Parental Figures and Masculinity Theme Analysis

Parental relationships are a core feature of Deacon King Kong, and the novel highlights two such relationships in particular. The first is between Sportcoat and Deems. Sportcoat and Deems have a somewhat unconventional relationship because Deems is not Sportcoat’s son. Deems grew up without a father figure in his life, and so Sportcoat stepped in to fill that role. Sportcoat was Deems’s Sunday school teacher in church, and he taught Deems everything he knows about baseball. However, their relationship becomes strained once Deems gives up baseball to start selling drugs. Not wanting Deems to continue down this destructive path, Sportcoat shoots Deems, though Deems ultimately survives the attack. At the end of the novel, Sportcoat explains to Deems that he shot him because he didn’t want Deems to end up like him—old, alone, and destroyed by drugs. Although Sportcoat’s extreme, Sportcoat’s actions are motivated by his desire for Deems to have a better life. This is why he repeatedly comes to Deems and asks him to return to baseball, no matter how many times Deems rejects him and treats him poorly. 

Meanwhile, the relationship between Elefante and his deceased father (Mr. Elefante) more closely resembles a typical father-son relationship . Although Elefante’s father was rather stoic and quiet, he always tried his best to show Elefante that he cares for him, and he always acted in the best interest of his family. Through his father, Elefante learns a moral code, not unlike the one the Five Ends Church preaches, that he uses to navigate the troubled world that is late-1960s Brooklyn. Like Sportcoat, Elefante’s father makes sure his son is taken care of. Before he dies, he leaves the Venus statue—a valuable artifact that will ensure his family is financially stable for life—hidden in the Five Ends Church, knowing his son will find it one day, which will in turn allow Elefante to have a better life than he did. Ultimately, although these relationships are far from perfect, they point to a model of masculinity and male relationships that seeks moral improvement and stability in a chaotic and immoral world.