A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood is an outstanding story for a number of reasons. First of all, the author himself was drawn to this book more than to his other works. Moreover, the topic described in it helps to show that love is love; no one has a right to prevent adult, mentally healthy individuals from finding happiness, building families and just living the way they want to live.
George is literally a lonely man. The truth is that loneliness doesn’t seem to be so frightful if a person gets used to it. Some of us know how it is to live on their own and can adjust to such a life and turn loneliness into solitude. However, that styles of a life must to be chosen. George has never wanted to be alone. He and Jim used to create their own world full of love and acceptance. The world outside their house could be dangerous, they could be viewed as freaks, but the world inside was the only one that mattered. How difficult it must be to lose a person that was more important than the rest of the world! As if to make the situation even worse, everything in their house reminds George of Jim. It is not easy to move and it shouldn’t be.
Homophobia is one of the leading themes in the story. Those who believe in ignoring such forms of discrimination – probably – do not understand the simple fact that by the means of ignoring something they don’t like they won’t gain anything. George turns on a radio and listens to a speech of a senator who complains about the prevalence of homosexuals. That is what the senator says and George’s reality is completely different from that the politician describes. The man lives a private life; he can’t even imagine wandering from one bar to another bar to hit on straight man. The problem is that the senator who spreads lies and hate can voice his opinion and George can’t, for he can lose everything he has. It is like beating a person who is already on the ground.
