Introduction
Summary of “Boys Go to Jupiter”
“Boys Go to Jupiter” by Danielle Evans is a captivating and thought-provoking commentary on the modern United States of America. The short story follows Claire, a typical White American college girl. She is gifted a bikini with a Confederate flag design by her Florida boyfriend, who proceeds to post a picture of her in the bikini online.
Although Claire was not trying to make a racial statement or had even consented to the picture being posted, it is perceived as a racist comment by her Black hallmate. The situation blows up to extreme proportions, with various groups and individuals advocating for and against Claire, whose only desire seems to be getting left alone. The protagonist, whose past is interweaved with the telling of the present events, is shown to be a complex individual. However, the story ends with a prolonged awkward silence in the Town Hall, giving Claire no opportunities to defend herself.
Cancel Culture
Public shaming has been around for thousands of years, with crowds of spectators shouting threats and throwing tomatoes at the convicted. However, in today’s increasingly globalized and digitized world, the public does not even have to be physically present to torture the accused. Although “doxxing,” or “renrou sousuo,” are Internet phenomena meaning the usually malicious search and reveal of personal information, the consequences of it are often taken into the offline world (Mishan 1).
Recently, there has been a rise in the popularity of the “Cancel Culture,” the vague social vigilante concept that often leads to people being outcasted and even stalked and harassed (Mishan 1). The Cancel Culture chooses a scapegoat and probes it until something worthy of shaming comes out, including old tweets, family history, or other things. The highly individualistic American people become a part of a bigger group, intimidating and harassing people for the sake of entertainment. Furthermore, the issue becomes less about the original problem and more about the interpretations the third parties have on it.
Thesis Paragraph
Danielle Evans’ “Boys Go to Jupiter” is exemplary in demonstrating the vicious nature of Cancel Culture. The author introduces the seemingly indifferent protagonist and proceeds to create the complexity of the character based on past experiences, which makes readers sympathize with her in the end. Claire’s morally questionable actions are counterbalanced with the events in her past, such as the death of her mother and of her Black childhood friend, creating a thought-provoking scenario.
Unlike the other characters in the text, the readers get the benefit of understanding Claire’s side of the story. Danielle Evans highlights the danger of silence as a part of Cancel Culture and the inability to defend oneself. After all, once the crowd starts openly criticizing or accusing someone, they frequently do not want to listen to the opposing party’s arguments but rather merely initiate hateful discussions. Furthermore, Evans comments on the current racial matters in the United States and the stereotypes and assumptions detrimental to peace.
Body Paragraphs
The protagonist of the story is introduced as an ordinary college girl who is not particularly interested in the main symbol of the text, the Confederate flag. However, although Claire does not mean to make a particular comment on the politics of the Confederate flag by wearing the bikini, she inadvertently becomes an advocate for her boyfriend’s beliefs. Although Claire is not portrayed as an unintelligent or uninformed individual, implying that she knows the connotations of the flag in the modern day, she does not seem to care about politics.
The symbol “isn’t even Claire’s thing”, “the flag stuff is Jackson’s”, Evans explains to the reader (638). Starting the story with these statements is interesting, as it introduces a theme that prevails throughout the text. Evans accentuates the fact that conflicts are often disputed by people that are not even directly involved in them, which is a comment relevant for both the topics of race matters and Cancel Culture. Even more, it frequently demonstrates the ignorant nature of the accusers, who are deaf to reasoning and merely want to participate in the discussion.
The direct involvement of third parties can be detrimental to conflict resolution, as it means people that are not fully informed on the issue decrease the control that actual participants have on the situation. This means that people are not always able to defend themselves, such as in the case of Claire and Aaron. However, it also means that the accuser’s claims can be exaggerated and taken out of the original context.
In the case of Aaron, no matter the noble intentions of the drunken party-goers, he is killed because of their perception of the events as him attacking Claire. The incident is “dismissed before Claire has anything to say in public” and the silence means that no attention is given to the underlying reasons for Aaron’s death (Evans 658). The accident had multiple people commenting on it and the reasons behind it, with Seraphin emphatically mentioning that “he should have just pulled over and explained” (Evans 658). However, the person that was actually there, Claire, does not get to make a comment, silenced once again.
One of the biggest tragedies of the story, apart from the deaths, is the loss of the genuine friendship Claire and Angela had throughout their childhood. Arguably, Angela could have been the one person that would be able to advocate for Claire on her behalf due to their close relationship. Angela could have been the one person to console and comfort Claire when her mother died, and Claire could do the same for Angela when Aaron did.
However, continuing the theme of silence, the two girls shut each other out instead of being the support they both needed to be for each other. In this sense, the dismissal of friendship occurs not only on a personal level but is also vastly affected by the surrounding people who initiated the hot-blooded debate. In a way, this is a micro-example of Cancel Culture in itself, with the use of silence as the most powerful attacking method.
The silence that the accusers in the Town Hall subject Claire to is deafening and a powerful ending to the story. Claire remains defenseless, unable to “resist this enveloping silence” (Evans 661). This tactic is the most vigorous as it will always leave the individual or group silencing the other party as a winner since the other party is unable to clear their name in any way. Furthermore, it is a peaceful tactic, as it uses soft power instead of physical. However, it can also lead to unfortunate ends to events, such as in the case of Aaron as an extreme example.
Cancel Culture does not take interest in the person, only in the humiliating and complete defeat of him. Therefore, it is cruel and leaves no path for the person being attacked to explain oneself or to change. Cancel Culture assumes everyone that is accused is guilty and cannot be convinced otherwise. The toxicity of such culture is incredibly damaging to individuals, especially those unwilling to play by the Cancel Culture rules.
Conclusion
Evans does a great job showing the effects of underlying race issues that are tied together with the Cancel Culture. The main focus is on the defenseless nature of both the victims and the perpetrators and the blowing out of proportion of actions and events by people not directly involved. The story invites the reader to take a second look at the seemingly noble actions that might end up being detrimental instead. Evans introduces the idea that people should not be as quick to judge others are they often are, no matter the intentions, and should allow for a defense from the accused.
Unfortunately, this is frequently not the case for the contemporary Cancel Culture, since the majority of people take the straightforward approach. Naturally, it is easier to believe the accused side and go with the flow of the discussion rather than critically analyze the arguments of each party. Ultimately, sometimes it is difficult to know what exactly the situation is until all the perspectives are shared, hence it is impossible to make informed decisions in those cases.
Works Cited
Evans, Danielle. “Boys Go to Jupiter.” Sewanee Review, vol. 125 no. 4, 2017, p. 638-661.
Mishan, Ligaya. “The Long and Tortured History of Cancel Culture.” The New York Times Style Magazine, 2020, pp. 1-8.