“[Fried Green Tomatoes] represents around the issue of lesbianism, depicting a strong and intense friendship between two white women (the tomboy Idgie Threadgoode and the fern Ruth Jamison), but never committing itself one way or another” (Pelligrini 7). There have not been many stories written about homosexuality in the first half of the twentieth century. That is why Fannie Flagg d

However, the most overwhelming proof of Idgie and Ruth’s homosexual relationship came when Ruth finally makes it back from Georgia. It happens when Ruth is talking to Momma and Poppa Threadgoode about staying in Whistle Stop for good. They way the whole scene plays out is much the same way as when a man asks for a woman’s hand in marriage. It became most apparent when Momma Threadgoode tells Ruth, “Poppa and I just want you to know that we think of you as one of the family now, and we couldn’t be happier for our little girl to have such a sweet companion as you.” (FGT 199). That was when Idgie and Ruth officially become a couple, not just friends anymore. They would be together until Ruth dies and they would suffer through the same struggles as any other couple, but they are not like every other couple.

It is this undying love for each other that makes their relationship much more than just a friendship. During those four years that they were apart, all Ruth does is pray that she could have Idgie back. “But sometimes, in the middle of a crowd or alone at night, she never knew when it was going to happen, Idgie would suddenly come to mind, and she would want to see her so bad that the pain of longing for her sometimes took her breath away.” (FGT 194). Idgie loves Ruth more than anything in the world, and Ruth feels the same way about Idgie.

to help him through. “All those bad times, he would just close his eyes and walk into the café again and see her standing there, smiling at him.” Smokey’s love and memories of the café and of Ruth more than likely is what kept him alive for a good portion of the novel. Nostalgia not only allows us to cope with difficult situations in life but also transcends it and comforts us in death. “The… man in the hotel lobby walked over and shook the smiling Atris O. Peavey, who was now quiet and still. ‘What’s the matter with you?’ The man jumped back ‘Jesus Christ! This nigger is dead!’…. But Artis was still way up in the woods with his barbecue.” It seems appropriate that after such a difficult life, Artis passes and returns to a time in which he was truly content. The most obvious example of a character that uses nostalgia is Mrs. Threadgoode. Through the entire novel she narrates a wonderful story, of love, hate, joy, sorrow and even murder. She recollects the days that she and he!

Most people would think that a lesbian couple back in the 1920’s and 30’s would have been and was unheard of. So, the question begs to be asked, how could Whistle Stop, a small town in Alabama, be so accepting of something so different than the norm; a lesbian couple? It could be that they were not like any other towns back in those days. After all, they were much more accepting of and caring towards the blacks in the town; which was also unheard of in that time. However, it is not that, it is the fact that everyone in the community considers Idgie a man. They know she is a woman, but they think of her as “one of the guys”. She plays cards like a man, drinks like a man, and even dresses like a man. When she goes to Georgia and threatens Frank Bennett in the barbershop, even the barber thinks that Idgie is a guy, “He looked Frank in the mirror and said, ‘That boy must be crazy.’” (FGT 189).

Another sign of Idgie and Ruth’s homosexual relationship is the episode where Idgie goes crazy when Ruth has to leave to get married after the summer they spent together.

Human Nature, it’s our instinct, our reaction, our thoughts, and our ability to make decisions. It has been examined from every conceivable angle. It has been scrutinized, interrogated, glorified and even corrupted by every medium in the world, but none so extensively as the written word. Literature has explored every component of human nature from pride to envy and insecurity to depression. Fannie Flagg’s novel FRIED GREEN TOMATOES pays particular attention to human natu

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