Robert Olen Butler Loneliness

Nouwen (1975) describes loneliness as a universal experience that affects even the most intimate relationships. He identifies loneliness as one of the universal sources of human suffering. Some of the mental suffering in the

Loneliness and exclusion from society hurts and affects everyone; the emotional strain a person endures from it creates the image they present to others, but deep down they are not the display image they manufacture. As an illustration, while opening up to Lennie in the barn Curley’s wife states, “I get lonely… You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad.

“When we cannot bear to be alone, it means we do not properly value the only companion we will have from birth to death – ourselves.” – Eda LeShan. It’s a busy, busy day here in our lives. It would be nice if we can just press pause for a moment, so we can indulge the seconds of relief. I don’t think there’s anyone who wishes they couldn’t have a time out from everybody and everything. In “Daystar” by Rita Dove and “Loneliness” by Leon Neyfakh both share the same concept, spending time by yourself is healthy for an individual. They portray this content using the elements of tone, language, and imagery. They both are really intergrading in the fact people should give themselves a break.

All in all, it can certainly be said that loneliness is one of the central themes on which Of Mice and Men is built. Just like people today, the characters deal with difficulty dealing with and struggling against loneliness. Each character searches for companionship, because as Crooks said,

Many of the characters do suffer from loneliness in the novel Of Mice and Men. George lets everybody know early on in the novel that he is lonely. When George reminds Lennie that "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world” (Steinbeck Section 1). Men like George who travel from farm to farm usually never have anyone to look to for companionship and protection. As the story goes on, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife all state their deep loneliness. Crooks says, “A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick" (80). In a world with no friends to confide in, random people will have to do. Each of the characters search for a friend, someone to confide in and be able to talk to on an everyday basis, as Crooks says. In the end, however, companionship of Curley’s kind seems impossible to find. For George, when Lennie dies, George’s dreams and hopes of finding a companion disappears.

Not only does loneliness exist as a physical state, a circumstance, it also exists as a state of mind. For example, possibly the most obvious testament to the truth of this statement, is the character, Aza

Through Curley’s wife, you can see several examples of isolation and lack of companionship. “’I get lonely,’ she said. ‘You can talk to people, but

Loneliness has become an epidemic among young adults and spared out in elders’ everyday life where social isolation has become a cause of early death because we cannot cope alone.

Henry Rollins once said; “Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.” Although, loneliness is a part of life, nobody wants to feel alone or be in isolation. My mother passed away when I was 9. At that point in time she was the only person I looked up to, as a result the situation left me feeling alone. While other girls were learning how to wear makeup and how to cook from their mothers, I began teaching myself how to do these simple things. This experience has made me realize how important it is to appreciate what you have before it is too late. I am also more independent as a result.

This author points out that loneliness is created by society at a judging stage of how one looks and, on page 64, the “WOMAN” says, “Above all when you begin to fall asleep. The solitude of your body, a body alone, that inevitably ages and” The solitude of the heart that tries hard every night to prolong its cry against silence.” The character feels lonely and is how she will remain because of her age and looks.

Oftentimes, people confuse loneliness with the state of being alone. When looking at the overall big picture, it is easy to forget that loneliness is temporary. People are not alone because even back in primitive times, they bore a natural instinct to strive for companionship in order to survive. Human imagination creates companions in cases of extreme loneliness which contradicts the state of being alone. Due to societal and family standards, others in society make it practically impossible to be alone. Mankind often goes through life without realizing the overwhelming amount of human contact and support. People are never alone, they are just simply

In life, there are many times where an individual may feel alone. Personally, this past week can attest to that notion. Moving into a college dorm, saying goodbye to my loved ones, and taking on a new chapter in my life, have all been accompanied by a new set of emotions that I have never felt before: homesickness, freedom, peer-pressure. However, looking around everyone seems happy, and it feels as if I am trapped in a space that no one else appears to be in. But, internally they may be battling the same struggles that I am. That is what can be drawn from “The Wisdom of Sociology: Sam Richards at TedxLacador,” the idea that behind the facade, our personal struggles are all connected.

Generally almost all loneliness can be traced back to low or below "average" self-esteem. Chronically lonely people will usually have low opinions of themselves. They may think of themselves as unintelligent, unattractive, broken, unwanted, not worthy of good things, no good, unable to do anything right, and/or socially isolated. Unlike many other emotionally hurting people, the chronically lonely usually know what is wrong, but like many others they don't believe they can do anything to fix it, or, circling back to the low self-esteem, they may also believe they are not worth of happiness.

"No man is an island." This famous quotation explains the nature of man as a social being. It is truly a fact that human beings cannot exist in isolation. They need to be interdependent with each other in order to survive. This interdependence is needed because a human being alone will not be able to fill his own social needs, and his material necessities came from other people as well. All acts of society such as sex, love, and dependence are essential for the survival of any species. Interaction and socialization is the only way to prevent people from isolation, from solitude.

Or are we just exaggerating a new change in our society? Monbiot claims that it is killing us and damaging our society but is it really that dangerous? We as humans love to be social but has there been any individual that understood his true identity and his ideas form being in a social conformist life? We will always get our ideology and identity from being alone and isolated. I disagree with Monbiot’s article. Loneliness is a good change in society having aspects such as non-conformism, self-reliance, and more discovered ideas and ideologies.