Hello! For my final post, I am going to discuss the many conflicts in the book Will Grayson, Will Grayson. In this novel, because there are two main characters, the straight Will Grayson and the gay Will Grayson, you wouldn’t think there would be at least one overarching conflict; but there is…sort of. Most of the characters have a problem with finding their true identity. For example, the gay Will Grayson’s conflict was human vs. society because he hid his sexual orientation at first because he was scared of what society would think. Another example was of the straight Will Grayson when he didn’t know if he should date Jane or stick by his two life rules.
The first major conflict with the straight Will Grayson is self vs. self. In the beginning of the book, Will Grayson made up two rules to live by, “1. Don’t care too much. 2. Shut up. [Because] everything unfortunate that has ever happened to me has stemmed from failure to follow one of the rules” (5). He says, “You can trust caring, as a rule, ends poorly, which is true. Caring doesn’t sometimes lead to misery. It always does” (19). Will believes you can’t get hurt if you don’t really care. Then, Will gets to know one of Tiny’s friends – Jane. Will likes Jane, but is in conflict with himself about admitting it. He doesn’t want to break one of his rules and get hurt. Will first REALLY notices Jane when they try to get Tiny’s drunk self into his house. Will says, “I look at Jane for a long time and a slow smile creeps over her face. Her whole face changes when she smiles – this eyebrow-lifting, perfect-teeth-showing, eye-crinkling smile I’ve never seen or never noticed. She becomes pretty so suddenly that it’s almost like a magic trick…” (20). During this thought to himself, Will blows it off that he likes Jane. He says, “…it’s not like I want her or anything. Not to sound like a jerk, but Jane isn’t really my type. Her hair’s kinda disastrously curly and she mostly hangs out with guys. My type’s a little girlier” (20). As the novel progresses, Jane and Will flirt with each other, and soon become boyfriend and girlfriend. One of the last scenes in the book is while both of them are watching Tiny’s play, “Jane grabs [Will’s] hand and kisses [him] on the neck” (288).
A second major conflict is with the gay Will Grayson – human vs. society. At first, Will is described as a loner who sits in his room all day and thinks about how terrible the world is. He starts talking to the guy, Isaac, whom he met on the computer. He and Isaac are almost the same person; Isaac knows everything about him. For example, when it comes to all the texting slang like “lol” and “ttyl” and “rofl,” “Isaac knows how stupid [Will] find[s] these things, and [also] finds them just as stupid” (28). Through talking to Isaac on the computer, he discovers he is gay. He says, “I haven’t told anyone about Isaac because it’s none of their business” (32). Will is scared to tell anyone else, including his mom, that he is gay. When it’s time for the two boys to meet in Chicago, Will tells his mom he is going there for a mathlete competition. After he goes to Chicago and finds out that his only “real” friend, Maura, completely made up the character Isaac, he is devastated. However, while he was there, Will met another gay boy, Tiny, who he falls in love with. Tiny texts him every second of every day. Will felt that he needed to tell someone. As soon as he came home from Chicago, Will went straight to his mom and said, “Look, mom, I’m totally gay, and I’d appreciate it if you could get the whole freakout over with now, because, yeah, we have the rest of our lives to deal with it…” (166). It turned out that his mom was very accepting of his sexuality, and so was the rest of the world. Will got so brave that the people around him were saying, “He like came out to everyone in the entire world. I swear to God I think he wrote the president of the United States and was like ‘Dear Mr. President, I am gay. Yours truly, Will Grayson’” (191).
Even though there are many other small conflicts in the book, these two
perfectly describe the theme identity crisis. The straight Will Grayson is
having the problem if he should not change and follow his two life rules, or
change for the better and be with Jane. In the end, Will changes to be with Jane – his true identity. The gay Will Grayson finds his true identity when he
discovers he’s gay and chooses to share it with the world. Everything about this novel has to do with identity crisis and is a great book. Everyone should read it!
The first major conflict with the straight Will Grayson is self vs. self. In the beginning of the book, Will Grayson made up two rules to live by, “1. Don’t care too much. 2. Shut up. [Because] everything unfortunate that has ever happened to me has stemmed from failure to follow one of the rules” (5). He says, “You can trust caring, as a rule, ends poorly, which is true. Caring doesn’t sometimes lead to misery. It always does” (19). Will believes you can’t get hurt if you don’t really care. Then, Will gets to know one of Tiny’s friends – Jane. Will likes Jane, but is in conflict with himself about admitting it. He doesn’t want to break one of his rules and get hurt. Will first REALLY notices Jane when they try to get Tiny’s drunk self into his house. Will says, “I look at Jane for a long time and a slow smile creeps over her face. Her whole face changes when she smiles – this eyebrow-lifting, perfect-teeth-showing, eye-crinkling smile I’ve never seen or never noticed. She becomes pretty so suddenly that it’s almost like a magic trick…” (20). During this thought to himself, Will blows it off that he likes Jane. He says, “…it’s not like I want her or anything. Not to sound like a jerk, but Jane isn’t really my type. Her hair’s kinda disastrously curly and she mostly hangs out with guys. My type’s a little girlier” (20). As the novel progresses, Jane and Will flirt with each other, and soon become boyfriend and girlfriend. One of the last scenes in the book is while both of them are watching Tiny’s play, “Jane grabs [Will’s] hand and kisses [him] on the neck” (288).
A second major conflict is with the gay Will Grayson – human vs. society. At first, Will is described as a loner who sits in his room all day and thinks about how terrible the world is. He starts talking to the guy, Isaac, whom he met on the computer. He and Isaac are almost the same person; Isaac knows everything about him. For example, when it comes to all the texting slang like “lol” and “ttyl” and “rofl,” “Isaac knows how stupid [Will] find[s] these things, and [also] finds them just as stupid” (28). Through talking to Isaac on the computer, he discovers he is gay. He says, “I haven’t told anyone about Isaac because it’s none of their business” (32). Will is scared to tell anyone else, including his mom, that he is gay. When it’s time for the two boys to meet in Chicago, Will tells his mom he is going there for a mathlete competition. After he goes to Chicago and finds out that his only “real” friend, Maura, completely made up the character Isaac, he is devastated. However, while he was there, Will met another gay boy, Tiny, who he falls in love with. Tiny texts him every second of every day. Will felt that he needed to tell someone. As soon as he came home from Chicago, Will went straight to his mom and said, “Look, mom, I’m totally gay, and I’d appreciate it if you could get the whole freakout over with now, because, yeah, we have the rest of our lives to deal with it…” (166). It turned out that his mom was very accepting of his sexuality, and so was the rest of the world. Will got so brave that the people around him were saying, “He like came out to everyone in the entire world. I swear to God I think he wrote the president of the United States and was like ‘Dear Mr. President, I am gay. Yours truly, Will Grayson’” (191).
Even though there are many other small conflicts in the book, these two
perfectly describe the theme identity crisis. The straight Will Grayson is
having the problem if he should not change and follow his two life rules, or
change for the better and be with Jane. In the end, Will changes to be with Jane – his true identity. The gay Will Grayson finds his true identity when he
discovers he’s gay and chooses to share it with the world. Everything about this novel has to do with identity crisis and is a great book. Everyone should read it!