Theme Of Alienation In Georgette's 'Void'

In LETB, Georgette’s ‘void’ seems to stem not only from her insular surroundings; but also from her alienation from both her family and society. Like Renton, she is highly intelligent, however it is impossible for her to fit into the world of 1950s America, because of its traditional values and her identification as both transgendered and homosexual. She is rejected and abused by her brother, and attempts to fill the void of lonliness by being a part of a group of shallow transgendered women, who spend their days consuming narcotics and fighting over men. Also, her cathexis concerning Vinnie allows her to create a false world of superficial love and acceptance. Here like Renton, she uses drugs to blot out the expectations on her, which are

As Douglas Kellner states: ‘in a society in which everything is a commodity that can be bought and sold, alienation is total’ (314). This alienation leads to failed attempts at social bonding because it is based on consumption rather than any concrete traits. The relationships in the novels are transactional, superficial and indifferent; just another way to distract themselves from their lives. The characters create a ‘business ontology’ (Fisher 17) where every social interaction is seen as what can be gained from the other person. Mark Fisher states this is a symptom of late capitalism, where social bonds are ‘held together by the prospect of future revenue; any other bonds are optional extras, almost certainly dangerous. Their arrangement is temporary, pragmatic and lateral – they know that they are interchangeable machine parts, that there are no guarantees, that nothing lasts’

Although Vinnie is an abject character – Georgette too treats him as a product; one that would make her look better in her friend's’ eyes if conquered because he is ‘rough trade’, as well as giving her self-worth a boost.; through his objectofication, one could say that he is one of ‘the moveable parts’ as discussed by Fisher. Selby conveys how consumption enables Georgette’s delusions about their relationship when he shows the street gang threatening her, and her hopes that Vinnie will rescue her. Selby states: ‘hoping in her Benzedrine mind, that she may be wrong and he would take her by the arm and walk away with her, she continued the little game’ (18). Indeed, Georgette’s whole idea of them threatening her with a knife being a ‘little game’ is as absurd as her ‘dream’ of Vinnie. Even when Vinnie’s friends stab her she still will not give up her ‘dream’ of him, and through this she both degrades herself and her self-worth. Selby uses the word ‘dream’ many times during this chapter and it can be argued that he is alluding to the ‘American dream’; and how Georgette’s delusions about Vinnie are just as absurd as the notion that any of these characters can become ‘self made’ people as they made impotent and ‘others’ by the greater society, and in as much are unable to focus on anything outside of their objects of