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 is 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 be able to fit in.
We all have that one person who will bring the real us 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 life day by day 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

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human being and by 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. 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. 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 being different. Being comfortable with your

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identity is the key of being able to have a happy life. 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, 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 not want 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. George somehow makes him happy knowing that someone is interested in his
identity. That hope that he has to find someone meaningful could be Kenny. According to
telegraph.co.uk he still lusts nut 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 conversation like any other. Sometimes it may be hard to be able

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to tell someone elses identity and that 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 something that was 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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