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Isaac Sepulveda
QS 115
Prof. Jennifer Rodrick
November 21, 2016
A Single Man
Novelist Christopher Isherwoods novel, A Single Man, depicts the struggles of a
middle-aged male member of the LGBTQ community in California suffering from the
loss of his significant other, Jim. The professor found that the 1960s were a complicated
time to identify as a member of the LGBTQ community. The story revolves around
Georges attempt of searching for his belonging in such difficult times. Throughout the
novel, various themes can be found that coincide with the idea of the LGBTQ identity.
1960s was a complicated era for those who identified as a member of the
LGBTQ community. Members were frequently regarded as minorities. Some citizens
were as ignorant as to claim that those who identify as LGBTQ did not experience love.
After the death of Jim, George is seen to struggle with the idea that Jim is gone forever.
He stands quite still, silent, or at most uttering a brief animal grunt, as he waits for the
spasm to pass. Then he walks into the kitchen. These morning spasms are too painful to
be treated sentimentally. After them, he feels relief, merely. It is like getting over a bad
attack of cramp (Isherwood 13). Towards the beginning of the novel, George found
himself immobilized by the concept that Jim is now gone forever and even began to
experience spasms. George was truly in love with the man that the idea of him being gone
causes George to experience a delay in reality, as he is found standing still and silent just
after the thought of the man.

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A theme of identity is established within the text. The novel, in its most basic
telling, is about a member of the LGBTQ community, George, who has found his
identity. He had successfully discovered his identity as a member of the LGBTQ
community and was entirely comfortable with his identity. Unfortunately, George is seen
to lose his identity through the death of Jim, Georges significant other. The novel entitles
the audience in a journey as George is set to experience a quest in search for his identity.
He is shown to be struggling in his quest and at times it I seen that he is hopeless, but as
his quest comes to an end, he eventually ends up finding his identity once more.
Many members of the LGBTQ community have a tough time searching for their
identity. George was a member of the LGBTQ community that had successfully found his
identity. George had established his life with Jim in it; he was entirely comfortable with
himself. The story supports this by displaying a series of brief flashbacks of Georges
memories of Jim. George is in a state, in which he is on constant thought of Jim. He
reminisces about the times he had with Jim during various times. An example would be
the thought of Jim as he had breakfast. BREAKFAST with Jim used to be one of the
best times of their day. It was then, while they were drinking their second and third cups
of coffee, that they had their best talks. They talked about everything that came into their
heads--including death (Isherwood 15). Everything reminded him of Jim. George was
put in a situation where he thinks of Jim by watching children play. What would Jim say
if he could see George waving his arms and roaring like a madman from the window, as
Mrs. Strunk's Benny and Mrs. Garfein's Joe dash back and forth across the bridge on a
dare? (Jim always got along with them so easily. He would let them pet the skunks and

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the raccoon and talk to the myna bird; and yet they never crossed the bridge without
being invited) (Isherwood 21).
At a certain point in the novel, it was evidently clear that George had lost a
fraction of his identity. 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. It is here that he stops short and knows, with a sick newness, almost as though
it were for the first time: Jim is dead. Is dead. (Isherwood 13). The novel claims that the
track in front of him had disappeared. This is an analogy for George being lost. With the
thought of Jims being dead, George was lost. He did not know what to do. He did not
know where to go. George had found his identity and he knew what he wanted to do with
it. He was completely comfortable with what the relationship with him and George was.
He knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jim, but now that that concept is
not one that can become a reality, he is lost. He does not know what he wants to do.
So begins the quest that George endures to retain the part of identity he had lost.
He seems to begin to regain a sort of happiness when he meets Kenny Potter. Kenny
Potter is one of Georges students. He is a tall skinny boy with gold-red hair and bright
blue eyes. George begins to develop certain feelings towards the young boy. One day,
George catches sight of Kenny at a bar. At first, George doesn't move; seems hardly to
react at all. But then a slow intent smile parts his lips. He leans forward, watching Kenny
with the delight of a naturalist who has identified a rosy finch out of the high sierras on a
tree in a city park (Isherwood 150). George is seen smiling after laying sight on another
being. The first other man to make George smile. Georges relationship with Kenny did

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not work out, but it assists George in showing him what he wanted. What if Kenny has
been scared off? What if he doesn't come back? Let him stay away. George doesn't need
him, or any of these kids. He isn't looking for a son (Isherwood 181).
George was getting old. For a few minutes, maybe, life lingers in the tissues of
some outlying regions of the body. Then, one by one, the lights go out and there is total
blackness. 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 (Isherwood 186). Eventually, George had become deceased. George
is finally free from any judgement the era had to judge him. Ultimately, he is free. To
George, his death was a relief.

A theme of loss and tragedy can be found when reading the novel. Due to the
unfortunate events in which Jim died, George is left in a stage of depression. Living a life
where one constantly feels severe dejection is not a life one is to commonly aspire. The
despondency experienced by George after the loss of Jim weighs heavy on George in
terms of his interactions with the world. One constantly finds George mourning about
Jim, confessing the activities the two pair used to perform. At the thought of Christmas,
George feels a chill of desperation. Maybe he'll do something drastic, take a plane to
Mexico City and be drunk for a week and run wild around the bars (Isherwood 23). The
thought of preforming a drastic act is only considered when there is little to lose. This

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shows us proof that not only was George in a complicated situation in terms of the
depression, but also that Jim meant so much to George. The loss of Jim was sufficient
enough to push George into the consideration of such a drastic act.

Isherwood, Christopher. A Single Man. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota,


2001. Print

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