved

p. 402
Gay party at Love's house gets crashed by cops
-Heterosexual police find a way to break up gay party
-2 G men are predatory gay and force Sammy to perform fellatio by threatening him with imprisonment
-Sammy is hugely ashamed

p. 407/ p. 408
Graphic sexual description
-Used as a metaphor for the intimate relationship between Tracy Bacon and Sammy
-Reminds Tracy of his childhood, and they act childlike
-They then proceed to "get it on like 'Brokeback Mountain'" which is the much more mature form of their relationship
-They then become intimate in the peaceful sense

p. 415
Why does Chabon make the gay rape description so graphic?
-Uses shock value to show blunt, brutal reality of situation
-Huge difference between Tracy/ Sammy love scene and rape scene
-Sammy comes to the conclusion that he is a near-whore and chooses to leave Bacon

p. 421
Rosa chooses to not tell Joe that she's pregnant, then he joins the Navy and she loses the chance
-Night he finds out about Thomas' death
-Sammy convinces her that they should marry so they won't have to kill the baby
-Sammy takes on the role of an undercover superhero for the first time in his life

p. 339
Chabon foreshadows the breaking of the so-called "brotherhood" of Sammy and Joe
-Uses magic as a metaphor for how it's truly fake, no matter the appearance


Analysis:
In this section, Michael Chabon uses dramatic, exaggerated, and at times utterly brutal language to forge the blatant discrepancies between love and hate. Chabon spares no detail when describing events and images, even if they make the reader cringe in disgust. This ultimately has the effect of causing the reader to deeply consider what they are reading and compare and contrast it to other sections of the book.