A Father Figure

In Act Two Scene Four of Angels In America, Roy explains to Joe the importance of a Father-Son relationship. As Roy lectures to Joe about the importance of having someone older than you believe in you, we quickly learn that Joe's father was not a man that he felt any sort of connection with him as an adolescent. It is heartbreaking to Joe particularly as he ponders over the idea that he fails to have such support in his life, and immediately ties this sense of support to the idea that he is holding in a huge secret about his sexuality. We do not know for sure, but a reader could potentially assume that due to the idea that Joe's father did not love him might relate to the fact that he had to suppress his true feelings for men. In the conversation when Hannah and Joe speak over the phone, we learn that his mother does not approve of his sexuality and that his father never loved him. This conversation provides insight into the closed-minded, arrogant, and un-loving parents that Joe was raised by. Unfortunately, the two most valued people in the world ( a mother and father) are not the human beings Joe can run to in a crisis. It is comforting to see that Roy, in some ways, is trying to act as a fatherly figure, in my opinion. Some might say that Roy is sexually attracted to Joe, but I believe the vulnerability lies in the fact that Joe feels so alone and unwanted by a vast array of individuals that surround his everyday life.