A Single Man: A Novel

“The creature we are watching will struggle on and on until it drops. Not because it is heroic. It can imagine no alternative.” 

A Single Man is written in the third person, but from George’s perspective. It provides a unique view, one that seems to come from within George’s head—but also provides a bird’s eye view of him and his world. He refers to himself as a creature at this point because he has yet to wake up enough to think of himself as George and does not resemble that person yet. He does not pretend to be a hero for carrying on despite the death of his partner or his isolation from the world; instead, he is afraid to die.

“Staring and staring into the mirror, it sees many faces within its face—the face of the child, the boy, the young man, the not-so-young man—all present still, preserved like fossils on superimposed layers and, like fossils, dead. Their message to this live dying creature is: Look at us—we have died—what is there to be afraid of?” 

Within George are many different personas and perspectives which hurt each other more than help. At age 58, he is on the brink of old age and regularly contemplates his own death, especially since the death of Jim. At the same time, the boy within the man is still present; George wants to live, be lustful, and enjoy existing again. He carries the years of his life like wrinkles on his face. On the second page of the novel, George is already mentioning death. This foreshadows his death at the end of the day and novel itself.