As Antoinette is neither a black nor a pure white, she and her family are not accepted by any group in the society. Antoinette is alienated by both the whites and the blacks thus she is considered as a double outsider. Such isolation causes her to have ambivalent cultural and racial identity and this can be seen in the diction and tone used by Jean Rhys. On page 93, Antoinette tells Rochester that she has “heard English women call (them) white niggers”, and that “(she) often wonders about who (she is) and where (her) country is and where (she) belongs to and why (she) was ever born at all”. From the syntax and listing of questions in this quote we can sense the feeling of confusion and displacement, which is the result of the society’s isolation.
The repetition of the word nobody in the statement “Nobody cares, see? Nobody gives a toss” also emphasises the fact that society does not care for the homeless. Towards the end of the novel even Link comes to the realisation that he and other homeless
He says, although most people enjoy chatting, he hates it because he finds it pointless. He doesn’t see social interaction as an end in itself, therefore talking to another person about an insignificant topic serves no purpose. He lives as an outsider as a result. He has very few friends and doesn’t trust other people. He feels content to read in his room by himself, and he even fantasizes about being the only person alive on the planet!
With this, Joe describes many things in his current situation such as his girlfriend and the different settings in a large amount of detail, however, the one thing he does not describe once and the reader is given no information on is Joe himself- this could have a deeper meaning in the sense that Joe may be a man who always thinks about other people (however this may be contrasted with his deep sorrow and feeling of selfishness for releasing the balloon). Alongside this, through narration the readers may be able to pick up the fact that Joe is detached or lost in thought in certain situations, such as the long dragging out description of when he was running towards the balloon which is normally something which would not be thought about in a life or death situation. Furthermore, the fact that Joe does not hear what the pilot is saying and simply thinks to his
Siddhartha is loved by all his family and friends, but still feels a void. His soul is like a “waiting vessel” and he wants to be enlightened, so he sets out to find it and him and Govinda become Samanas. They are Samanas for a few years but do not find enlightenment there, so they move on. During this, Siddhartha and Govinda go their separate ways in order to try and find having nothing to having everything that he wants. Yet, he is still unhappy.
Bartleby was basically hired for copying the text but eventually he started refusing the work requested by the lawyer. The story reflects the mental and physical breakdown of the character Bartleby through the eyes of other people. Even as the story progresses and different people come into contact with Bartleby, he remains unchanged. The narrator repeatedly states that “Bartleby did nothing but stand at his window in his dead-wall revery” (Melville 607). This is yet another way that Bartleby’s static character, along with his flat nature, is shown.
The American blacks were victims of racism, segregation, discrimination and furthermore poverty in their community. They were neglected by the government. Nonetheless, they were neglected by fought for their rights and equality. The black people in America had their own separate communities away from the whites, because they were neglected by white people and the government. For instant they couldn’t vote in their country.
The beauty standards of white Western culture, the sexual abuse of Pecola by her father, and Pecola’s low economic status have multiplicative effects on Pecola and all aid in her progressive alienation from society as well as her fall towards insanity. Deborah King states that “the experience of black women is assumed to be synonymous with that of either black males or white females” (King 45). It is mistakenly granted that either there is no difference in being black and female than being generically black or generically female. The intensity of the physical and psychological impact of racism is very different from that of sexism. For example, the group experience of slavery and lynching for blacks, and genocide for Native Americans is not comparable to the physical abuse, social discrimination, and cultural denigration suffered by women.
In addition, many Caucasians including the female protagonists in both texts felt some kind of racial guilt for what transpired in the past. In Disgrace and A Blade of Grass the female characters who reflect this racial guilt experience a loss, which leads to a tense friendship with a black African character that is resolved only to a degree by the novel’s conclusion. Firstly, Marit in A Blade of Grass and Lucy in Disgrace feel racial guilt and experience a loss. To begin, Marit believes that “blacks deserve fair treatment and are not receiving it” (Desoto, 276), and Lucy recounts a story where “blacks were beaten and evicted from their homes” which is “inhumane” (Coetzee, 124). In addition, both characters endure a loss: Marit’s husband, Ben, is killed by a land mine that he runs over while driving, and Lucy is raped by several black African males.
Due to his lack of friends he tries to create a bond with Sam and it makes it even more valuable due to Hally’s loneliness. He would always “try out a few ideas but sooner or later” he’d “end up in there with” Sam and Willie. He would always look for something to do and always wonder what he should do and think of some ideas but in the end he knew that they would always be there and he would never be let down by them. Hally feels a strong sense of humiliation and all of it because of his crippled and alcoholic father whom made him feel a constant let down in his life. When Hally was young his father “was dead drunk on the floor of the Central Hotel Bar” and Sam helped Hally bring him home.