Identity In Ernest Hemingway's Another Country

Another Country is the story of the painful struggle of a group of friends trying to discover their true self by coming to terms with their darkest secrets. The story focuses on both the characters perception of his or her own self and the relationships between each character, which gives readers an inside look into the characters sense of emptiness and lack of gender and racial identity. Each character is written to support and contrast each others actions to show the reader the different ways they cope with pressing issues such as racism and confusion about sexual identity. The highly emotional descriptions of the characters behaviors convey to the reader the process of uncovering the secrets that exist in each one of them, and how they attempt to cope in order to fix their emotional problems. Each character is battling psychological demons within themself that must be overcome before their inevitable downfall. Rufus, a black male and one of the main characters, is the first one that we meet who shows us his …show more content…
This awareness enabled Vivaldo to start questioning himself and all the secrets he was keeping inside. In comparing the actions of Vivaldo to Rufus, Rufus did not question his thoughts and feelings; he repressed them and became violent. Vivaldo, knowing that he had issues with his sexual identity,chose to be in a relationship with an available woman, Ida, for the first time and prayed: “Oh, God, make her love me, oh God, let me love” and in the same sentence said, “I’ve got to finish that damn novel” (142). At this point, Vivaldo is looking for anything that would make his life complete. He has gone through a lot with the death of a friend, so he is trying to find anything to make his life worth living. Whether that is receiving the love of Ida, or completing his long awaited