Holding In Tony Kushner's Angels In America

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The Importance of Holding
While facing a life-threatening illness, one tries to hold on and control things around them. This is very prevalent in Angels in America by Tony Kushner. The hold button that Roy uses contains symbolism in regards to his control over his life and also his control over words and their meanings. Through this, one can see his continuing attempts to gain more control over his life as it is slipping away from him. Not only is Roy’s use of the hold button symbolic of his repressed gay identity, but it also enables him to assert his dominance and control over words and others.
Throughout the play, even if Roy does not expressly use the word “hold,” the symbolism of the word is demonstrated by his holding down or suppressing
His statement that “Homosexuals are men who know nobody and nobody knows” clearly expresses his fear of being alone and helpless in that he will not be able to “hold” down or assert his power over people, thus leaving him powerless (46). He is afraid of being cast aside from society and having people look down on him. This can be understood in the notion of “ men who…nobody knows,” which expresses the idea of having no power or stature in society (46). This can clearly be seen in his outrage over being disbarred. Having no power in society is his ultimate fear because he yearns to live up to his father’s expectations, namely becoming a successful lawyer, and attain social status by gaining the respect of his peers. Without this power, he is unable to dictate what happens around him and prevent things (disbarrement) from affecting his stature in society. An example of Roy commenting on how society looks down upon him and his own insecurities relating to his identity is when he says to Martin in the presence of Joe, “The disbarment committee: genteel gentlemen Brahmin lawyers, country-club men. I offend
This is shown when Roy tries to take away power from the word “homosexual” in order to demean and diminish the power that it has over him. He also does not want homosexual to define him because it would lower his social stature and the way that he views himself. “You are hung up on words, on labels, that you believe they mean what they seem to mean. AIDS. Gay. Lesbian. You think these are names that tell you who someone sleeps with, but they don’t tell you that”(46). This is a prime example of Roy trying to devalue the meaning of words, in order to reinstate his place of power. In this same passage, he takes away the upper hand that the doctor had over him, which results from the revelation of Roy having AIDS, by threatening to sue him. “They don’t tell you that” also shows very clearly that Roy is denying everything, and his obstinacy towards Henry further solidifies that (46). Roy’s focus on labels is also important because he self identifies as Jewish, but it is ironic that Roy tells Henry to not be hung up on labels because Roy uses his Jewish heritage as an excuse for being disbarred as “some sort of filthy Jewish troll?”(69) The idea of the hold button can be applied here as he is holding back who he is from everyone including himself. The use of hold symbolizes him trying to gain back control over his life as his illness and later the