plot summary of another country by james baldwin

Both Id and Rufus Scott are attempting their goals in the middle of Manhattan, in Greenwich Village. Love between the women and men, heterosexuals and homosexuals, and blacks and whites are all shown through the constantly shift and cycling of relationships and sexual contacts.

Ultimately, Vivaldo is able to accept his pleasure but Rufus does not. Characters like Rufus and Vivaldo struggle with accepting and acknowledging their sexuality among their masculinity and have a hard time facing what they find their pleasure in. The characters on their journey to finding their own identity use sex as a form of pleasure, but also as finding themselves in their private lives, which opposes what their public lives show. Emotional and physical abuse takes place as a result of struggling identity.

Sexual and racial assumptions that are made are highly rejected as the characters struggle to make connections to what they truly desire and want to pursue. The book is split into three different sections. These troubled characters face the harsh reality of social constructs that are made due to their races and sexualities. Three major themes that are woven throughout this novel is sexism, racism and sexuality as they are key structures in the characters relationships. It’s story is about struggling artists who face issues in their love lives among the many issues and complexities that take place in New York. The characters in this novel are from various backgrounds coming from different races and sexualities. James Baldwin’s novel, “Another Country” is a story based in New York City in the 1950s.

Plot summary of another country by james baldwin