The Theme Of Isolation In The Novel 'Company Town'

We all deal with alienation, both internal and external, throughout our lives: it is an unavoidable condition that universally afflicts all humans. However, oftentimes we can alienate ourselves from other people more than is necessary, putting a divide between us and the rest of humanity by no fault but our own. Both John and Amir in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner face great internal struggles with alienation throughout their whole lives, many times making things worse for themselves than is needed, and forging their characters by fire; yet the natures of their hardships are inherently different, leading the protagonists down two disparate paths: one to personal triumph and the other to tragedy.

Ng-Chan begins to notice the growing intimacy between her father and her half sister, who represents an invasion of the relationship between her father and herself. Consequently, Ng-Chan, who has always considered herself an “only child,” displays jealousy. Her bitterness is compared to “the taste of something sharp and grey...like a tiny piece of rock…[she can] break her teeth on” if she is not careful. Thus, “somewhere along the way, [she stops] looking forward to Saturdays.” This results in a deviation in her perspective: an experience that was once enjoyable is no longer worthwhile. These changes, however, remain unnoticed by her father because she is reluctant to assert her feelings, unwilling to potentially harm their relationship. This is evident when she feels “sad about … how [her father’s] face changed” after she has expressed her unwillingness to go out with him. For this reason, she seems “go into an automatic cheer whenever [she] sees him,” and their “Saturday rituals [continue]... until the time she leaves for university.” The father’s ignorance about the transformations in her daughter’s attitude, coupled with the daughter’s inability to express her feelings, results in in an awkward deadlock in their relationship whereby neither of them can express an incentive to find a

This type of upbringing would lead one to believe that her life would not amount to anything and torn by the fact that she was not residing with her family. However, subconsciously, when she needed reassurance, her paternal mother’s words to her would always surface in her mind, “Sunshine, you’re my baby and I’m your only mother, but you must obey the one taking care of you but she is not your mama”.

who always been deprived of father-figure, she feels the need to acquire attention from boys in

Although Twyla and Roberta both struggled with mother issues, they develop different reactions yet similar solutions to their troubles. During her stay at the youth shelter,

The typical business man involved in corporate America works anywhere from six to ten hours per day. Phil, “the Company Man” worked six days a week sometimes until eight or nine at night, making himself a true workaholic. Using his life story before he died Goodman is able to convey her liking toward Phil but her dislike of what the business world has turned him into. Not only does Goodman use a number of rhetorical devices but she also uses Phil’s past as well as the people who were once in Phil’s life to get her message across to her reader. Ellen Goodman sarcastically creates the obituary of a man who dedicated his life to his job and the company he worked for. Goodman uses anaphora, satire, diction,

David McCullough argues that people have more time to read then they are willing to admit, gathering information is not a form of learning, and that reading happens to be the best means of learning. He references a story of Theodore Roosevelts’ adventure through the Dakota Territory in the middle of winter. In this story Roosevelt is following a couple of thieves, down the Mississippi river, because they stole his prize winning rowboat. After catching up to the thieves and capturing them, with the help of his trusty Winchester, he dragged them cross-country, with a borrowed wagon, to justice. Then traveling forty miles on foot across the snow covered badlands to railhead Dickinson. An astonishing feat, made memorable by Roosevelt reading all of Anna Karenina through this journey. McCullough thinks of this when people claim they have no time to read.

In today’s society, there is an abundance of ways to isolate one’s self. Many do not realize the complications that come with prolonged isolation. Arthur Miller, an American playwright of multiple plays, specifically Death of a Salesman, has won multiple awards, such as; Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and a Tony Award for Best Play. Miller, is able to distinctly represent complications, that are coupled with isolation, for Linda and Willy Loman, coping mechanisms for isolation are vastly different from one another, and still they both succeed in contributing to Willy’s own isolation.

During the novel “Purple Hibiscus”, we witness the transformation of Kambili Achike from a silenced, repressed and wary girl into a more confident, mature and happy young woman. This change is brought upon by significant characters in the story, who help show Kambili how joyous the world can be and how she also has a place within this joyous world. And through this Kambili finds a way to slowly crack through her father’s hold over her and come into her own.

community can be viewed as prosperous, peaceful, and the epitome of perfection; however, as time goes on, it is revealed that all is not as it seems. Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is one such example of a place not being as peaceful as first made out. Omelas is portrayed as the most perfect place to live; however, behind the scenes, all the prosperity is the result of a single child's suffering. In a society such as this, even if a single individual is suffering, it will never truly be perfect. Dystopian communities will try to present themselves as outstandingly flawless while also trying to hide the fact that there is still suffering amongst the prosperity.

In the short story “Saving Sourdi” by May-Lee Chai Mr. Chhay symbolizes the change into adulthood and coming of age. Throughout the story Nea is protective of her older sister Sourdi, even after she is married to Mr. Chhay. However, Nea realizes that Sourdi has grown up since she met Mr. Chhay and is no longer need her protection because she is an adult. This causes Nea to mature and finally snap back into reality. Also, Sourdi matures into an adult when she marries Mr. Chhay and has a kids.

An analogy has been drawn about how she was in the past and how is she now. She was a carefree person, demanding love in her life, wanting to take care of her children and become a house wife and now she works as a schoolteacher, has become a responsible person concerned about her husband and child, struggling for her son’s life, bearing tantrums of her sister-in-law and living in a small house in a small city. On the other hand, Komal, sister-in-law of Anjali is a character shown who seems to be frustrated from her life from the time she has lost her husband. The book has depicted another face of an Indian woman, who lives her entire life following the customs that the society has decided for a widow. Anjali tried to make her first marriage successful by taking care of small things like making her husband, his favorite cardamom chai and best of meals while Prakash’s second wife Indu was never concerned about any of his likings and gave priority to her own personal

In the writing “The Company Man”, the author, Ellen Goodman, gives us a brief, yet, fulfilling summery of a big company man’s attributes, life, and death. In this work, the author uses referential writing as her primary purpose of writing, while she also uses narration as her primary pattern for the analysis of the writing. She begins, opening up with “He worked himself to death, finally and precisely, at 3:00 AM Sunday Morning.” in order to grab our attention. She then goes into the different aspects of his life, starting with his devotion to his company and some of the different characteristics about him. Next, she lists, in chronological order, the different people in his family, and analyzes what he meant to each person listed. Finally, in closing, the author repeats some of her work, reflecting her writing in her introduction, closing with more elements about him and his work ethic, but also reminding us of how he sacrificed work for family. She then finishes her writing with “So when he finally worked himself to death, at precisely 3:00 AM Sunday morning, no one was really surprised”

In “The Next Adventure,” Malik’s relationship with his mother changes over the course of the story from one of fighting to one of caring. The story begins with Malik’s reaction to the news from his mom of a transfer to Japan. This reaction shows his anger and how he blames his mom. Malik makes the transfer harder his mom by reminding her of his friend’s birthday he will miss and how he wants to acquire his driver’s license. The text shows he does not think anything he says matters to her and “his mother wore the expression that told Malik he didn’t have the slightest chance.”

Through the development of human history, economy and technology have been changed in many ways. Development of technology allows people to be in the industrial society, and capitalism takes an important position as an economic system. In order to develop technology, efficiency is necessary. Because of this reason, capitalism also focuses on efficiency seeking to make more profits. As the coming of technology and capitalism society develop the modernity in daily life, efficiency seeking is not only required at the public level but also in the private life, and it influences human connection and intimacy. Arlie Russell Hochschild, the author of “From the Frying Pan into the Fire”, demonstrates how capitalism and its market system influence human connection and intimacy in their private lives, especially in the family and the community. Hochschild claims that capitalism forces people to changing the notion of family because of efficiency-seeking in private life. Sherry Turkle, the author of “Alone Together”, talks about the impacts of technology that allow people to always be connected to one another; however, at the same time, can make them feel alone. Turkle says that technology contributes to human connection but also leads to the loss of real intimacy. Therefore, desire for efficiency not only in the public sphere but also in the private sphere aggravates the absence of authentic relationship and intimacy.