The Boy Who Followed Ripley by
Patricia Highsmith
Tom Ripley In Drag
Ripley is an unmistakable descendant of Gatsby, that penniless young
man without a past who will stop at nothing.—Frank Rich Now part of
American film and literary lore, Tom Ripley, a bisexual psychopath and art
forger who murders without remorse when his comforts are threatened
(New York Times Book Review), was Patricia Highsmiths favorite
creation. In The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980), Highsmith explores
Ripleys bizarrely paternal relationship with a troubled young runaway,
whose abduction draws them into Berlins seamy underworld. More than
any other American literary character, Ripley provides a lens to peer into
the sinister machinations of human behavior (John Freeman, Pittsburgh
Gazette). .
Personal Review: The Boy Who Followed Ripley by Patricia
Highsmith

In "The Boy Who Followed Ripley," the fourth in Patricia Highsmith's five-
novel series about Tom Ripley, her engaging hero continues life as a
homicidal sociopath still walking free, contented, and dangerous. Frank
Pierson, a sixteen-year-old boy from a wealthy family, has run away from
the States, read about Tom (His shaky reputation is well-known.), and
seeks him out at his villa in France. Frank's father died either by suicide,
an accident, or by his son's hand. The two are drawn together by a
common bond, rather dubious consciences. Later, Susie an old Pierson
servant, intimates that Frank and Tom are cut from the same cloth of evil
and malice.
Tom later admits to Frank that he's killed men and had no qualms or
despair over it. To him it's a fact of his life. He kills when he feels it's
necessary.
If I were Heloise, Ripley's wife, I'd be suspicious of the close relationship
between the two males, but Heloise has always been self-absorbed, an
enabler for Tom and uncritical of her husband's shady character. She even
asks her husband if the boy is gay. She is so into herself that she doesn't
seem to care what he's up to.
Tom gets along well with Heloise. He's not that interested in heterosexual
relations, and she is not sexually demanding. She's like his beard except
he never seems to be involved in sex with males.
Tom becomes Frank's idol, mentor and his doppelganger; he's the young
Tom. They become too chummy. Young Frank stays at the Ripley house,
travels all over with him. Readers know that Ripley has homosexual
tendencies, and they may wonder about this intimate connection. There is
always a gay undertone in Ripley's life, and more of it is seen in this book
than in Books Two or Three. In Berlin the two visit a gay bar like lovers,
Tom even gets in drag; supposedly as a disguise to rescue a kidnapped
Frank, but he seems to love it.
Tom in the kidnapping episode does foolish things with the ransom money,
and he can put one more notch on his killing belt. (eight so far in the
series)
Tom has loyalties to his friends but no moral compass toward humankind
in general. Tom is queasy about killing lobsters but not human beings.
Tom had never felt guilt about his homicides. He always takes more risks
than he should, flirts with danger and discovery.
Tom is always doing a lot of traveling, The trip to Hamburg could have
been dropped from the book.
Tom goes back to the States with Frank to accompany him home, strange
behavior for a married man of his age. Tom trips a noisy brat on the plane
which brings out the meanness in his make-up. Tom wondered about
Frank, "The boy adored him. Tom knew that. But love was strange too."
This is not the best book of the series; the plot is diffuse and loose; still it's
a very good, exciting book that increases our knowledge of Tom by giving
us a mirror image to bring out features of his character.
Never boring her readers, Highsmith always plunges right into the heart of
her stories. She can create a feeling in the reader of deep foreboding;
something awful is about to happen. She doesn't pull any punches. The

reader lives on the edge, in a state of unease and apprehension, feeling
afraid of what she's going to have her characters do next.
This book ends in tragedy, but in the fifth volume it doesn't seem to have
had any deep impact on Tom.
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