• DOI:10.1300/J082v42n03_08
• Corpus ID: 41169915

Fighting Desires

@article{Hardin2002FightingD,
  title={Fighting Desires},
  author={Michael Hardin},
  journal={Journal of Homosexuality},
  year={2002},
  volume={42},
  pages={129 - 150}
}

• M. Hardin
• Published 30 April 2002
• Art
• Journal of Homosexuality

Abstract “Fighting Desires: Henry Miller's Queer Tropic”is an investigation of Tropic of Cancerthat investigates the deeply repressed ho-moerotic desire that periodically surfaces. This reading is dependent upon an interpretation of Eve Sedgwick that proposes male sexuality as a continuum. By looking at the nature of the male-male relationships, as well as the lack of emotion and presence in the male-female relationships, I will show that the most intimate relationships are between men, and that these relationships are expressed through the telling of stories about (heterosexual) sex; this is the function of women within the novel: one has sex with a woman, not for the pleasure that the act brings, but for the pleasure that the recounting of the story to other men brings. Furthermore, I will look at Miller's use of puns within the novel and how they also contribute to a homoerotic reading. None of this is to argue that Miller was not homophobic and sexist-Miller very clearly was-the purpose of this essay is to show the complex nature of sexuality, even within a protagonist who asserts a very defined heterosexuality.