Isolation and loneliness In the following short stories Eveline written by James Joyce, The Story of An Hour written by Kate Chopin, and A Rose For Emily written by William Faulkner we find that isolation is a popular theme throughout the stories. There are several factors in each one of the stories that makes us feel the isolation that each one of the women in the stated stories felt. Weather it is Eveline feeling stuck at home due to a request for her to tend to her family and resume the place of her deceased mother. Or Mrs. Mallard with her feeling that “it was only yesterday that she felt that life might be too long” (228).
Along with Miss. Emily who seemed isolate her self form the word by closing her door for good. In the three stories James Joyce, Kate Chopin, and William Faulkner use different strategies to help the readers understand the feeling of isolation that each one of the women in the stories are feeling. As we read through the short story of Eveline we can feel how lonely and isolated Eveline felt. The first line of the story helps to set the theme for the entire story James Joyce writes “She sits at the window watching the evening invade the avenue; her head leaned against the glass. 4) With that statement being made in the first paragraph of the story we can automatically feel that Eveline is unhappy. The author gives us the feeling of loneliness and isolation right away. Eveline sits and thinks “I must escape” (6). But we learn that she is engulfed with the stress of leaving and letting down her deceased mother. Her mothers wanted her to stay with her father and care for him. Eveline “felt herself in danger of her father’s violence. ” (4). Eveline also stated “now there is no one here to protect her” (5).
We feel then that her feeling of loneliness and isolation comes from the fear that she feels for her father. He tries to keep her at home and keep close tabs on her. Only allowing Eveline enough money for supplies. When her father learned that Eveline and Frank are courting he made her stop seeing him at once. Therefore Eveline had to see him in secret. I can’t help but wonder why she ends up feeling so guilty to leave her father for happiness with Frank. Eveline deserves to be happy and live a happy life with out being isolated and lonely. I n the Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin gives us the feeling that Mrs.
Mallard is unhappy in the by telling us “she was presses down by physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (227). We learn right off that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition and should be treated tenderly. When she heard the news of her husbands death, she was at first upset and distraught. She did not begin to feel better until she had time to sit and think, with “the delicious breath of rain was in the air” (227). Mrs. Mallard felt lonely and did not know what to do with herself anymore. She realized that there would no longer be someone there with her to be there when her life expired.
She often had the feeling that life was too long and that the end would never come for her. That was a sign that Mrs. Mallard was a lonely and isolated woman. She was sitting there in the chair when it came to her in a sudden rush. That she is “Free! Body and soul free” (228). Mrs. Mallard knew then that life was not short after all. Life was short and she should live it to the fullest. She is now free to do as she pleases. Mrs. Mallard has a feeling of freedom, freedom form the loneliness and isolation that she has felt for a very long time.
She is now free to be herself and knows that now she no longer has to wonder if her husband loves her or not. In “A Rose For Emily”, William Faulkner describes Miss. Emily as a recluse. Right away we feel the loneliness and isolation that Miss. Emily feels. She keeps her door closed, and remains to herself for years. People around town wondered about Miss. Emily after her fathers death and more so after her companion left her. “She went out very little after her sweetheart went away” (316). Miss. Emily seemed to have been suffering from deep depression. That was hard for her to over come.
She did not want to be alone. She wanted to be loved and to have a companion. Miss. Emily wanted a companion so badly that she poisoned her sweetheart and placed him upon a bed in a room with all his belongings. The neighbors reported foul smells coming from Miss. Emily’s home. There was nothing the city officials could do but sneak around at night and throw lime around her home. The officials knew that Miss. Emily would never let them in. She had closed her self off to the outside world. When Miss. Emily died we learned about the poisoning of her sweetheart.
We also were left to assume that lie with his decaying corps nightly. That proves that she was lonely. She wanted the companionship and would go to any length to have it. The three of the storied that we read are very different but similar in theme. We often wonder if Eveline ever left her father to find happiness and to erase the feeling of happiness. Did Eveline stand at the rail and ever get the feeling of freedom as Mrs. Mallard did while sitting in her room thinking. Why did Miss. Emily kill Homer? Was it the fear if being alone? All three of these women are different and have different situations.
However we can see how each one of them felt lonely and isolated. Eveline was scared to leave and felt lonely and isolated because if fear of her father. Also she felt that is was her duty to be there for her father no matter the pain that he caused her. Mrs. Mallard was lonely and often wondered if she really loved her husband. She felt that life was too long. That was until she got the over whelming feeling of freedom. In the end Mrs. Mallard found a peace with herself. Miss. Emily was emotionally disturbed and did not know how to cope with the feeling of loneliness. That is why I feel she killed Homer.
With him there alive or dead she did not feel alone and lonely anymore. Works sited Joyce, James “Eveline. ” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 7th ed. Upper Saddle Rive: Prentice, 2005 3-7 Chopin, Kate “The Story of an Hour. ” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 7th ed. Upper Saddle Rive: Prentice, 2005 227-229 Faulkner, William “A Rose for Emily. ” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 7th ed. Upper Saddle Rive: Prentice, 2005 314-321
