Critically appreciate character of Jimmy Porter - ‘Look Back in Anger’ by John James Osborne

Write a detailed note of Jimmy.

Critically appreciate character of Jimmy Porter

           ‘Look Back in Anger’ by John James Osborne marked the beginning of the revolution in British Drama. It is a play of protect against the contemporary English society which reflects the mood and temper of post-war England. Main characters in this play are: Jimmy porter, Alison, Cliff, Helena.  

          The character of Jimmy Porter is the rancorous hero who dominates the whole play. It is his behaviour and thought that has a decisive influence upon the situations and the other individual in the play. As a hero, he represents the fury of post war youth and gives a voice rebelliousness and disillusionment in the context of the time. The critic Stephen Williams remarks,

“Jimmy spits venom against

everything and everybody

and is apparently convinced

that  for the youth of today

the world is an utterly purid place.”

         

A spokesman of the post-war generation in Britain

          Jimmy has been regarded as a spokesman of the post-war generation in Britain. This play was first was produced in 1956 when the general mood of the people in Britain was one of frustration, disillusionment, cynicism, rebelliousness and even despair. Jimmy becomes a kind of representative of the young people of his time.  Jimmy gives expression to this mood through his rhetoric speeches. We find all the characteristic of the post war youth in his character as the drift towards anarchy, the instinctive elfishness, the surrealist of sense of humour etc.

An ‘angry young man’.

          Jimmy is an ‘angry young man’. Through the play, we find him cursing things and persons. One principal reason of his anger is difference between his own working class and upper class to which his wife belongs. Another reason is that he is living monotonous routine life. He has to follow the same routine every time - reading the papers, drinking tea and ironing.

          Another reason for Jimmy’s bitterness is that he finds both his friend Cliff and his wife Alison to be completely devoid of any kind enthusiasm. This is how he states the case: “Nobody thinks, nobody cares. No beliefs, no convictions, and on enthusiasm.”           Among many cause of Jimmy’s anger, the major cause is the ill-treatment of the society. In a class divided society, critic Martin Banhan finds,

“Jimmy’s anger, his bitterness,

his hysteria, and his cruelty,

fries from the heart for

recognition and nothing more.”

 His criticism he wife:

          Jimmy is constantly finding fault in his wife. He criticized her for ironing the clothes endlessly. Sometimes Jimmy becomes extremely harsh in his criticism. For instance, he refers to his wife as “this monument to non attachment”. He describes her as “Lady pusillanimous’ which means woman wanting in firmness of mind, a timid and cowardly woman. He criticizes Alison for writing letters to her mother.  Indeed, he feels so bitter about Alison’s general towards himself as a whole that he almost utters a curse upper her in the following words:                   “If only something-something

would happen to you, and

wake you out of your beauty

sleep. If you could have a

child, and it would die.”

 His Love for her wife:

          In spite of his criticism and fault-find, we must acknowledge the fact that Jimmy loves his wife. In Act I we have a brief scene when they both refer to their favourite game of bears and squirrels. Jimmy here becomes almost tender towards Alison, and then kisses her passionately. He even becomes sentimental in his recollection of the past, and expresses his feeling for her.           “There’s hardly a moment

when I’m not watching and

wanting you I’ve got hit out

somewhere… as ordinary

as over an ironing board. ”.

          This shows Jimmy’s love for his wife from the depth of his heart. In other words, Jimmy is fond of his wife and would not like her to perform such an ordinary work like ironing the clothes.

A social rebel

          Jimmy is a social rebel. He is waging a war against class-distinctions. He himself comes from a working-class family, while his wife comes from the upper-middle class family. This social disparity is his dissatisfaction. He constantly criticizes his family from which she comes. Jimmy ridicules Alison’s father for living in the past. He described Alison brother Nigel as “that straight-baked, chinless wonder from Sandhurst.” He continues his denunciation of Alison’s mother by calling her an ‘old bitch’ and expressing the wish that she should be dead.

          Jimmy Porter’s problem is the vicious injustice and the hypocracy of the social order. Ifor Evans points out it as in his book “Short History of Literature”.

Jimmy Porter is not merely

orphan of the upheaval of

war, he is or at least seer

himself as a victim of the

changes in English society.”

Jimmy’s sharp Wit:

          In spite of Jimmy’s anger and cynicism, we must give him credit for possessing a brilliant and ready wit. Most of his comments and remarks are characterized by this quality of wit. e.g. When Alison makes some excuse about her being silence, he makes the remarks, ‘you bet you weren’t listening.’ We must also recognize the fact that Jimmy is capable, on very rare occasion of enjoying real fun which has no bitterness in it. This side of Jimmy’s character we discover in Act III Scene I where he joins cliff in singing a humours song and acting like a comic character on the stage.  

Emotional and even sentimental man:-

Jimmy seems to be a dry kind of man and callous. Yet there are certain situations in which we find him to be very emotional and even sentimental. In Act I, we have a brief scene of tenderness between him and his wife. Then he has a tender scene with Helena in Act III when he expresses his appreciation of Helena’s love. Later he gets upset after Mrs. Tanner’s death. Lastly, there is the final scene where Helena has already left him, and so he makes the flowing remarks in pathetic manner to Alison:,   

+“I may be a lost cause,

but  thought if you love

me, it needn’t matter’.

         

A self portrait of the author:-

Some critics believe that Jimmy represents a self portrait of the author. There is much substance in this view. Osborne too had a grievance against middle class and his family too, had struggled against the odds of life as Jimmy had. Osborne has put something of himself in his portrayal of Jimmy. Osborn’s sympathies too are evidently with Jimmy, to a large extent. However, we must not exaggerate the resemblance between the author and his protagonist. A resemblance there is but not an identification of author with his hero.

Conclusion

          To summing up, Osborne has invested much of his thoughts, experience and energy in the character of Jimmy porter. Jimmy represents author’s views about bishops, the class-distinctions hydrogen bomb, church-going and religious practices and rituals, politic and a number of other matter. Jimmy Porter was both individual and symbolic significant character. As an individual, he leads the frustrated life. As a symbol he becomes a kind of representative of the young people of his time. In a short Jimmy’s character is full realized character and possesses great vitality. Finally to conclude in the words of Ifor Evans,  

“In Jimmy Porter, the angry

almost hysterical often self

pitying young man who finds

society cruel, unjust and his

own world a chaos. Many

of Osborne’s contemporaries

seemed to an image of their

own lives”