Medina 1

Ximena Medina
Professor Rodrick
Queer Studies 115
November 15, 2016
A Single Man
Back in the 60s being gay was a bad thing, it was a sin to be gay. Many people hid their
true identity and lived the lives of normal people. Your identity was what others expected of
you. George had to live with having to pretend to be someone he wasnt for most of his life.
George was never fully happy with his life, especially after Jim passed away. Identity has played
a major role in Georges life. It shaped who he was as a person because he felt trapped in a
society where he wasnt accepted for who he really was, to the point where he didnt desire to
live any longer, but he had to hide to his true identity to be able to fit into society.
We all have that one person who will bring out our true nature. That person will usually
be the only person we feel comfortable with showing our true emotions. For George, that person
was Jim. When George was around Jim, he was capable of showing his true identity, but once he
died, George felt that his life no longer had purpose. The novel would agree when, And it is
here, nearly every morning, that George, having reached the bottom of the stairs, has this
sensation of suddenly finding himself on an abrupt, brutally broken off, jagged edge- as though
the track had disappeared down a landslide (13) The novel suggests that George was lifeless. He
wasnt happy with the way his life was going. He had this sensation of being trapped in a life that
wasnt his. George went through his daily life in the hope that he could find someone who
understands him. People in real life feel like this sensation of being trapped because of wanting
to please others rather than themselves. They want to be viewed as the ideal human being and by

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doing so, they are secreting their true identity. The LGBTQ community is affected by this
because people are not joining their group and defending their rights instead. The people who
arent happy being someone theyre not are not fulfilling their life, therefore are like prisoners.
In life, we aspire to be accepted as we are. We arent really living until we let go of what
other people want of us. Once we are able to identify ourselves and accept that, we are truly
living then. We are living the life that we desire without keeping up with societys expectations.
At the end of the book, the author decides to kill George. The author states that, And if some
part of the nonentity we called George has indeed been absent at this moment of terminal shock,
away out there on the deep waters, then it will return to find itself homeless. (186) Isherwood is
talking about the soul of George leaving his physical body. I would like to interpret it as George
finally being free. He is now free of judgment and free to be whoever he would like to be. Now
that he has gotten over the death of Jim, he now has purpose in life. He has it all figured out and
is ready to live life as it should be.
People who are not willing to reveal their
true identity are most likely to associate
themselves with someone who is a free-spirited
person. These people dont really care about the
opinions of others. The picture on the left
suggests that it is very rare for someone to be
themselves, but that it feels good to show others
who you really are. George was always afraid of that and when he met Jim, he wasnt afraid of
that anymore. Identity is something to be proud of. We are all different and should be willing to
accept others differences. Being comfortable with your identity is the key to having a happy life.

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The LGBTQ community aspires to be able to live their lives happily without the fear of being
judged for being different.
In society, being different can be seen as something that is absolutely obscene. Not
everyone is willing to accept change in society. According to the wordpress website, it states, he
nurses resentment against a society that considers him, a gay man, to be unspeakable, a
monster (even when they are geniuses in spite of it, their masterpieces are invariably
warped) In other words, George feels that people see him as someone who isnt human.
Though people around him dont really know who he actually is, he feels that tension of people
acting different with him because these people are suspicious of his true nature. In the novel
George talks about hatred towards people without any reason. He feels very strongly about this.
The people of the LGBTQ community also feel that they are hated and people arent really
informed about what their community is all about. This makes others who havent came out of
the closet yet, afraid to come out because of the fear of being hated. Having someone who is
willing to listen to you could very well help you resolve any issues.
George finds his student Kenny to be very interested in him because he is very
mysterious. It makes George happy that someone is interested in his identity, in who he really is.
Not a lot of people take the time to get to know the real him. That hope that he has to find
someone meaningful could be Kenny. According to telegraph.co.uk, it states, he still lusts not it
is as much a symbolic meeting of minds that draws him to his student, Kenny, in the closing
scenes: Youth and Age meeting a drunken Platonic dialogue besides the ocean. George being
drunk, he thinks that he has some type of connection with his student Kenny. This scene is
significant because it has to do with the difficultness of identity. George is getting the wrong idea
of Kennys identity. He thinks that they are flirting, but in reality they are having a normal

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conversation like any other. Sometimes it may be hard to be able to tell someone elses identity,
which is why it is important for people to embrace your true identity.
Identity is the one thing that is unique. No one can or should change who we are. George
had a difficult time with that due to the era he lived in and because he grieved the death of Jim
for a while. During this time, being different seemed like a crime. The LGBTQ community looks
back at this and are more appreciative of being able to express their feelings without the fear of
getting arrested or even killed just for being queer. In a way Jim was holding George back
because he only focused on how Jim accepted him instead of using his knowledge to get other
people to accept different people. Identity is the core of our lives. Without it we arent living a
proper life for ourselves. Only we can define who we are.

Resources
Isherwood, Christopher. A Single Man. 1964
http://www.gooreads.com/book/show/16842.A_Single_Man
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
http://quotesgram.com/free-spirit-quotes/

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