Along with having similarities in their themes and narrative perspectives, John Donovan’s I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip. (1969) and Isabel Holland’s The Man Without a Face (1972) use similar tropes like attraction to older men and the death of the protagonists’ pets. Both protagonists tend to associate their fathers with potential sexual partners as an attempt to find companionship with anyone they perceive as mature within their immediate social circle. When their fathers or father figures are unavailable, they fill this gap by forming bonds with their pet animals as substitute companions. This practice prepares them for future relationships. In this thesis, I argue that the feelings of loss from the termination of the intergenerational relationships and the trauma from the death of the pets accelerate their maturation process and solidifies their sexual identity.
","abstract_html":"<p>Along with having similarities in their themes and narrative perspectives, John Donovan’s <em>I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip</em>. (1969) and Isabel Holland’s <em>The Man Without a Face</em> (1972) use similar tropes like attraction to older men and the death of the protagonists’ pets. Both protagonists tend to associate their fathers with potential sexual partners as an attempt to find companionship with anyone they perceive as mature within their immediate social circle. When their fathers or father figures are unavailable, they fill this gap by forming bonds with their pet animals as substitute companions. This practice prepares them for future relationships. In this thesis, I argue that the feelings of loss from the termination of the intergenerational relationships and the trauma from the death of the pets accelerate their maturation process and solidifies their sexual identity.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Khan, Mehdi"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Eric L. Tribunella","Dr. Alexandra Valint","Dr. Ery Shin"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:40Z","subjects":["Queer","Intergenerational Desire","Trauma","Pets","Children's and Young Adult Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1010","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Eric L. Tribunella","Dr. Alexandra Valint","Dr. Ery Shin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Khan, Mehdi"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2173-10-16T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Queer","Intergenerational Desire","Trauma","Pets","Children's and Young Adult Literature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1010"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Along with having similarities in their themes and narrative perspectives, John Donovan’s I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip. (1969) and Isabel Holland’s The Man Without a Face (1972) use similar tropes like attraction to older men and the death of the protagonists’ pets. Both protagonists tend to associate their fathers with potential sexual partners as an attempt to find companionship with anyone they perceive as mature within their immediate social circle. When their fathers or father figures are unavailable, they fill this gap by forming bonds with their pet animals as substitute companions. This practice prepares them for future relationships. In this thesis, I argue that the feelings of loss from the termination of the intergenerational relationships and the trauma from the death of the pets accelerate their maturation process and solidifies their sexual identity.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["FATHERS, SONS, AND PETS: INTERGENERATIONAL DESIRE AND TRAUMA IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAY ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY IN I'LL GET THERE. IT BETTER BE WORTH THE TRIP AND THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Eric L. Tribunella","Dr. Alexandra Valint","Dr. Ery Shin"],"dc:creator":["Khan, Mehdi"],"dc:date.available":["2173-10-16T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Along with having similarities in their themes and narrative perspectives, John Donovan’s I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip. (1969) and Isabel Holland’s The Man Without a Face (1972) use similar tropes like attraction to older men and the death of the protagonists’ pets. Both protagonists tend to associate their fathers with potential sexual partners as an attempt to find companionship with anyone they perceive as mature within their immediate social circle. When their fathers or father figures are unavailable, they fill this gap by forming bonds with their pet animals as substitute companions. This practice prepares them for future relationships. In this thesis, I argue that the feelings of loss from the termination of the intergenerational relationships and the trauma from the death of the pets accelerate their maturation process and solidifies their sexual identity.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1010"],"dc:subject":["Queer","Intergenerational Desire","Trauma","Pets","Children's and Young Adult Literature"],"dc:title":["FATHERS, SONS, AND PETS: INTERGENERATIONAL DESIRE AND TRAUMA IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAY ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY IN I'LL GET THERE. IT BETTER BE WORTH THE TRIP AND THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:40Z"}