Masculinity In Project X Essay

Jim Shepard 's novel Project X delves into the rarely seen realms of junior high school and poignantly gives a voice to the male outcasts found there. Through the experiences and relationships of the main character, Edwin Hanratty, the novel explores not only the lives of male outsiders but the influences that shape them, exposing a tainted version of masculinity at its core. During the course of the novel, the male characters find themselves assuming masculine roles void of traits they have learned to associate with femininity and weakness. The rejection of these traits leads the central male characters of the novel to adopt destructive masculine behaviours in the attempt to protect themselves and avoid their problems. For their first …show more content…
When a boy named Matthew Sfikas insults Flake 's masculinity by calling him "queer" (91), Flake sifts through his numerous options for revenge to once again dismantle any perceptions of him being feminine or weak. Edwin chimes in and suggests that Flake put "bug powder" in Matthew 's milk (102), thus reminding Flake of his previous failed idea of using bug powder to make the whole school ill (37). This reminder causes overwhelming humiliation in Flake and leads him to attack Edwin with furious passion. The ordeal ends in injury, name calling, Edwin getting kicked out of Flake 's house and a week without communication between them (102-104). One wrong move and this strive for the masculine ideal of strength and accomplishment ends up superseding even devoted …show more content…
While Edwin frequently rejects the feminine and overbearing comforts of his mother (79, 139, 141), he does value gentleness and kindness. Although he demonstrates these traits somewhat when interacting with Herman later on in the story (106-108), he mostly reserves them for his little brother, Gus (76-77, 78, 140, 158). When Edwin loses Gus ' favourite ball, Edwin goes out of his way to keep Gus calm and get it back for him (143). Unfortunately since he lost it, he has to resort to buying him a new one. Although the new ball does not look exactly the same as the old one, Edwin persuades Gus to think it does out of concern for Gus ' well-being (148). Edwin 's love for his little brother compels him to make sure Gus stays a normal, happy child in any way he can. In fact, his fondness of his little brother causes him to lose the ball in the first place. Gus comes to Edwin 's mind when he encounters "a kid a little older than Gus" with his dad at the park. Edwin decides to throw the kid Gus ' ball to please him, but instead of returning the ball back to Edwin the kid 's dad claims the ball belongs to them and they leave (134-135). Rather than returning Edwin 's gesture with gratitude, they turn Edwin 's moment of kindness into an opportunity of exploitation which they take advantage of without hesitation. This experience