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The Reflections Of Gore Vidal Essay, Research Paper

Jason DunstApril 1, 1999C.P. English IVMs. WadeThe Reflections of Gore Vidal There are many people in today s society that would love to have their views published forthe whole world to view, but few can match the wit and originality of Gore Vidal. Vidal is theauthor of many short stories, novels, playwrights, and movie scripts. Gore Vidal has been andcontinues to be an influential figure in American literature. One of Vidal s most effective strategiesas a writer has been to make the public aware of his opinions through his very popular andcontroversial works. Gore Vidal is an opinionated man with strong beliefs on many aspects ofmodern American culture. Gore Vidal is a man who likes to provoke controversy. The works of Gore Vidal revolvesaround three main themes: human behavior, politics, and homosexuality. These are Vidal sfavorite subjects to write about because they are all something he deals with every day of his life. Readers of Gore Vidal should realize that he is out to shock the public with his beliefs, andhe accomplishes this task quite well by being in favor of homosexuality. Gore Vidal sees nothingbut positive outcomes should homosexuality become an accepted practice. According to AmericanWriters The consequences of publishing a gay novel in 1948 were severe, and Vidal s literarycareer nearly ground to a premature halt (681). With the publication of The City and the Pillar,Vidal became ostracized by his fellow writers and the public as well. Homosexuality is not anaccepted practice today by many, and since it was less common in 1948, some became enragedand refused to buy any of his work (681). For years Vidal could not sell anything because he hadalready been labeled as an advocate of homosexuality. In an interview with Salon, Vidal said thathe thought that within the next century the government would encourage homosexuality todecrease the population (3). Gore Vidal believes that children are no longer needed and that they are only taking up valuable space in today s world (3). Mr. Vidal believes that by promoting Dunst 2homosexuality the over crowding will cease to be a problem (3).He refuses to have childrenbecause he thinks he will only be adding to the world s population problem. ( Vidal, Gore 683)Vidal also sees the practice of homosexuality as a cure for sexually transmitted diseases such asAIDS. Vidal thinks that by eliminating all male and female intercourse the sexually tranmitteddiseases will eventually cease to be passed on as he believes this is the safest form of sexualintercorse. (684) One of Gore Vidal s more popular beliefs is that women should never be abused. Heshows this side of him after making an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show. Cavett wanting toincrease his ratings asked Vidal to make an appearance on his show along with his arch rivalNorman Mailer. The altercation started after Vidal compared Mailer to Charles Manson, this led toan on-air altercation (234). This altercation was also the product of Mailer being drunk and callingVidal queer. The story told by Karen Rood in her American Literary Almanac is that both guestsdeclined but agreed to come on the show separately and were booked back-to-back (Rood 234).Vidal brought up the fact that Mailer had stabbed his wife, which infuriated Mailer to the point thathe walked off the show. This fight probably started over Vidal s beliefs about homosexuality,which angered many of his peers. However, both men have since settled their differences. Thisshows that while Vidal will stand up for what is right he isn t going to let someone bully his or herbeliefs on him. he will always stand up for what he believes to be correct. Gore Vidal uses one of his greatest interests as the theme for many of his works — politics. Politics are in Vidal s blood. He has family ties to John F. Kennedy, through Jackie Kennedy, withwhom he shares a stepfather and Al Gore, who is Vidal s cousin. Vidal describes Kennedy andTruman as the most dangerous presidents of this century (Salon 3). Vidal thinks that Truman wasdangerous because he feels that Truman started the Cold War, putting the lives of millions ofAmericans in jeopardy. Kennedy made Vidal s most dangerous presidents list for instigating theCuban missile crisis, but he also gives Kennedy and Khruschev credit for identifying the fact that the crisis could have end life as it is today (6) . A website devoted to Vidal and his work, Gore Dunst 3(Eugene Luther) Vidal, One goal Gore has had is to someday become president of the UnitedStates of America (1). When asked what his first executive decision would be if he ever becamepresident, Vidal replied by saying he would cut the Pentagon s funding by two-thirds, lower taxeson the middle class and raise taxes on corporations, and spend more money on national health careand education (Salon 6). It is obvious that Gore Vidal wants to hold the position of president of theUnited States, but he now feels it is too late in his life to do anything about it. Vidal believes in hisprinciples and would probably do anything necessary to accomplish his goals. In the year 1956, Gore Vidal published a compilation of seven short stories in hisbook, A Thirsty Evil. This set of stories has intrigued readers for the past five decades due to itscontent. These stories are examples of what makes Vidal the successful writer he is today, butthree of these stories stand out as the most memorable. The Robin, A Moment of GreenLaurel, and Pages From an Abandoned Journal are the most intriguing stories in this classic

book. All of these stories include personal thoughts and views of the American culture as seen byGore Vidal. The following are key examples of Vidal s thoughts being included in A Thirsty Evil. The Robin is a story that expresses Vidal s discontent with the abuse of women.Ironically the story opens with the main character describing his love for death, pain, suffering,

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