Queer Waiting (to Get Caught) in Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley

Abstract

Queer Waiting (to Get Caught) in Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley

This article presents an interpretation of The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) by Patricia Highsmith. At the center is Tom Ripley, the novel’s protagonist, a closeted serial killer suffering from profound internalized homophobia. Throughout the narrative, Tom waits in a variety of ways. The article examines how the phenomenon of waiting is rendered in Highsmith’s novel, what Tom waits for, and how waiting affects him. Furthermore, it emphasizes how waiting and queerness intersect in the text while simultaneously investigating if Tom’s antagonistic traits are enhanced because he is forced to endure waiting. Theoretically, the concept of queer waiting (von Seth 2025) influences the interpretation. Queer waiting suggests that although waiting is a universal human activity and inescapable feature of life, queer people experience waiting in unique ways. Broadly, the article demonstrates that Tom Ripley embodies a cluster of antagonism, queerness, and waiting. He awaits getting caught for his crimes and experiences a sort of waiting to be outed as queer. Also, Tom waits for attention from the man he desires, his straight friend Dickie. Ultimately, the article concludes that it is because Dickie strings Tom along that Tom’s antagonism is expressed violently.