Election By Tom Perrotta Analysis

Cassandra Clare once wrote,“Lies and secrets... they are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind.” Everyone has a secret, but, it is what a person lets a secret do to them and to others that can be destructive. In Election written by Tom Perrotta, characters in a suburban town live everyday hiding secrets from their peers, elders, and even themselves. These secrets have the potential to corrupt relationships, and morals, and they do so unforgivingly.
The relationship between Tammy Warren and Lisa Flanagan is torn at the seams when secrets about their possible sexuality come to light. Tammy is a teenage girl who rejects the idea of heteronormativity before it is deemed acceptable. It is not long …show more content…
To some people, sexuality is a delicate topic that provokes feelings of vulnerability. This secret took a toll on both Tammy and Lisa. For Lisa, it caused her to completely shut out her best friend, leaving them both wounded. Lisa never objected to her feelings for Tammy, rather she objected the repercussions that awaited if the two had ever opened up about each other to the public. Lisa turned to Paul to relieve the pressure she felt. Moving quickly from dismissing Tammy from her life, and engaging in sexual activities with Paul. She did so in hopes of proving to others around her that she was not who they thought she was. For Tammy, the pain of losing not only her best friend but also the love of her life, caused her to act out. She launched a counter race for her school’s presidency against her own brother, she was suspended three times, and begged her mother to let her enroll in a Catholic school for all the wrong reasons. She never mentioned her feelings to anyone, and the one time she did it was with her school’s psychologist. This did not last long since she decided to proclaim her love and the psychologist immediately assumed it was for a boy. Both girls were asked why they had stopped being friends on different occasions, both of them refused to answer. As time went on, the two found themselves growing farther and farther apart, never being able to reconcile.
The relationship between Jack Dexter and Sherry Dexter is ripped to pieces almost immediately following accusations of his secret sexual relationship with one of his students, Tracy Flick. Jack is fired from his position as a teacher after professing his love for Tracy, and when he gets home, he tells his wife Sherry that he wants to divorce her, ending their