History Literature / TheWorldAccordingToGarp

* [[invoked]]FatalMethodActing: [[spoiler:Jenny is assassinated while giving a speech. Her last words are "Most of you know who I am"... a statement greeted by warm laughter from the crowd, as by then Jenny is internationally famous and her assumption that "most" of them know who she is indicative of her characteristic modesty.]]

* AuthorAvatar: Garp for Irving. Irving's CV strongly resembles that of Garp. An illegitimate child, he grew up at a prestigious prep school where he wrestled and ran track. After school, he toured Austria. As an adult, he worked as a wrestling coach and a novelist and had two sons [[spoiler: although both are alive]]. Young Irving also bears a strong physical resemblance to the fictional Garp.

** Garp is unable to recall the name of his son's friend Ralph's mother. In his head, he refers to her as "Mrs. Ralph," ultimately embarrassing himself when he slips and calls her "Mrs. Ralph" to her face. She's called "Mrs. Ralph" in the narrative right up until the very end of the book, when the epilogue finally gives her real name: [[spoiler: Florence Bowlsby]].

* KnownOnlyByTheirNickname: The Percy siblings ''have'' real names but end up with embarrassing cutesy nicknames--Cushie, Dopey, Pooh--that they all end up wearing well into adulthood, to the point that everyone's forgotten their real names. (In Dopey's case, he only gets back his real name--Randolph--posthumously, when his family realize that saying "Dopey's dead" sounds ridiculous.)

** A RunningJoke in the film adaptation is that Garp invents a name whenever someone asks him about the initials ("What's the T.S. stand for?" "Terrible Sexy. It used to be Terribly Shy, but I've changed.").

** The Percy siblings ''have'' real names but end up with embarrassing cutesy nicknames--Cushie, Dopey, Pooh--that they all end up wearing well into adulthood, to the point that everyone's forgotten their real names. (In Dopey's case, he only gets back his real name--Randolph--posthumously, when his family realize that saying "Dopey's dead" sounds ridiculous.)

A [[TheFilmOfTheBook film version]] directed by George Roy Hill, who wrote the screenplay adaptation along with Steve Tesich, was released in 1982. It stars Creator/RobinWilliams as Garp, along with Mary Beth Hurt, Creator/GlennClose, Creator/JohnLithgow, Creator/HumeCronyn, and Creator/JessicaTandy.

* {{Asexual}}: Jenny Fields, who finds the very concept of sexual attraction unspeakably vile. The only sex she ever has is when she rapes Garp's father to conceive him.
* AuthorAppeal: Sex, bears, and wrestling.
* AuthorAvatar: Garp for Irving.
** Irving's CV strongly resembles that of Garp. An illegitimate child, he grew up at a prestigious prep school where he wrestled and ran track. After school, he toured Austria. As an adult, he worked as a wrestling coach and a novelist and had two sons [[spoiler: although both are alive]]. Young Irving also bears a strong physical resemblance to the fictional Garp.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: A running theme in the book.

* AutoErotica : Ends in the most tragic way, including [[spoiler: GroinAttack wherein one party has his penis bitten off, and EyeScream where Garp's son loses an eye to the gearshift. Ouch.]]

* BoardingSchool / OneGenderSchool : The prep school where Garp is allowed to attend as the son of a staff member. A fictional version of Irving's own prep school, Exeter.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale : Jenny's conception of Garp. Most definitely not okay, as Garp's father was a bed-bound patient in the hospital where she worked. Later, when Jenny publishes a tell-all autobiography, she matter-of-factly admits to the rape, which is largely interpreted as a highly empowering feminist act that inspires many women to "do a Jenny Fields" of their own.
** TheFilmOfTheBook at least pauses to call the act rape, and Dean Bodgers expresses horror over it. In all fairness, the dying Garp did say "Good" during the act, according to Jenny's recitation of the event.
* ElectiveMute : Of an extreme kind: The Ellen Jamesians are a group of [[StrawFeminist radical feminists]] who cut out their tongues in support of a young rape victim.
* EmbarrassingNickname : Cushion and Pooh.
* [[invoked]]FatalMethodActing: [[spoiler:Jenny is assassinated while giving a speech. Her last words are "Most of you know who I am"...a statement greeted by warm laughter from the crowd, as by then Jenny is internationally famous and her assumption that "most" of them know who she is indicative of her characteristic modesty.]]

* {{Transgender}}: A former tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles, Roberta Muldoon becomes a close friend to the Garp family and a fervent supporter/bodyguard for Garp's mother Jenny.

A [[TheFilmOfTheBook film version]] directed by George Roy Hill, who wrote the screenplay adaptation along with Steve Tesich, was released in 1982. It stars Creator/RobinWilliams as Garp, along with Mary Beth Hurt, Creator/GlennClose, and Creator/JohnLithgow.

** TheFilmOfTheBook at least pauses to call the act rape, and Dean Bodgers expresses horror over it.

* InfantImmortality : Inverted.

* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Jenny names her kid "Garp" because the only word his father could speak was his own last name--Garp. Jenny never knew his first name. When pressed, she tells her parents that the baby's first name is T.S. (for "technical sergeant," the father's military rank); otherwise his name would have legally been [[RepetativeName "Garp Garp"]]. Later in life, young Garp has to explain to teachers that the initials are the only first name his mother gave him. Small wonder he just went with Garp.

* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Jenny names her kid "Garp" because that was the only word his father could speak when the baby was conceived. Later in life, he has to explain to teachers that that's his whole name--it's the only name his mother gave him.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_717.jpeg]]

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: Both Garp and his wife.]]

** The Percy siblings ''have'' real names but end up with embarrassing cutesy nicknames--Cushie, Dopey, Pooh--that they all end up wearing well into adulthood. (In Dopey's case, he only gets back his real name--Randolph--posthumously, when his family realize that saying "Dopey's dead" sounds ridiculous.)

* [[invoked]]FatalMethodActing: [[spoiler:Jenny is assassinated while giving a speech. Her last words were "Some of you know who I am."]]

* WhoNamesTheirKidDude Garp, Cushie and Pooh.

* WhatTheHellHero: Jenny, who is largely portrayed as a strong, practical, pragmatic woman who can always be counted to take up the right side of any issue, even if her position is unpopular, is held completely unaccountable for the rape of Garp's dying father. The rape is treated as an inspirational act at best, and a punchline at worst. In a book where one of the running motifs is the bad decisions of basically good people, where motivations and consequences are usually thoroughly explored, the omission is rather glaring.

* StrawFeminist: ZigZag. Irving explores feminism from a man's perspective, between Jenny's role as an "icon" to the Ellen Jamesians to his friendship with transsexual Roberta Muldoon.
* {{Transsexual}}: A former tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles, Roberta Muldoon becomes a close friend to the Garp family and a fervent supporter/bodyguard for Garp's mother Jenny.

* {{Asexual}}: Jenny Fields, who finds the very concept of sexual attraction unspeakably vile.