The Struggle for Acceptance

One of the most common, and debatably most effective, methods of discipline in jail is solitary confinement because it creates a detachment from other inmates that has the potential to drive the person into a delusional state of mind. The unnamed Protagonist from Rawi Hage's novel Cockroach lives in constant seclusion as a result of his psychotic outlook on life. After a suicide attempt, he is sentenced to consult a psychologist to assess whether he should be admitted into a mental institution. As he converses with the therapist, he unravels his shocking back-story of living in Lebanon during the civil war. He left Lebanon and now resides in an apartment in the dark and gloomy city of Montreal with only the cockroaches in his apartment’s kitchen. As a consequence of the incidents from Lebanon he starts to perceive himself as a cockroach and uses that perception to aid him in living underneath the world It is clear that the Protagonist grows as his own isolation begins to engulf him. This is evident through the character's evolving image of himself, his enraging anger and the harassment from his friends and society.

Isolation is torturous for a human being for it can lead to depression, anxiety, and, in severe cases, even insanity. The Protagonist is so secluded that he conjures a mental image of himself as a cockroach escaping down the drains into the sewer so he can get away from everything. His image of himself as a cockroach is constructed because of his belief in the end of the world caused by an apocalypse that will leave only the cockroaches to survive resulting in him finally being accepted. He hallucinates a cockroach saying, " The world ended for you a long time ago. You never participated in it. Look at you, always esc...

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...cide in the first place.

To conclude, the Protagonist of the novel evolves tremendously as he emerges from his own isolation. He is overwhelmed by the seclusion from society and starts becoming increasingly angry, delusional, and psychotic. He creates a bi-polar character of a cockroach that he uses to escape from his apartment in search of a place where he will be accepted. In addition, he begins to become volatile because of his childhood guilt of not being able to save his sister and his anger is further provoked because of the harassment from his friends and society. These aspects of his life have strongly affected how he progresses throughout the novel. The Protagonist’s psychological state testifies to the fragility of patients with mental disorders and the importance of care and compassion that should be provided to them as opposed to neglect and isolation.