The Psychological Effects Of Social Alienation In Literature

There are many ways that people can isolate themselves. Isolation is not always something brought upon one’s self. Isolation can be optional, or a person may have no option in isolation. Stevie Smith, Nathaniel Hawthorne and E.A Robinson show, develop, and illustrate the theme of isolation in their short story and poems.

Essay Outline Alone: Being Disconnected Solitary confinement, isolation(Appositive), which disconnects a person from relationships with others has recently being condemned as inhumane in the treatment of criminals within the prison system. Such solitary confinement leads to disruptive thinking, an inability to have a clear flow of thoughts resulting in irreversible psychological effects in as little as fifteen days. This kind of isolation amounts to psychological torture and can lead to suicide as life loses all meaning. This essay will explore the idea of extreme loneliness and isolation in three pieces of writing, Night by Elie Wiesel, I Am Legend by Robert Matheson, and The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty. These authors explore the idea of

Friends will determine the direction and quality of your life. Loneliness is a battle that all people will once face at a certain point in their life; it is how they handle it that determines the outcome of that battle. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein loneliness is the most significant and prevailing theme throughout the entire novel. Shelley takes her readers on a wild journey that shows how loneliness can end in tragedy.

Isolation is the separation from others and/or society whether it be physically or emotionally. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, I believe that a central theme is that the isolation from family and society, especially at a time when one is faced with difficulty, can have a negative effect on a person. The main characters in the story, Victor Frankenstein and the monster, both experience the same suffering of being alone in different ways. The negative consequences are the death of their loved one and eventually the end of their own.

“Loneliness is a common emotion when someone feels alone, separated from others or unsupported and distressed” (Kennedy). A common occurrence of many great authors is to make a theme regarding loneliness or isolation for example, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”. “The Fall of the House of Usher”, comparatively speaking, is a very challenging read for most, whereas “The Yellow Wallpaper” is more of a relaxed read. There are many differences between “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, however, there is a common occurrence that links the two, loneliness. Throughout the two short fiction pieces both characters, Roderick Usher from “The Fall of the House of Usher and Jane from “The Yellow Wallpaper”, are isolated from the outside world, both characters have an illness that keeps them in isolation, and both characters in some way turn to a form of literature to pass time . All of these aspects contribute significantly to loneliness.

In modern day civilization individuals do not understand what they have until what they desired so much in life is vanished. Individuals take for granted what they have and sometimes create their own misery by isolating themselves from the world and even from their own family in that matter. Isolation is created by one owns way of being, no one is actually pushing an individual away, those people are trying to bring those individuals closer in. In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley the character Victor Frankenstein constructs his own isolation when he becomes obsessed with trying to make a creation so grand that he forgets what is truly important in any individuals life.

The fear of living in isolation or being isolated from everyone else has been something people have tried staying away from. Sometimes people end up going into isolation without knowing it until it becomes too late. All your family and friends start to stray away and you are left alone with nobody by your side. When he isolates himself from society and his family, Victor Frankenstein pushes everyone out of his life to become an inventor, showing that pushing your family away is acceptable only when the outcome has an impact on the world.

Victor Frankenstein’s personal accounts of loneliness and isolation show the effects involved with making an impulsive and passionate decision. Frankenstein predicts the loneliness he could experience if he were to create the monster as he observes, “When I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate in my joy” (Shelley 13). Frankenstein knows what kind of situation he is putting himself into prior to constructing the monster. He is passionate and carelessly rebellious against his own knowledge and his previous predictions in giving life to the creature. Frankenstein knows there will be “none to participate in [his] joy,” but he acts out of his own passion and desire to be “glowing” which in turn gives him extreme loneliness. This

Isolation is the seperation from others whether it is emotionally or physically. Throughout Frankenstein this became a issue where they tried to destroy each other. Frankenstein creation is the most obvious victim who suffers alienation, but Victor himself suffer isolation, yet the creature suffer from defection of society due to being rejected and not accepted by others. However, isolation led to Victor and the creatures self destruction.

Human are the most social animals in the world. When becoming isolated, it a signal that emotions have been turned amongst ourselves. If not already there, it is normal to feel depressed, lonely, alone. In Mary Shelley's gothic novel, both the monster and Frankenstein are isolated. Frankenstein will not tell anyone about his creation because he has no one to pour his emotions out to. This causes the loss of his family, friends,and lover. Until the end, he tells his experience to the force but was never really believed so his tale is only really heard by Robert Walton, an explorer with ambitions as strong as Victor himself. In Shelley's novel, she characterizes Victor Frankenstein and the monster as being isolated to convey their misery.

Isolation in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, has several themes imbedded in the text. One major theme is of isolation. Many of the characters experience some time of isolation. The decisions and actions of some of these characters are the root cause of their isolation.

Mental isolation takes a big part in Lord of the Flies, mainly because the kids are left stranded on an unknown island. Jack desires to be the leader of the group but everyone votes for Ralph instead. Jack then gets extremely frustrated and says,“‘I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too.’ He blundered out of the triangle toward the drop to the white sand” (Golding 183). Now the group is split into two groups which means all things are even more unorganized. As everyone is slowly losing civilization, everything is turning into chaos. This eventually leads to the deaths of some kids. Isolation sometimes results in one to lose their mental ability, unable to even think something all the way through. As writer Thomas Carlyle says, “Isolation may very often be the ‘sum total of wretchedness’” (Bond). Isolation may cause you to go insane and there is nothing you can do about it because it is human nature. Jack loses his mind when he decides to leave the group which is an outcome of his anger. According to Frank McAndrew, unpleasant things such as violence and conflict can arise “when small groups of people experience isolation together” (McAndrew). Golding shows how the boys lose their civility and go lunatic when he says “at once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (Golding 219). The boys assumed that Simon was the imaginary beast and viciously killed him. Their mental mindset causes them to act brutal and to not think ahead. Being mentally isolated can trigger how you act and

Isolation from the world and other people can sometimes be good for people. For those that choose to step back and take a break from the world, isolation can be a time of growth and self- discovery. However, if a person is forced into isolation, like Gregor Samsa and the angel were, it has a completely different effect. For the angel in “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and Gregor Samsa in “The Metamorphosis”, their isolation was physical as well as mental.

Alienation and isolation have been apparent in society since the beginning of man. When an individual stumbles outside the realm of social normality they are viewed as degradation to society or a threat to normal society.(“Truthmove” 2012) In the gothic tale of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley frequently displays the many different forms of alienation. Victor Frankenstein and his creation were two of the characters in this book that went through alienation and isolation.

Society is the one thing we can count on to shape the way of viewing others whether it’s by race, gender, class or creed, it causes alienation whether it is self imposed or brought upon them by other people. “I would rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.” -Kurt Cobain. In Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, Shelley explores the idea of alienation through Victor, whom self imposed isolation while creating the creature, The creature whom was isolated because he was different to the rest of society, and Walton whom also self imposed isolation.