Pierce Livingston

November 16, 2014

Actor's Repertory
Book Club #2
Book Club Letter #3: Theme
The Goat presents topics of beastiality, adultery, homophobia, moral responsibility, and moral
relatively. These topics create a situation where the reader is forced to question where exactly to limit
freedom and choice in a liberal society. One of my themes is Consider all factors when deciding
morality. Martin is distasteful of Billy's homosexuality due to his belief that gay people are nothing
but promiscuous sexual deviants. If Martin considered that Billy could be looking for a real relationship
rather than sexual encounters with strangers, he might change his views on homosexuality. In contrast,
Martin justifies his affair with Sylvia with his belief that they are in a love. However, Sylvia is an
animal, and unable to express any kind of romantic feeling. Martin's belief comes from the look
Sylvia gave him, but this was most likely a misinterpretation on his part, because (again) Sylvia is an
animal.
Martin's misinterpretation of Sylvia's actions leads into my other theme, Don't let your
thoughts define you or your actions. I believe Martin suffered from intrusive thoughts, which are
unwelcome involuntary thoughts, images, or unpleasant ideas. Martin makes an excellent commentary
on this in scene 3. In the scene, Ross walks in on a sobbing Billy kissing Martin. Martin explains that
while Billy feels a platonic love for his father, there was a moment of disconnect in his brain causing
Billy to confuse his platonic love for romantic love and kiss his father. Martin continues by stating that
it was just a moment and does not mean anything since it is over now. Likewise, Martin can apply this
logic to his affair. Had Martin ignored the thought that Sylvia is in love with him, and thought of it as
just a moment and left it alone, the entire conflict could have been avoided.