others toward extraordinary creativity and innova-
tion as a result of having been forced to rely solely
on their own minds as a source for meaning. As one
might suspect, these two sides of the coin are not
mutually exclusive; many people experience both
positive and negative effects of isolation, deriving
inspiration from it while at the same time feeling
hurt and disturbed.
Obviously, not all who feel isolated are literally
alone, and not all who are alone are isolated. In an
essay on isolation in literature, Mark Conliff points
out that the condition hinges on the individual hav-
ing once been part of a whole. The isolated person
is not really a “stranger” or an “outsider,” words that
might come to mind when thinking of this solitary
state. Isolation requires that one was part of the
group (at least at one time) and that he or she con-
tinues “to be defined, however subtly, by his associa-
tion with his usual world” (121). That identification
is what makes isolation so powerful. The stranger
might long to be part of the group but, having never
been a member, will not derive meaning or shape her
identity based on this association. The isolated soul,
however, cannot escape the connection. Whether
the isolation is voluntarily imposed on the self or
forced by some other entity, it is a condition that is
objective in that it is not merely a feeling, and that
is created by an outside force, not by happenstance.
When human beings are genuinely isolated
from others, serious psychological consequences
may result. This is due to the basic human need to
belong, to depend on and be accompanied by oth-
ers throughout life. When human beings lived in
hunter-gatherer societies, survival required these
affiliations. As humans have evolved from that
period in their history, they have not lost that need.
The English psychiatrist Anthony Storr noted that
these connections need not be intimate ones, but
that they must be there: “[W ]hether or not they are
enjoying intimate relationships, human beings need
a sense of being part of a larger community than
that constituted by the family” (13). Kipling D. Wil-
liams, in his study of ostracism and its effects, notes
that the need to belong is fundamental, and that “an
absence of affiliation... with others produces a host
of negative psychological consequences, including
depression, anxiety, stress, and physical and mental
illness” (60). Being isolated from others, Williams
goes on to argue, can also effect other fundamental
needs, such as the need for self-esteem, the need to
feel in control of one’s own life, and the need for
meaningful existence (59–60).
Being apart from others in any kind of system-
atic way can, in fact, alter the way we derive meaning
from our lives. Isolation, forced or voluntary, can be
as a window into what life would be like if we did
not exist. When there is no one to take notice of
us, no one to see us, talk to us, or respond to us in
any way, it is as though we are dead, for there is no
one there to remind us that we are alive. William
James, in his groundbreaking Principles of Psychology
(1890) says, “No more fiendish punishment could
be devised, were such a thing physically possible,
than that one should be turned loose in society and
remain absolutely unnoticed by all the members
thereof ” (quoted in Williams 2). To be cut off like
this, or “cut dead” as James puts it, is one of the
most powerful weapons humans wield against one
another and the basis for one of our society’s most
common punitive actions: incarceration.
When isolation is forced, as in incarceration or
ostracism, its victims can undergo enormous pain
and stress. For example, in Susan Glaspell’s play
triFLes, Minnie Wright has been isolated by her
cruel husband for many years. She sees no one, talks
to no one, and must live out her days in only his
infrequent and reticent company. Thus, Mrs. Hale
and Mrs. Peters surmise that when John Wright
kills her only source of comfort, and indeed her only
source of identification, her parakeet, she snaps and
turns to murder, a completely uncharacteristic move.
This parakeet is the only way Minnie knows she is
alive, because it responds to her by singing, which
she herself used to do in church with other members
of her community.
Minnie’s isolation is created by her husband;
many characters in literature suffer forced isola-
tion at the hands of family members. In The coLor
purpLe, by Alice Walker, Celie is isolated first by
her father and then by her husband, Mister. She is
given no access to those who love her and those who
would give her life intimacy and connection. First
her father takes away her babies moments after they
are born, then he marries her off to Mister, separat-isolation 63