Despair in James Baldwin’s ‘Another Country’ Essay Example

institution, as Rufus is too often reminded. This sense of guilt haunts Rufus in his final seconds, and can therefore been interpreted as a major cause of Rufus' fatal despair: at the moment of his suicide he remembers Leona, and the guilt synonymous with her demise; Eric, and the discontentment inherent within his repressed sexual identity.

Through this, the sources of Rufus' despair are encapsulated: the accumulation of guilt and repressed desire condemned him to the cold, 'black' water (Baldwin, p. 93).In Another Country, Baldwin presents characters who are attempting to transcend social limitations in order to express, and establish, their self-identity. Through the characterisation of Rufus, Baldwin explores the destructive nature of social barriers on the 'self'; Rufus fails to overcome the racial and sexual limitations society imposes on self-expression and as a result, commits suicide due to his mounting despair and social isolation: 'Beneath them Rufus walked, one of the fallen - for the weight of this city was murderous...

Entirely alone, and dying of it, he was part of an unprecedented multitude' (Baldwin, p. 14). The 'weight of this city' is metaphorical for the social limitations imposed, especially, upon people trying to define their own self-identity, leaving him 'entirely alone', resulting in his suicide.Rufus' awareness of society's explicit racial prejudices are expressed in the focalised narrative attached to Rufus: 'No one dared to look at Vivaldo, out with any girl whatever, the way the look at Rufus now.

..This was because Vivaldo was white' (Baldwin, p. 39).

Through his relationship with Leona, Rufus sees an opportunity to overcome the social limitations of race and transcend himself above the imposed degenerative level of the 'black-gay-man'1.

As Susan Feldman argues, 'Rufus found that he could still take vengeance through Leona, that racially motivated anger could be displaced in a gendered area.'2 In relation to this, Rufus' inability to move on from the past and confront reality is an essential contributor to his despair, and therefore demise, and results in his 'individually and socially destructive behaviour'.3In terms of society's limitations on sexuality, Rufus internalises Western society's definition of 'masculinity' and devotes himself entirely to this warped idealistic view in order to establish a socially acceptable identity, whist repressing his homosexual desires: 'He had despised Eric's manhood by treating him as a woman..

.by treating him as nothing more than a sexual deformity' (Baldwin, p. 54). This fear of emasculation essentially leads to his sexual paranoia, which in turn literally drives Leona insane, instigating his overpowering guilt. Susan Feldman argues, 'Baldwin demonstrates that overcoming the categorical barriers that prevent individuals from accepting others' differences only can be achieved by confronting our own buried past, our own repressed desires.'4 In light of this statement, Rufus' repression of his homosexual desire and inability to confront his past is the primary cause of his despair; : 'We've all been up the same streets.

..Only we've been taught to lie so much, about so many things, that we hardly know where we are' (Baldwin, p. 59). Society's limitations have taught the characters to 'lie so much' to themselves - to focus on an illusion rather than reality - and therefore repress their true identity. Rufus cannot overcome the 'categorical barriers' imposed by society unlike Vivaldo who, by the end of the novel, has confronted his sexuality, leaving him feeling

'fantastically protected, liberated' (Baldwin, p.

379) in realising his 'self' and overcoming his discontenting ambiguous identity.In conclusion, through the characterisation of Rufus in Another Country, Baldwin explores the detrimental effects that social isolation, both self-imposed and socially imposed, together with self-denial and ambiguous or undefined self-identity has on individual expression, self-worth and ultimately the fate of the characters. The despair that results from the guilt and isolation presented in conjunction with the central characters is essential to the reader's understanding of the characterisation employed by Baldwin, and provides the central platform in which the demise of the characters is explored and understood.