[Sample B: Approval/Signature Sheet] - George Mason University

Libran. He is capable of seeing the other side,” and is “sitting on the scales, ready to be
tilted either way.” 353
Part of Ferrie’s attempt to influence Oswald involves sex. Oswald, in DeLillo’s
novel, is also balancing between heterosexuality and homosexuality. Near the beginning
of the novel, a teenage Oswald encounters Ferrie in the Civil Air Patrol and then with a
friend as they seek to buy a handgun. The friend leaves Ferrie and Oswald alone,
apparently disturbed by the pilot’s strangeness and creepy sexuality. In real life, Ferrie
suffered from a skin condition that caused him to be hairless, and he would paste fake
hair on his head and as his eyebrows. He was fired as a airline pilot because of his
blatant homosexuality and alleged pedophilia. In the scene with Ferrie, Oswald “wanted
to leave but found himself just standing there grinning stupidly.” He seems oblivious to
Ferrie’s sexual undertones. Ferrie tells Oswald he is “a boy with intelligent eyes,” and
asks “Tell me about your eyes.” 354
Years later as the Kennedy plot unfolds in New Orleans, Ferrie and Oswald are
together with a woman. Ferrie undoes Oswald’s zipper and the woman helps Lee
ejaculate. Ferrie is moving toward approaching Oswald sexually himself. In a later
scene, Ferrie gets on top of Oswald on a sofa: “Ferrie was breathing all over him,
covering his head and neck with heavy breath. Then he felt it on his pants, seeping
in.” 355 This is all part of Ferrie’s attempts to tip the scale. “’Think of two parallel
lines,’” he tell Oswald. “‘One is the life of Lee H. Oswald. One is the conspiracy to kill
353 DeLillo, 319.
354 DeLillo, 44.
355 DeLillo, 341.
158