This thesis examines the influence of male homosocial relationships on the masculine identity performances men develop in such relationships. Specifically, I argue that three American novels?Herman Melville?s Moby-Dick, Jack Kerouac?s On the Road, and Chuck Palahniuk?s Fight Club?illustrate a similar pattern of masculine identity performance and (re)construction. In each novel, the narrator initially experiences a masculine identity crisis. In order to resolve his crisis, he engages in homosocial relationships that refine and reaffirm his masculinity. Furthermore, each narrator examines and reports the life of another man?a man obsessed with a single-minded pursuit. Ishmael of Moby-Dick narrates the events of a whaling voyage led by the Moby Dick-obsessed Captain Ahab. Sal Paradise of On the Road recites the adventures he has on the road following the IT-obsessed Dean Moriarty. And, the unnamed narrator of Fight Club explains the development of Fight Club and Project Mayhem by the revolution-obsessed Tyler Durden. As I reveal, hunting for Moby Dick, traveling the road, fighting each other and terrorizing capitalistic society all represent pursuits of manhood and ways of constructing, performing, and asserting masculinities. By joining these pursuits, the narrators forfeit their agency to these obsessed men; however, as the narrators continue to follow, they realize that to regain their masculine identities they must also eventually establish agency in their lives. Ultimately, the pattern illustrated in this thesis involves the continual remasculation of an emasculated man?or a man under threat of becoming so?through purpose-oriented homosocial relationships and an assertion of agency.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-05182004-174611 |
| Date | 27 May 2004 |
| Creators | Hall, Mark M. |
| Contributors | Dr. Tom Lisk, Dr. Anne Baker, Dr. John Morillo |
| Publisher | NCSU |
| Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-05182004-174611/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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