Despair in James Baldwin's 'Another Country'

'Then the discontented wanderer is thrown back on himself – if his life is to become bearable, only he can make it so. And, on that spring evening, walking up the long, dark, murmuring street toward the boulevard, Eric was in despair. He knew that he had to make a life, but he did not seem to have the tools' (Another Country, pp.213/4).

Discuss the sources of discontentment AND/OR despair.

The depiction of despair, in varying forms perhaps predominantly engendered in its purest form within the individual character's guilt as a fundamental essence of their characterisation. Guilt haunts the main character in Another Country; Rufus is tormented by the responsibility he assumes in the institutionalisation of Leona, thus contributing to his escalating mental despair. This is expressed in the present tense narrative penetrating his thoughts: 'He felt black, filthy, foolish. He wished he were miles away, or dead. He kept thinking of Leona; it came in waves, like the pain of a toothache or a festering wound' (Baldwin, p. 84). This haunting reminder of guilt is presented in Rufus' final moments before his suicide, and is poignantly depicted contrapuntally against the present moment, emphasising his inability to confront reality:

Everyone was gone except Jane and Rufus and Vivaldo. I wouldn't mind being in jail but I've got to stay there so long... The seats the others had occupied were like a chasm now between Rufus and the white boy and the white girl. 'Let's have another drink,' Vivaldo said. So long...(Baldwin, p. 88).

The italicised words recapitulate Leona's speech to Rufus when they first met and infer an ironic significance as she is now essentially imprisoned within a mental 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 ...

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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'. 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.' 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'.

In 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.' 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.

Word count: 870

Bibliography

Baldwin, James, Another Country (London: Penguin, 2001)

Feldman, Susan, 'Another Look at Another Country: Reconciling Baldwin's Racial and Sexual Politics' in Reviewing James Baldwin: things not seen ed. by Quentin Miller (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), pp. 88-104.

Henderson, Mae G., 'James Baldwin: Expatriation, Homosexual Panic, and Man's Estate', Callaloo (2000) Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 313-327.

Scott, Robert, 'Rhetoric, Black Power, and Baldwin's 'Another Country'', Journal of Black Studies (Sep., 1970) Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 21-34.

Toombs, Charles. P. 'Black-Gay-Man Chaos in Another Country' in Reviewing James Baldwin: things not seen ed. by Quentin Miller (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), pp. 105-127.

Charles. P. Toombs, 'Black-Gay-Man Chaos in Another Country' in Reviewing James Baldwin: things not seen ed. by Quentin Miller (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), pp. 105-127.

Susan Feldman, 'Another Look at Another Country: Reconciling Baldwin's Racial and Sexual Politics' in Reviewing James Baldwin: things not seen ed. by Quentin Miller (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), pp. 88-104 (pp. 93).

Ibid., p. 92

Ibid., p. 90