James Porter: A massive jerk

Jimmy Porter (from Look Back in Anger) is an exasperated man, who tends to act as a misogynist; surrounded by a frustration which often leads to anger.

Whoa! just take it easy, man

Though he is not physically violent, he usually behaves as a massive jerk. Just another Stanley Kowalski.

At least, that's the first impression you get of him.

But unlike the protagonist of A streetcar named Desire, our friend Jimmy here is a little bit more complex. They both come from the working class, but while Stanley bases his attitude on his macho-crap beliefs, Jimmy's behavior is a consequence of suffering and a strong feeling of loneliness, combined with the hate he feels regarding the monotony of life.

He had to deal with death when he was only a child. Losing his father when he was 10 was the first encounter with the mortality of his loved ones. But death was not the worst part... it was the suffering while waiting for death.

Have you ever watched somebody die? Anyone who's never watched somebody die is suffering from a pretty bad case of virginity.

For 12 months, I watched my father dying, when I was 10 years old. He'd come back from the war in Spain, you see. And certain god-fearing gentlemen there had made such a mess of him, he didn't have long left to live. Everyone knew it. Even I knew it.

But you see, I was the only one who cared. My mother looked after him without complaining, and that was about all. Perhaps she pitied him. I suppose she was capable of that. But I was the only one who cared!

Every time I sat on the edge of his bed, to listen to him talking or reading to me, I had to fight back my tears.

You see, I learnt at an early age what it was to be angry... angry and helpless. And I can never forget it.

I knew more about love... betrayal... and death, when I was 10 years old that you will probably ever know all your life.

[ SPOILER ALERT ]

15 years later, death comes back to his life.

For 11 hours, I have been watching someone I love very much going through the sordid process of dying. She was alone, and I was the only one with her.

From the play we know that Jimmy comes from the working class, but he had the opportunity to study at the university. This makes him act as a cocky jerk around Cliff and Alison.

(to Cliff) Well, you are ignorant. You're just a peasant.

I'm the only one who knows how to treat a paper, or anything else, in this house.

But, at the same time, having a more stable economic situation does not allow him to quite fit in a certain social class, which leads to the feeling of loneliness.

What the play says about him

He is a disconcerting mixture of sincerity and cheerful malice, of tenderness and freebooting cruelty; restless, importunate, full of pride, a combination which alienates the sensitive and insensitive alike. Blistering honesty, or apparent honesty, like his, makes few friends. To many he may seem sensitive to the point of vulgarity. To others, he is simply a loudmouth. To be as vehement as he is, is to be almost non-committal.

What the other characters say about him

Himself

(to Helena) I hope you won't make the mistake of thinking for one moment that I am a gentleman.

Cliff

(to Alison) I suppose he and I think the same about a lot of things, because we're alike in some ways. We both come from working people, if you like. He gets on with me because I'm common. Common as dirt, that's me.

Alison

(to Cliff) Jimmy's got his own private morality, as you know.

(to Helena) Mummy has always said that Jimmy is utterly ruthless.

(to Helena) Don't try and take his suffering away from him. He'd be lost without it.

Helena

(to Alison) It's almost as if he wanted to kill someone. And me in particular, I've never seen such hatred in someone's eyes before.

You must get out of this mad-house. He doesn't seem to know what love or anything else means.

(to Alison) I have discovered what is wrong with Jimmy. It's very simple really. He was born out of his time. There's no place for people like that any longer. That's why he's so futile. I feel he thinks he's still in the middle of the French Revolution. He doesn't know where he is, or where he's going. He'll never do anything, and he'll never amount to anything.

In the end you realize that he only wants someone to accept him as he is. Someone who sees his flaws, but decides to be with him anyway.

(to Alison) I may be a lost cause, but I thought if you loved me, it needn't matter.

Someone exactly like him...

I don't want to be neutral, I don't want to be a saint. I want to be a lost cause. I want to be corrupt and futile! -Alison.

-ALL WE REALLY NEED TO SURVIVE IS ONE PERSON WHO TRULY LOVES US-