ANALYZE THE TROPE OF VIOLENCE IN ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY’
The story of an unsuccessful musician and his death is a knowingly violent one. The features of violence shape the general image of “Another Country”, revealing the deepest secrets of its characters and leading the plot to unexpected fields. The trope of violence, present in “Another Country” starts before Rufus’s death and is directly connected to him. As the story develops, violence starts to come out in other characters’ relationships.
The violence, which takes place in Rufus’s life, is mainly focused around his affair with Leona and Eric. In fact, the origins of heterosexual relations are rooted deep in the rage, which Rufus felt when being with Eric. Rufus’s attempts to express his wrath against himself and the fact that he was a homosexual led him to commit violent engagements with Leona. Rufus, actually, becomes more and more violent in his relations with this woman. Being violent to her, beating and almost raping her, Rufus tries to prove himself as a powerful and dominating man, which does not belong to neither a sexual nor a national minority. However, such violence towards Leona does not mean that Rufus is fair in trying to rehabilitate himself trying to dominate over someone else, especially over a white woman.
DISCUSS ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY’ AS A REALISTIC NOVEL
One of the most considerable features of realistic literature is its objectivity and fidelity (Shivaji University, 3). James Baldwin in these terms is nearly a pioneer of realism, talking about human relationships and personal drama. In fact, Baldwin’s “Another Country” is a totally fresh book, which bravely reveals the existing concepts of sexual minorities, extramarital relationships, jealousy, treason, and racism. These and a couple of other tabooed topics appeared in literature for the first time, which has stirred the world and, actually, proved “Another Country” to be a realistic novel.
Another feature of realistic literature is complex characters and the portrayal of human psychology (Shivaji University, 4). Even though the story is told by a third-person, the narrator seems to understand the motives and the ideas. Therefore, the characters usually appear from different perspectives. Moreover, the images of these characters are complex and complete, which makes it possible to predict the character’s behavior in some particular conditions.
What concerns the plot of a realistic novel is that it does not have to follow a particular traditional system (Shivaji University, 5). In the ‘Another Country’, for example, almost all of the events start to develop after the Rufus’s death. Still, even though the general flow of the plot does not contain Rufus as an active character, this man seems to be present in almost all scenes. In fact, his invisible presence is a factor, which rules the events of the novel.
LINK THE HENRY JAMES EPIGRAM TO THE ACTION OF ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY’
The poem by Henry James sounds like an ode to the power of love as well as the accusation of its weakness. The poem claims that love has ‘resistless power’, which has an ‘ample shield / Her favorite sons to save’. Her ‘thy’ is considered to grow so that ‘Even Paridel obey’. Finally, the author confesses that “I find myself compelled to own / Thy universal sway’ (James).
The main idea of the poem is very close to the concept of love, represented in Baldwin’s ‘Another Country’. The line of Rufus’s love affairs exists to convince him that life is worth living. Instead, none of his lovers really make him feel satisfied. Here, the love does not have the previously mentioned ‘resistless power’ and its ‘shield’ is not that ‘ample’ as to protect Rufus, which is metaphorically the son of hers. As Feldman perceives it, ‘Another Country indeed does not consider love as the “magical elixir,” her reasoning that this is so lies in her assertion that love could not save Rufus’ (Miller, 90). However, that does not stop Rufus from trying to find more ways to get satisfied by love, which includes experiments with both men and women. Trying to own the ‘universal sway’ of love, Rufus totally loses himself. Such an unsuccessful search of revitalizing love leads Rufus to a tragic outcome.
DISCUSS THE VARIOUS MEANINGS OF THE TITLE OF ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY’
The most common variant of understanding the meaning of the title is that James Baldwin referred to an imaginary ideal world, where all the races and genders are equal. The characters of the novel are free in their actions, even though traditionally their behavior is not what the contemporary society expects. In the context of Baldwin drawing parallels between him and Rufus, it seems to be obvious that the author has the aim to present the ideal example of society to follow.
Another variant is that ‘Another Country’ is actually an ordinary country. The distinguishing feature of this country to be called ‘another’, is that the actions of the novel are hidden. As the novel ‘Another Country’ was the first book to reveal the most tabooed topics, his ‘another country’ was to reveal the deepest processes of the society, which are not so visible.
ANALYZE ‘LOVE’ IN ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY’
The center of this novel is obviously love stories. The most considerable thing, which creates a special type of love in ‘Another Country’, is that the fundamental relations are multiracial. Ida and Vivaldo, and Rufus and Leona are the two couples, present in the second and the first parts of the novel accordingly, are to represent the possibility of white-black relations. These pairs display Baldwin’s imaginary world of ideal society, where the race or gender preferences do not have value.
According to Dunning, “Rufus' death suggests that there is no black utopia, no place where he can escape the iniquities of racism. More importantly, Another Country suggests that we have not yet found a model for thinking outside the box that frames our discussions of interraciality and same-sex eroticism” (Dunning). In these terms, the utopian love, even though possible, cannot survive for long even in ‘another country’.
DISCUSS BOHEMIA IN ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY’
Bohemian society in ‘Another Country’ is mostly represented by three artists, who were unsuccessful at the beginning: Rufus, Vivaldo and Eric. They meet when none of them has developed a proper career or even found his source of inspiration. Such a course of events leads the three of them to start their way down the social standards, however, up the bohemian ladder. Eric and Rufus having a love affair and Vivaldo’s bisexual experience are all derived from the issues of bohemian life, which are the need to create and be creative.
Another aspect of bohemian life is the relations within the families. In ‘Another Country’, such a couple is Richard and Cass, who have become the victims of bohemian stereotypes. Richard as a successful writer has to work a lot, which makes his wife Cass feel left out and lonely. That leads to treason and a tragic outcome.
ANALYZE BALDWIN’S UNDERSTANDING OF ‘RACE’ IN ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY’
While love is the main action of the novel, race is the main concept to be represented by it. In Baldwin’s utopian ‘another country’ race is not an obstacle. In the novel race and racial distinguishes are to be represented more by heterosexual relations than by homosexual. Before the appearance of “Another Country”, racial minorities used to be connected to gender minorities. In these terms, Baldwin broadens the horizons of the concept of race.
As for the representation of the concept of race in the figure of the main character, James Baldwin called Rufus “a black corpse floating in the national psyche” (Dunning). Rufus, living in the time of rough racism, hates his race. That is why he tries to find only white partners in order to dominate the opposing race at least in physical relations.
DISCUSS GENDER IN ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY’
Gender and racial minorities both are the centers of the novel. In fact, these distinguishes are connected. Interracial and homosexual relations seem to be unordinary for the society, which the characters live in. For Rufus, for instance, both heterosexual and homosexual relations are the way to gain a foothold in his unstable environment, full of racists’ stereotypes and oppression (Brownson, 11).
ANALYZE BOTH SEXUALITY AND THE POSITION OF SEX IN ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY’
Sex as an always-tabooed topic appears in ‘Another Country’ to fulfill the image of the contemporary society. For the real world of Baldwin’s such concepts as racial equality, homosexuality and interracial relationships were also tabooed. In these terms, sex represented not only the physical connection or a way to derive pleasure. This action has a deeper sense of committing the uncommon things without a fear that there would be no way back. Sexuality, as well as sex, is the last stage of the plot developing and at the same time, it represents the emotions or states the characters were trying to hide.
Works Cited
Shivaji University,. Understanding Novel. Kolhapur: Centre for Distance Education, 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
James, Henry. "Epigram. Omnia Vincit Amor.". PoemHunter.com. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Miller, D. Quentin. Re-Viewing James Baldwin. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000. Print.
Dunning, S. "Parallel Perversions: Interracial And Same Sexuality In James Baldwin's Another Country". MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States 26.4 (2001): 95-112. Web.
Brownson, Joanna. The Accumulated Rock Of Ages. Questions Of Identity In James Baldwin’s Early Fiction. Middletown: Wesleyan University, 2008. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
