Whale Talk

A central need of all human beings, especiallyyoung adults who are coming of age, is the need to strike a balance between individuality and belonging. The relationship that develops between the members of the Mermen is the primary means by which Crutcher illustrates the power of this need.

Most of the young adults in the novel (including T.J.) have had a lonely individuality thrust upon them. Andy Mott, the survivor of an attack by a notorious child abuser, and Jackie Craig, the perennially silent swimmer, illustrate how young adults find themselves on the outside looking in and how they attempt to deal with their exclusion from in-groups. Andy is a discipline problem at school. He flips off the entire school during the sports team assembly, and his air of potential violence frightens all who encounter him. Rather than hiding his prosthetic leg, he flaunts it, using it as a flag for his difference during the awards ceremony at the end of the school year. His exterior toughness allows him to weather his loneliness, but his quiet confessions on the bus make it clear that there is damage underneath that veneer.

Jackie Craig, on the other hand, is most remarkable to his teammates because of his invisibility and his silence. His method of dealing with his loneliness is to assume that at any time any sense of belonging he has will be taken away from him. His distraught confession at the end of the season that his silence was the equivalent of being still around “a mean dog” (251) shows that for Jackie, the possibility of the loss of belonging is just as much a threat as being a lonely individual.

The sense of identity that each swimmer derives from belonging to a group with an established identity is powerful and transformative. The benefits that the Mermen derive from belonging include a greater comfort with forging relationships, improved academic performance, improved physical fitness, and improved mental health. While T.J.’s main objective in forming the team is to destroy a social order that creates insiders who are athletes and outsiders who are non-athletes, his greatest achievement is the creation of a safe social space for the misfits who make up the swim team.

While most of the discussion around belonging and difference in the novel is focused on athletics, race and racial identity also play a role in the lives of the characters and the community. T.J., who derisively describes himself as “African-American [sic], Japanese-American, and…Northern European American” at the start of the novel (2),is the primary voice for this discussion. His perspective on the significance of raceisthat it is congruent with a person’s skin color, which is “only an indication of his or her geographical ancestry” (102). The accident of T.J.’s skin color is consequential, however, since it inspires his would-be father to abandon his biological mother.

T.J.’s primary experience of his racial identity is one in which it marks him as different from his family and the racially-homogenous Northwestin which he grows up. Race is what makes him subject to the contempt, abuse, and exclusionary acts of people as dangerous as Rich and as mean-spirited but relatively harmless as the parents of his third-grade crush. To be black or any person of color means being in danger, a point John Paul makes to him when he warns him about acts of violence perpetrated by white supremacists (108). Heidi’s experiences, especially her abuse at the hands of Rich and the damage her internalization of his racist ideas does to her psyche, is only the most obvious evidence that race as a construct is seen as one that does more harm than good.

In keeping with this perspective on racial identity, there are few affirmative definitions of what it is to be a multiracial person of African descent or to be black. When people of color do appear, the references are ones that de-emphasize race. Arthur Ashe, whose interview is used to critique athletes’ sense of entitlement, was not just a “tennis great” (26). He was more widely known as an African-American first in several categories of tennis achievements. Bob Marley, whose music is the soundtrack for Heidi’s moment of joy atop T.J.’s shoulders, was most known for his embrace of African culture across geographic boundaries, epitomized by the reggae music he created. Georgia, identified as “mixed race” by T.J., is allowed to call T.J. “peanut head” because of this racial mix (68). Nevertheless, her race is incidental to her important role in T.J.’s life.

In Whale Talk,racial identity is an arena in which T.J. experiences more alienation and that accounts for his sense that he is an outsider. Race, as a result, is simply an incidental difference that would not matter if the world reached an ideal colorblind state.

Whale Talk is a novel that explores the many meanings of what it is to be a family. As the protagonist, T.J. is the character who most grapples with what it means to be adopted. Heidi, the child of a blended family (she is Rich’s stepdaughter), shows some of the downsides of what happens when families fail to cohere around common values. The many failed traditional families in the novel show that such families are not always ideal for nurturing children.

T.J.’s sense that he is different is not just a result of skin color or race. He immediately follows his discussion of his racial identity at the start of the novel by identifying himself as “[a]dopted” (2). Nevertheless, his perspective on the significance of being adopted is that it was without question good because he landed in a caring, loving home of two competent parents who rescued him from an abusive, neglectful mother. His comment that being adopted is no big deal since it puts him in the company of Superman is the measure of how positive his perspective is on being adopted (2).

Cross-racial adoption, in which the adoptive parents are from a different racial background than their children, is sometimes seen as controversial, but T.J. seems to have had a largely positive experience despite the differences.What happens to Heidi as the daughter in a blended family headed by Rich Marshall shows the flipside of outcomes for cross-racial adoption, however. Rich changes her name from Felicia to Heidi to efface the little girl’s racial identity and parentage, and his particular form of abuse deeply traumatizes the little girl (99).Rich’s racism shapes Heidi’s experience, which culminates in his effort to kill her because she represents his racial fears and his desire to control Alicia.

Traditional families can also fail to nurture children.Carly Hudson, T.J.’s girlfriend, grows up in a nuclear family that has all the characteristics of the traditional family. Her parents are affluent, she has a mother, she has a father, the family lives in comfortable physical conditions, and there is one boy and one girl. Despite the traditional configuration of the family, Carly’s father is an abusive man who beats her mother and tries to do the same to Carly until she threatens to expose the violence that occurs in their home. The homes of traditional families are frequently places where women and children are victimized and internalize their sense of powerlessness even after they escape these homes.

Other forms of family are more metaphorical or temporary in nature. Alicia and her children live with the Jones family temporarily so that she can learn the parenting skills needed to care for her family. This form of fostering is presented as a positive thing, but it also brings danger and violence into the Jones family. T.J., unrelated by blood to Kyle, the widow’s son, nevertheless feels an instant sense of connection with him because they can bond over their longing for the presence of their father, John Paul.The Mermen, while not a family in the traditional sense of the word, have two responsible adults who mentor young people in desperate need of nurturing.

In the world of Whale Talk,a nurturing family can take almost any configuration as long as the adults in the family uphold values of respect and care. On the other hand, family members can be the biggest threats to the wellbeing of children.