Kelsey Gentil

Jennifer Rodrick
QS 115
16 November 2016
A Single Man
Back then when we think of the 60s we think of the good and bad things that happened,
mainly the good things. But in A Single Man it was one of those bad things. George was a gay
man, hiding his true identity because he was too afraid to really show who he was, because it was
a bad thing but also sin to be a gay man. For most of Georges time he had to hide his true
identity, pretending to be someone that he wasnt because your identity was expected to be like
everyone elses, a straight man. George was never really happy with his life, other than with Jim
but when Jim passed away he completely hated everything. Identity was a big part of Georges
life, because it shaped him to be a different person, depending where he was because he felt
trapped inside a society where he didnt fit in, and be the person he was without shame, to the
point where he felt life was useless and had no willingness to live any longer.
In life ways have that one special person that really truly bring out the best in you and for
George that was Jim. When George was around Jim he was able to show his true identity, be
comfortable with the person he really was without hiding. But when Jim passed away, Georges
lover, his special person, the one who made him feel at home, George's life had no purpose
anymore. As the novel too agrees, it states, 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 through the track has disappeared down a landslide
(13) In the novel is points out that George was lifeless without Jim, he wasnt happy at all, he
hated life. George literally tried to live life day by day hoping that he can find someone else like
Jim, a person who understands him. Most people part of the LGBTQ community live life like

George did, useless, like if life was pointless since there is people who dont accept them for they
are. The people who arent happy being someone theyre not are not fulfilling their life,rather
feel like prisoners, trapped.
In life we try to please others by trying to let them accept us by what they want. We arent
really living until we let go of what people want out 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 decided 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, meaning George is finally free. He is now free of judgement and free to be whoever he
would want to be and be accepted. Now that Jims death is in the past he has life figured out and
is ready to live life as it should be lived.
When it comes to love, you need it one way or another. Whether we might sometimes
think we dont but we all know we do. George feels the exactly the same way after having loss
Jim. The author shows how George is on a search to find just that no matter the situation. In A
Single Man, a student named Kenny bought George a pencil sharpener as a friendly gesture but
George saw it as something else, but more. Oh, but--well, thank you! George is actually
blushing a little. It's as if he has been offered a rose (Isherwood 23). When George was given
the pencil sharpener he felt as if it was a little more, that it wasnt just a pencil sharpener but
more like a rose, a grand gesture. But that feeling you get inside, the butterflies, when you
receive something from someone, it hits you with that spark, and makes you think if they did that
because they like you, or because they want to get your attention. But in other words that
engrossment. Well thats how George felt with Kenny. In the blog; Connection Failed: An

Analysis of Christopher Isherwoods [A Single Man], Angel Matos states how George is quite
desperate for some type of attention and affection from a man. His sexuality pushes him to feel
a desire that is nearly impossible to quenchthus forcing George to live vicariously through small
interactions, touches, and brief exchanges that he has with other men....What is clear here is that
George is a man who is starving for connection. He craves to feel part of whole, even if this
connection with the whole is momentary (Matos). George is needy of affection from a man.
Any chance he can get, he will take the moment and make it his own even if it is just thoughts or
small gestures.

Works Cited
Isherwood, Christopher. A Single Man. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2001. Print

Matos, Angel Daniel. Connection Failed: An Analysis Of Christopher Isherwoods [A Single

Man]. The Ever After That Fiction Allows. N.P., 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.