John Donovan: Sexuality, Stereotypes, and Self

Private school boys in New York City and a youth from the back woods of New Hampshire share Donovan's central theme—the struggle to find oneself. Such struggles are poignant because they recall the adolescence of all of us and because they are gallantly fought against the established forces of our backgrounds, whatever these may be. In Donovan's works, however, this forging of self is never accomplished without a confrontation with an other, a loved one, and it is that other which makes these novels unique and controversial. In one case, I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip, the other is simply a second young boy, Altschuler, of the same age and background as the hero, Davy, and the controversy surrounding this novel¹ results from the fact that their relationship includes two mild homosexual encounters. In Remove Protective Coating a Little at a Time the other is a seventy-two year old female "bum" who lives in one abandoned tenement after another and catches pigeons for dinner. In Wild in the World the loved one is an animal, dog or wolf, we are never quite sure, whose open affection for the farm boy John Gridley allows the youth to express his own pent up warmth and passion. The theme of self-realization is an important one for adolescents, and, in each work, Donovan handles it well. The main characters mature slowly and convincingly. Unfortunately, however, the novels are flawed by the fact that the relationships between the heroes and the loved ones involve somewhat bizarre sexual elements, and many of the secondary characters, including some of these loved ones, are stereotypes.

In Remove Protective Coating, for example, this stereotyping is apparent in Harry's young parents who retain their high school nicknames, Bud and Toots, into adulthood. They were "space-age sweethearts,"² captain of the football team and cheerleader respectively, who married at seventeen when they found out Toots was pregnant with Harry. Out of school Bud becomes successful in advertising (what else?) and moves from job to job earning more and more money. At thirty he is a wealthy New York businessman, and he doesn't come home half the time. Toots, on the other hand, is the wife who never develops her potential and succumbs to the depression allotted such wealthy women. She begins to see a psychotherapist, is finally institutionalized in one of those places that look like hotels—"once it had been a private estate" (p. 81), and there she learns to call herself Shirley, for "What kind of name is that, Toots, for an old lady?" (p. 81) Finally she decides she will find herself by going to college.

Against this background is Harry, standing not a chance. Early in the novel he makes one attempt to overcome his loneliness, for like Davy in I'll Get There, Harry is very much alone. It is not, however, until he meets Amelia, "a lady in a pink cotton dress wearing dirty white sneakers" (p. 28), that he finds a companion who loves and understands him.

For Donovan the important thing about such a love relationship is that it be based on genuine respect for the integrity of the persons involved. These people stand apart from one another, are often very dissimilar, and yet they are able to value what is best in each other. Harry appreciates, even admires Amelia (though the reader may not). If he finds it hard to accept, he never frowns upon her way of life. Despite the differences in their ages and backgrounds, they meet as equals. The bare reality of Amelia's life helps remove Harry's protective coating so that he sees himself underneath. This self-discovery is the point of their union, the point of the story, and it is developed with a great deal of tenderness. Harry learns to care for Amelia, to bring her food and clothing, and also to accept the inevitable fact that she will not join middle class society but must go her own way. At the appropriate moment he gives her back her keys...