Young Mungo

Stuart explores issues of vulnerability, and courage in the face of vulnerability. These issues are informed by society and cultural norms, as well as intersectionality.

The hyper-masculinity of Hamish demonstrates that men repress vulnerability as a form of survival. But in these chapters, Stuart also reveals how male friendship can be a healthy step in forming and informing vulnerability. Mungo’s new friendship with James is born out of courage: The two very hurt and vulnerable boys disclose their emotions to one another. James is open about the problems in his family, his isolation, his loneliness, and his grief about the death of his mother. In turn, Mungo is open with James about his own familial problems. They connect over maternal abandonment. Though Mungo still has his mother, her presence brings conflict, not safety. James’s loss of his mother leaves a profound hole in his life. Notably, James and Mungo don’t contrast their traumas as a competition. Instead, they meet one another where they are and build trust. When James asks Mungo to spend the night with him, it is a rare example of a boy asking for help and admitting to loneliness. Together, they cuddle—a physical expression of affection that is both sexual and comforting. Still, the night makes James feel ashamed and creates distance between Mungo and his new friend. This reveals that as much as boys are in need of affection, care, and help, asking for and receiving this makes them embarrassed. In the chapters in which Mungo is in the Scottish countryside, he often thinks of James, implying that their friendship does not end after that night. Furthermore, it is implicitly foreshadowed that something happens between them that leads to Mungo’s predicament in the countryside.

Mr. Calhoun demonstrates that showing vulnerability is dangerous, but also humanizing. The taunted Mr. Calhoun exemplifies what happens to men who do not perform the violent heteronormativity that characterizes ideas of masculinity in his society. Mr. Calhoun is friendless, though he extends kindness to others. He is mocked, though he demonstrates patience. Mr. Calhoun is vilified for being who he is. Still, Mr. Calhoun doesn’t run and hide, nor does he fight back—though the five locks on his door reveal that he is not deluded about being a target. Mr. Calhoun’s refusal to flee demonstrates another aspect of the same kind of courage that prompted James to open up to Mungo—a different, but valid expression of masculinity. Rather than change or pretend to change for the benefit of others, he remains true to himself, though this comes with accusations of pedophilia and homosexuality. Such an attitude is radical to the other people in the neighborhood, which makes Mr. Calhoun seem dangerous and subversive. His nonconformity, more than his homosexuality, is what truly sets him apart.

Jodie also struggles with vulnerability. Her relationship with Mr. Gillespie positions her in the role of victim. Jodie’s kindness and intelligence, as well as her desire not to end up like her mother, don’t help her avoid the grooming and sexual abuse of a teacher. Like other girls in her neighborhood, Jodie is seduced by a seemingly stable man who boosts her self-esteem and promises her an idyllic future far from the sadness and poverty of her present. That her boyfriend is a teacher heightens the betrayal: Mr. Gillespie abuses his power and authority, cruelly using Jodie’s dreams of university as a way to gain access to her body. Jodie doesn’t enjoy sex and she knows that having an affair with her married teacher is not right. Still, Mr. Gillespie gives her positive affirmation, not making her feel as put and underappreciated as everyone else does. But this relationship ends in predictable disaster: Mr. Gillespie abandons her when she finds out she’s pregnant. Rather than helping her, he accuses her of having sex with other people and makes her feel like trash. At this point, Jodie chooses to avoid the same vulnerability that trapped her mother, courageously having a secretive abortion to keep her future options open. This demonstrates her fortitude: Jodie is unwilling to take the expected route of becoming yet another unwed teenage mother.

Hamish and Mungo’s outing to the castle demonstrates a new layer to Hamish’s character. He can be kind, empathetic, affectionate, and playful away from the pressures to be hyper-masculine and tough. Stuart argues that people are a product of their society, not inherently prone to instability or destruction. Given where he lives, however, Hamish must repress the more vulnerable parts of his nature—if he doesn’t fulfill his society’s expectations for him, he risks ostracization and abuse, like Mr. Calhoun. Hamish has learned that it’s better to be in charge and be feared, a position that enables him to look after his family, defend his brother, and survive. But in embracing and mastering this role, Hamish has given up vulnerability—and the courage that comes from being vulnerable in the right way.

Mungo finds himself in more than one vulnerable situation, and he is abused for this vulnerability. He makes himself vulnerable in his friendship with James, which is a good thing. However, the novelty of this vulnerability, and lack of role models for how to be this kind of man, threatens to break the nascent relationship between two boys that is not based on violence and hierarchy. Mungo is also emotionally open to sublimity of nature in the countryside. The Scottish landscape is ancient, beautiful, silent, and awe-inspiring, making Mungo feel small but beautiful within it. This connection is meaningful, showing the depths of Mungo’s aesthetic sense and his potential in the greater world.

Mungo’s physical vulnerability in the forest is extreme. Gallowgate and St. Christopher prove to be formidable dangers. St. Christopher sexually assaults Mungo and Gallowgate rapes him while ostensibly comforting Mungo after the molestation by St. Christopher. What’s more, both men excuse their behavior as part of the male experience. The implication is that Gallowgate and St. Christopher are themselves victims of sexual abuse and are now, as adults, replicating cycles of abuse. However, there is nothing sympathetic about Mungo’s abusers, who cynically use the fact that Mungo’s mother suspects that he might be gay as a way to diffuse his threats of reporting them. Knowing the community’s deep anti-gay bias, the men remind Mungo that he can’t tell anyone for fear of being ostracized for having sex (consensual or not) with a man—Mungo would be treated the same way as Mr. Calhoun. Even in this extremis of vulnerability, however, Mungo displays tremendous courage. He confronts both men separately for their sexual abuse, though their sadistic responses (accusing Mungo of enjoying and desiring the rape) reveal that they do not see him as human.

Ultimately, Stuart points out, the capacity to be violent does have a place in civilized and peaceful society—when necessary for self-defense. Mungo is not by nature violent, and his character is characterized by his gentleness and compassion. But Mungo can be driven to the brink, killing St. Christopher to survive and to reclaim his dignity. In a way, Mo-Maw gets what she wants: By undergoing rape and the threat of more debasement and dehumanization, Mungo acts like the other boys in his neighborhood who embrace male bravado. He leans into violence and overpowers another man. This is the type of behavior that is celebrated in his neighborhood. This shows how society abuses boys until they have no choice but to respond with brutality.