Paul Monette’s memoir, Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story, depicts the Bostonian’s life and struggle with accepting his sexual orientation. It illustrates Monette’s life from early childhood to when he meets the love of his life, Roger Horwitz, in 1974. Page 54 of the memoir takes place in chapter two, in which Paul recounts his middle school years. It describes the reaction of Paul’s mother and brother, Bobby, towards an encounter Bobby faced with the neighborhood thugs; they told him that even though “His brother’s a queer… [they] know [he’s] okay… And if anyone tries to hurt [him, he] can just tell [them].” With his rhetorical skills, Monette utilizes common diction and syntax, depressing tone, creative literary devices, and Aristotle’s Appeal of pathos to convey the extreme difficulty with his sexual identity throughout his life to fully accept who he truly is as a person.
Monette’s diction and syntax are not extravagant by any means; however, these aspects of writing are seemingly unnecessary for the goal that he achieved by writing this memoir. The informal sentence structure and simple use of the first person in his illustration of his life and scuffles with love are perfect so all age groups can read and comprehend. With the first person Paul describes his emotions and opinions towards what has occurred in his life. As one would expect from a memoir about a struggle of such magnitude, this one connotes a negative, melancholic tone throughout. Through interrogative sentences like “Did we three have a good relationship?” and the response of a simple “I think so” display a sense of uncertainty and gloom from Paul towards if his life is actually a good one or not. To further convey Monette’s tone in his writing, he employs rhetorical devices to make it more original.
Paul uses on page 54 a legendary euphemism with two allusions included that is utilized to convey his feelings in a more stylistic manner. In response to the secret that his mother and brother kept from him concerning the words of the thugs on the street, Monette writes, “Thus by inexorable degrees does the love that dares not speak its name build walls instead, till a house is nothing but closets.” Here Monette refers to the fact that “the love that dares not speak its name” (a euphemism for homosexuality) created barriers and secrets between him and his family, which produced many places for his and their mysteries and sentiments to hide in. The two allusions to which Paul is referring are the poem written in 1894 by Lord Alfred Douglas titled Two Loves and the gross indecency trial Oscar Wilde faced in 1895. This euphemism is ironic in respect to Monette because he eventually does come out of the closet to all of his friends and family.
Paul Monette’s rhetorical strategies used throughout his memoir and on page 54 all appeal to those of Aristotle, especially pathos, the appeal to emotion. This seems to be the motive of the work as a whole: to make readers think, feel, and respond both emotionally and inspiringly in their daily lives. This memoir can seduce and persuade anyone in distinct ways; for some, it may inspire them to be more accepting of themselves, and for others, to accept others with more kindness and love. Though his tone is very gloomy, and may instill in readers the feeling that being gay is extremely taxing and pitiful, it should be understood that it augments the sentiments of a person who is not an open homosexual, and how taxing that is on him/her. The memoir is a daring and heartbreaking piece that demonstrates through rhetoric the fact that the truth can set you free.
