“Social isolation is one of the most devastating things you can do to a human being; I don’t care how old you are. ”-Rosalind Wiseman. The role of isolation in society is quite similar to its purpose in literature, it creates an internal struggle. Isolation is often used in literature to portray a feeling of emptiness which furthers the plot. Ernest Hemingway, author of modern short stories, uses the theme of isolation in his literary works to express feelings of unhappiness or uncertainty.
Cat in the Rain”, “Hills Like White Elephants”, and “Soldier’s Home” all center around isolation as each character struggles with everyday life. Ernest Hemingway author of “Cat in the Rain”, “Hills Like White Elephants”, and “Soldier’s Home” applies symbolism, setting, and structure to explain isolation as a theme with the help of the protagonist’s dialogue. To illustrate isolation in Soldier’s Home, Hemingway sets the scene in the summer of 1919 in Oklahoma as a veteran returning home long after a previous wave of soldiers.
The protagonist Krebs suffers from an internal conflict with his desire for company yet his dislike of communication. For example, upon his first couple of days Krebs watches the street solemnly thinking, “Now he would have liked a girl if she had come to him and not wanted to talk” (Soldier 2). Throughout the short story Krebs has many thoughts similar to those described due to his lack of social skills since being admitted into the army that leave him isolated. Not only does he remove conversation from his like, Krebs isolates himself through hiding.
In a scene at the breakfast table Krebs uses the newspaper to block his face from his family,“He folded the Star open and propped it against the water pitcher with his cereal dish to steady it, so he could read while he ate”(Soldier 3). Meanwhile he reads his sister and mother long to have a conversation with him and he does not even bother to make eye contact. Readers can infer that his isolation issues stem from the war as the narrator mentions that he had friends during his time in college. Isolation surrounds this short story as it portrays the significance of loneliness in life.
Another short story that showcases the theme of isolation is “Hills Like White Elephants” as a young woman must make a decision regarding an operation. Although she is with a gentleman , the decision is entirely hers making her feel isolation and a conflict with her morals. During a scene between the young woman and the gentleman, they go back and forth discussing the aftermath of the procedure leaving her with uncertainty, “The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the the strings of beads” (Elephants 2).
The act of her solely holding the beads signifies that the decision rests in her hands that leaves her feeling isolation from her partner that he says “You’ve got to realize, that I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you” (Elephant 3). Her partner does not help her feel companionship because he allows the decision to rest in her hands as he gives her space to contemplate the grave decision of the sunny side or clouded side of the tracks.
The isolation of the women named, “Jig”, leaves an uncertainty that she can not express because it is what it is. Said isolation is subtle in the short story as the reader interprets the conversation among the couple, however, it plays a major role in the plot. Lastly, the short story “The Cat in the Rain”, revolves around an American girl staying with her husband in an italian hotel. The story begins with separation and isolation as the American wife stares out the window while her husbands rests on the bed reading.
Readers can infer that the relationship has lasted isolated this way for a while as even through conversation the husband, George, relays distant and uninterested. The marriage leaves the American girl so lonely that simple conversation makes her happy with the italian desk manager, “The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her” (Cat 1). Despite convestating being apart of the man’s job, the girl appreciates the moments of attention that she soughts after a cat in the rain.
In the final scene the need of company is reassured as she discusses change, “I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel”(Cat 2). She requests her husband’s opinion about growing out her hair just to make conversation and he shuts her down with a simple reply of saying he likes it the way it is. In the end the theme of isolation is never resolved as the protagonist must continue her life as the “American wife”. Rosalind Wiseman says that people should never feel isolated or isolate themselves from others.
She says this because as Hemingway and society have taught, loneliness is not enjoyable but sorrowful. No one should have to be scared of communication as in “Soldier’s Home”, or left alone to make a decision in “Hills Like White Elephants, or even vacation without interaction as in “Cat in the Rain”. Isolation as a theme is prominent is modernism as it is in society which as showcased in the above short stories is not something a human can live comfortably with. The act of having someone to argue with or share laughter with is not something to take for granted or lightly as some struggle with having small talk because the lack of someone.
