Pit The Pendulum Quotes Of Isolation

The Harms of Isolation

“Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?” (Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart). It seems that isolation, or loneliness, has always been a part of our society. Many people ask themselves that with 7 billion people in this world, why do people become secluded and distant? What could the effects of this global phenomenon be, and how has it changed as time progressed? This theme is seen in the literature styles from light romantic works to dark romantic works and even modern authors with novels ranging from a wide variety

More often than not, isolation leads to oppression as seen in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum.” The narrator experiences isolation because of his unaccepted religious standings and for not conforming to the ways of the Spanish Catholics. He is placed in an isolation death tomb as punishment. “A fearful idea now suddenly drove the blood in torrents upon my heart, and for a brief period, I once more relapsed into insensibility. Upon recovering, I at once started to my feet, trembling convulsively in every fibre. I thrust my arms wildly above and around me in all directions. I felt nothing; yet dreaded to move a step, lest I should be impeded by the walls of a tomb.” The Spanish have decided to punish him for his beliefs through the ultimate form of oppression and isolation, death. Historically this has been seen in the Salem witch trials of 1692-1693. During this era 20 people were isolated due to their odd behavior. These isolated select few were so intensely punished that they were pushed to the point of death (Jess Blumberg). Comparable to the events that almost took place with the narrator in the “Pit and the Pendulum”. As seen in the above isolation has been proven to lead to extreme oppression in fiction and

Meyer, Brainy Quotes). If isolated our communication skills become underdeveloped and our abilities to behave in a normal matter is severely damaged. This is the main focus of Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. When McMurphy first walks in and lets out a laugh the men are so confused they don't even know how to react. “He stands there waiting, and when nobody makes a move to say anything to him he commences to laugh. Nobody can tell exactly why he laughs; there’s nothing funny going on. But it’s not the way that Public Relation laughs, it’s free and loud and it comes out of his wide grinning mouth and spreads in rings bigger and bigger till it’s lapping against the walls all over the ward. Not like that fat Public Relation laugh. This sounds real. I realize all of a sudden it’s the first laugh I’ve heard in years” (Kesey 12). They have been isolated from the outside world for so long that they no longer know to to function around that type of interaction. The goal being to let these crazy men be able to be released back into the public is unachievable if they are to isolate them to the point of social ignorance. Chris McCandless disappears without telling people for prolonged periods of time. Not only that but, he was unable to keep lasting relationships with his family or even the strangers that he met on his journey. "McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of