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Mary Pineda
Jennifer Rodrick
QS 115
19 November, 2016
A Single Man Essay
In the novel A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood, the character George Falconer goes
through a series of changes in his perception up until his untimely (timely?) death in the end of
the book. In the beginning George is written in a way that lets the reader believe that he couldnt
possibly be a lively man or character based on his perception of the world around him and his
thoughts on the people who surround him. Throughout the novel he ties in experiences that he
has with his partner Jim and lets his death shape the way he looks at people. Towards the end of
Georges journey, he begins to have experiences that bring the color out in what he made a grey
color world after his partner died. I believe that George has let Jims death shape his identity and
his actions, up until the end where he doesnt think of Jim and becomes free from his thoughts. I
wanted to talk about how George actually ties Jim into what he does now from waking up and
starting his day, to interacting with his neighbors, how he copes with Jims death with anger and
depression and how it makes it difficult to mourn his partner properly.
Throughout the first couple of pages Isherwood writes George in a way that separates
what I believe is body and mind from personality. He awakens and gets up in such a manner that
could be described as robotic. Lacking any sort of personality in his morning routine, Isherwood
writes But meanwhile the cortex, that grim disciplinarian, has taken its place at the central
controls and has been testing them, one after another: the legs stretch, the lower back is arched,
the fingers clench and relax. And now, over the entire intercommunication system, is issued the

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first general order of the day: UP. (Christopher Isherwood, 2016, p. 6). Then he goes on to
describe George but instead of using his name he uses the pronoun It, possibly as a way to take
away even more personality from George, leaving him to be this robotic figure in the shape of a
fifty-eight year old man. And through his morning routine of just getting up and getting ready, he
has what are described as spasms of remembering that Jim is dead with sick newness, almost as
though it were the first time (Christopher Isherwood, 2016, p. 8). Meaning that this isnt the
first time that George has had a dull routine like this and has possibly made it a habit to wake up
robotically, allowing the thoughts and memories of Jim to take up most of his morning, leading
on into the day.
He begins to reminisce about the house that he shared with Jim, thinking about their
mornings spent together eating and talking about everything that came into mind, calling it one
of the best times of their day(p. 10). Visiting topics such as death, talking about the advantages
of dying quick and dying slow. So when he starts his day he is immediately thinking of Jim and
everything that could happen if he were still there.
Although he lives in an area that has what he says, litter after litter after litter of tots, he
doesnt get along with the neighboring children like Jim did. Jim would allow them to pet the
animals that hey had around the house, so when the author says This is the role George found
himself playing, with increasing violence, since he started to live alone. It releases a part of his
nature which he hated to let Jim see. (Christopher Isherwood, 2016, p. 14). And he lets his anger
get to him since Jim has been gone, letting the kids believe that he is just playacting and playing
the role that they want him to play instead of actually believing that he hates them.
He questions whether if he actually hates the people or not in the drive to downtown,
holding them responsible for Jims death, coming to the conclusion that they are just an excuse

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for hating. Asking What is Georges hate, then? A stimulant, nothing more; though very bad for
him, no doubt. Rage, resentment, spleen (Christopher Isherwood, 2016, p. 28) then blaming it
on the vitality of being middle age. Meaning that while deep down he does blame people for
Jims death he doesnt actually hate them. But coping with Jims death involves alienating other
people and feeling anger.
I think that George has been dealing with what therapists call the Five Stages of Grief
created by Elisabeth Kubler Ross. Which are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and
acceptance. But instead of dealing with them in this order he has only dealt with anger and
depression. Because of who he is and the time that he is in, mourning Jim must have been
difficult to do properly without someone figuring out that they werent just roommates or good
friends. In the article, published by Business Balls, about Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, it says that
Her ideas, notably the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance),
are transferable to varying degrees and in different ways, to personal change and emotional upset
resulting from factors other than death and dying. (Business Balls, 2016). Throughout the book
George gets annoyed and blames the people for Jims death, even questioning on whether he
actually hates them or uses that as an excuse to fill the resentment he feels and the improper
mourning for Jim.
In the picture I found online, the quote Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the
worth of things. And I think that this can be used to describe Georges situation through out his
story, towards the end of the book he begins to enjoy himself, going to bars and talking to his
student Kenny, having a bonding session over drinks and plastic sharpener.

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In the scene where George goes skinny dipping with Kenny, he feels that swimming and
letting himself get pushed by the waves is like getting baptized. And by doing this the reader can
see that hes beginning to forget about his troubles outside the water and is just comfortable with
swimming alongside Kenny even though they arent talking to one another.
The scene where he is with Charley and they begin talking about her possibly moving
back with her sister Nan in the United Kindgom while drinking he wants to tell her to stay,
realizing that its not just him by himself and that he has her, and in the end he finds himself not
thinking about Jim or about his relationship as he falls asleep and dies of a heart attack.
In conclusion, George based his identity around memories of Jim and what he would do
or say in the situations he found himself in. Until he started realizing that theres more to life and
started enjoying himself with Charley and Kenny, instead of just keeping what he and Jim had
together inside from everyone else and connecting his situations with Jim and hating and

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blaming everyone because of his death. When he starts letting go he seems to enjoy himself up
until he doesn think about Jim.

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Works Cited
Chapman, Alan. "Elisabeth Kbler-ross - Five Stages of Grief." Elizabeth Kubler Ross Grief
Cycle Model, Five Stages of Grief in Death, Dying and Bereavement. N.p., n.d. Web. 21
Nov. 2016.
Isherwood,Christopher.ASingleMan.Minneapolis:UofMinnesota,2001.Print.
Quoteaboutloss.DigitalImage.Pinterest.Web.21November2016.<pinterest.com>