Flamer

At its core, Flamer is about a teenage boy realizing that he is gay. The novel explores the key theme of Self-Acceptance, as Aiden will learn to accept who he is in the aggressively anti-gay culture of the 1990s. Aiden is relentlessly teased for coming across as feminine and not adhering to stereotypically male gender expectations. Throughout the novel, he must learn to love himself and embrace that being gay is part of what makes him who he is.

The novel’s opening sequence lays much of the symbolic groundwork that will be built upon as the story progresses.  It features a series of images that depict a box of matches and then a flame being struck to start a campfire. This imagery’s meaning changes throughout the novel and is contingent on the context of the scene.

In the opening sequence, the flames represent Aiden’s latent attraction to members of the same sex, which he is becoming more and more aware of each day. The derogatory term “flamer” was originally a slur for feminine men that has since been reclaimed by some members of the LGTBQ community who embrace wearing their queer identities with pride; however, given the term’s history, not everyone is comfortable with its usage.

The fire imagery in the opening captures this tension: In one frame, Aiden’s face is almost obscured by flames, conveying how much he feels consumed: Every day he is subjected to bullying about coming across as feminine or gay, which has taught him to hate and suppress his identity. The imagery also evokes the idea of being burned at the stake, reiterating the sense of persecution that Aiden feels.

In the next frame, the image of flames reflected in Aiden’s eyes intimates that his gay identity is deep inside him, a core part of who he is and something he cannot ignore. As he stares into the fire, he starts to daydream about his friend and tentmate, Elias. In his daydream, the fire burns between them, symbolizing Aiden’s desire—until he is snapped back to reality by someone at camp yelling at him because an actual fire is burning out of control. Aiden quickly douses the wild flames, symbolizing the pressure he feels to keep his desires hidden and under control.

The opening chapter also introduces how the novel uses color to represent and emphasize important feelings, ideas, and items. With most of the artwork being in black and white, the injection of reds and oranges stands out and denotes emotional weight or significance. This is evident in the example explored above, and also later in the chapter when Aiden discusses his troubled home life. As Aiden explains his father’s short temper and recounts an instance of domestic abuse, the scene is tinted red. By tinting the entire scene, rather than a coloring single object, Mike Curato captures the degree to which Aiden’s father’s anger and violence permeates their home as a constant, oppressive feeling. This is especially evident when contrasted with the panels on page 18. Here, Aiden expresses how much he likes being at camp because it is an escape from his parents arguing. The abundant white space mirrors how peaceful Aiden feels.

This chapter also explores another key theme, Growing Up as Someone Deemed “Other.” It establishes the things Aiden has to deal with on a day-to-day basis, and how it makes him feel like an outsider and contributes to his self-loathing. At school, he is subjected to constant bullying because of his weight, how he dresses, and because he is perceived as being gay.

While the other boys at camp are generally not as actively hostile toward him, they casually make anti-gay jokes and statements. For Aiden, who is coming to terms with his own sexuality, they create an environment that teaches him to feel self-hatred and disgust. As the text progresses it becomes clear how harmful this environment is for him and how much it contributes to his anxiety and self-loathing.