Love in Baldwin's "Another Country"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the problem of utopianism and love by examining references to love in the novel, noting the different contexts in which the word is found and consequently its different meanings. The paper also looks at the figure of Rufus, analyzing how his representation changes throughout the novel, and looks at references to "another country" as a space of possibility. Finally, it examines the use of tone and language, looking at the ways in which these elements further elucidate the tensions and themes of the novel.

From the Paper:

"Furthermore, the language is a language of survival. The saxophonist is described as being "in the rags of his twenty-odd years". The saxophonist is dressed in his people's history. Its suffering is written over him and through him; clothes him in contempt and pride. Rags are what remain of his clothing, implying not only psychological but physical suffering. Torn garments are not just representative of the collective psychological suffering of a people, but are the evidence of a very real, physical survival, of both the black and white worlds. And it is perhaps hard to say which is the source of greater suffering for the resident of 1960s' Harlem/New York."

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