The Reflections of Gore Vidal

The Reflections of Gore Vidal There are many people in today’s society that would love to have their views published for the whole world to view, but few can match the wit and originality of Gore Vidal. Vidal is the author of many short stories, novels, playwrights, and movie scripts. Gore Vidal has been and continues to be an influential figure in American literature. One of Vidal’s most effective strategies as a writer has been to make the public aware of his opinions through his very popular and controversial works. Gore Vidal is an opinionated man with strong beliefs on many aspects of modern American culture. Gore Vidal is a man who likes to provoke controversy. The works of Gore Vidal revolves around three main themes: human behavior, politics, and homosexuality. These are Vidal’s favorite 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, and he accomplishes this task quite well by being in favor of homosexuality. Gore Vidal sees nothing but positive outcomes should homosexuality become an accepted practice. According to American Writers “The consequences of publishing a gay novel in 1948 were severe, and Vidal’s literary career 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 an accepted practice today by many, and since it was less common in 1948, some became enraged and refused to buy any of his work (681). For years Vidal could not sell anything because he had already been labeled as an advocate of homosexuality. In an interview with Salon, Vidal said that he thought that within the next century the government would encourage homosexuality to decrease the population (3). Gore Vidal believes that children are no

Cited: Dunst 6 “Gore (Eugene Luther) Vidal (1925- ).” p.1. Online. Internet. Available: 8. Mar. 1999. “Gore Vidal.” American Writers, 1996. Rood, Karen. American Literary Almanac. New York: Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc., 1988. “The Salon Interview: Gore Vidal,” Salon pp.7. Online. Internet. Available: 9. Mar. 1999. Vidal, Gore. A Thirsty Evil. New York: Signet Books, 1956.