As well as isolation in those senses, Arthur Kipps is also very emotionally isolated from his family’s happiness at the start of the novel, and is separated from other men by his traumatic experiences. Later in the novel, he is physically isolated from civilization, as he passes through Gapemouth tunnel to Crythin Gifford. All throughout the novel you could say, as he is away from his family and friends that he is also
This highlights the main theme of the novel: loneliness. Living alone in his room Crooks craves the company of others but, because of his coloured skin and the era he lived in, he is shown to be separated from the other ranch workers and thus suffering from loneliness more than his colleagues. Because of his skin colour, Crooks is shown to have “kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs.” Steinbeck describes how crooks wants others to stay away from him and reciprocates their feelings towards him but, later in the novel, he reveals that he is very lonely all by himself and would like to have someone to talk to. However, because he is so used to being shunted away by society, he pushes everyone away from him before they have the chance to do the same, portraying him as a “proud, aloof man”. Again, this fact highlights Crooks' loneliness and, even though he has convinced himself he doesn’t need anyone else, he knows the pleasure of having company and this is something that can’t be replaced by the many possessions he has acquired.
The Gaitas each faced their own fears of unable to belong, but none so as much as Christina who dies to the loneliness of been unable to fit in. “He found her just staring into the fire” describes Raymond, illustrating how desperate his mother had been. As a result she is characterized as ‘appearing to be cheerful and vivacious’ but in truth ‘deeply depressed.’ Christina is an allusion of the displaced socialite hungry for a sense of fulfillment and security, in a place where she cannot get the acceptance she seeks; she wants to ‘fall asleep and die”. She feels geographically and culturally displaced, as a result she never settles into Frogmore. Raymond uses a series of fragmented repetitions to convey the alienation felt by Christina.
But it remains very hard to ascribe its behaviour to ignorance.” (Le Guin, 146). Furthermore, lack of communication resulted in humiliation. Due to the lack of understanding and communication, the protagonist felt alienated. Moreover, in “Was it a Dream?” the death of the protagonist’s wife caused psychological pain. The protagonist attempts to let go of the past, but has difficulty in the process.
Edith Wharton portrays Ethan Frome as a ‘stoic’ sufferer who lives, “part of the mute melancholy landscape, as an incarnation of its frozen woe”. Wharton presents the reader with a character whose mental condition corrodes due to his inability to express his emotions, which creates a sense of Ethan’s cold demeanour as being the source of his psychological deterioration. The narrator suggests that the protagonist “lived in moral isolation,” with his physical appearance looking “bleak” and “unapproachable”. For years Ethan has existed in a state of despair, and has longed for change and freedom, however changing his external environment would be deemed impossible for a man with his stoic character traits. Kenneth Bernard comments that, “Throughout the book Frome recognises his futility and accepts it rather than trying to fight his way out of it.” An example of Bernard’s theory can be seen when Mattie is sewing and instead of him touching her hand he touches the end of the piece of fabric as a substitute for his intimacy.
My arguments that I will be discussing are depression that the two main characters show throughout their everyday lives, how they have difficulty in socializing with others and the negative emotional states, differences and struggles that is demonstrated by the two main characters in these novels. Meursault and Holden don't care much for life and never do their best at anything. We see early on that the two characters never perform to the best of their abilities. In "The Catcher and the Rye" Holden is doing very poorly in school, he is failing four out of five subjects. He doesn't try and does whatever he can to keep away from others.
Mr. Das and Mrs. Das are very self-indulgent and immature in behavior, tactless, and proud. As Mr. Kapasi notes that they behave like a brother and sister that have to watch over the kids for one day. Mr. Kapasi, on the other hand, is an older person of dignity who is greatly fretful with his looks and impression he makes on others and has established a life of rituals that help comfort him with his unhappy marriage. More sympathy is shown for the American culture. They are displayed as neat and “cool” but as one can see; their relationship with themselves and their children gets worse everyday.
Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya,’ he cried, ‘I tell ya a guy get’s too lonely an’ he gets sick” (69). Crooks’ illustrates that his lack of companionship manifests itself physically and emotionally. The only alleviation of these symptoms for Crooks occurs when he offers to work on Candy, George, and Lennie’s farm (Steinbeck 76). Similarly, Curley’s wife seeks out other people as a way to cope with her loneliness.
Uncle Andy made Arnold feel abandoned and hurt when he stated “Not a tear in his eye”, this statement proves to show that his uncle did not care for him at the time and did not help comfort him. The community within this story also intertwines with this theme. It is shown when a member of the area, Sullivan, expresses his feeling through the following “He don’t give a hoot, is that how it goes?” Each word that comes from his mouth pierces Arnold’s heart and has him left in the dust. Finally the abandonment of his mother was what hurt him the most. People argue that the perspective that your family has on you, is what matters to a person the most.
But know I know why…” (70). Looking at this example, he used to be equal just like the other kids, everything seemed fine to him…eventually though Crooks figures out why his father’s fondness of the white boys played negatively, now he knows. This foreshadows the fact that he had such a controversial childhood that even now at this age he goes back searching the memories. It shows how being lonely has impacted him so negatively in such an emotionally unstable way. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the negative impact of loneliness through characters by the names of ‘George’ and ‘Lennie’.