Content Warning: This section discusses anti-gay bias, including conversion therapy. It also references racism and sexual assault.

“So there we was in the dance hall amid all of those sweaty, horny youngsters (relatively speaking) swivelling their hips effortlessly. And there was I trying to move my hips in a similar Hula-Hoop fashion, except these days it feels more like opening a rusty tin of soup with an old-fashioned can opener. I’m trying to bend my knees without showing any pain on my face and without accidentally goin’ too far down, because I know I won’t be able to get up again.”

This quote highlights Barry’s aging body and the concerns that come with it. Elderly gay men, especially of color, are not often the focus of literature. This novel purposefully explores these identity intersections.

“What is more, we must believe that our best years are ahead of us, not behind us.”

Despite his aging body, Barry insists that he should still be able to enjoy himself and live life to the fullest. He wants to finally be with his true love, Morris, and argues that it’s not too late.

“And so what if me and my people choose to mash up the h-english linguish whenever we feel like it, drop our prepositions with our panties, piss in the pot of correct syntax and spelling, and mangle our grammar at random? Is this not our postmodern, postcolonial prerogative?”

Barry’s speech is inflected by Caribbean patois, but he knows standard English. His choice of words and nonstandard grammar are forms of cultural expression that he’s proud of. The comparison to sex (“drop our prepositions with our panties”) and the image of “piss[ing] in the pot” also make it clear that Barry’s use of language is a subversive act—a deliberate “mangling” of the language of colonization.