Themes in Literature/Isolation and Community/Preface

This volume of Themes in Literature explores the complex relationship between isolation and community through the lens of literature. The individual lessons collected here were written by college students. With a few exceptions, these lessons examine single literary texts that are readily available on the web.

The texts presented explore how societal forces and individual choices intersect to shape our understanding of belonging, displacement, and the search for meaning in a world characterized by both profound connection and stark isolation.

The selected works include a diverse collection of short stories examining the complexities of human connection and isolation. Anton Chekhov's "The Bet" delves into the psychological effects of solitude on a man imprisoned for fifteen years. This theme of isolation continues in Ray Bradbury's "Night Call, Collect," a science fiction story about an aging astronaut haunted by phone calls from Earth, and Julio Cortázar’s "The Southern Thruway," which chronicles a group of travelers trapped in a massive traffic jam. Ken Liu's "The Paper Menagerie" explores how cultural differences can lead to isolation between a Chinese immigrant mother and her American-born son. Oscar Wilde's parables, "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant," use allegorical figures to consider the consequences of selfishness and the transformative power of compassion. Finally, the collection examines "Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure," a chapter from Carmen Maria Machado's memoir In The Dream House, recounting her experiences in an abusive relationship.

Two novels by Octavia Butler, Kindred and Dawn, explore the power dynamics in relationships shaped by historical trauma and the potential for connection and transformation despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Kindred follows Dana, a young African American woman who travels back in time to a pre-Civil War plantation, forcing her to confront the horrors of slavery and her own family history. Dawn, the first book in the Xenogenesis series, imagines a future where humanity has been rescued from the brink of extinction by the Oankali, an alien species with a unique approach to genetic engineering and community building.

The volume also analyzes a selection of poems that use vivid imagery and unconventional syntax to examine feelings of loneliness and the search for connection. Three poems by Emily Dickinson—"Much Madness is divinest Sense," "They shut me up in Prose," and "The Soul selects her own Society"—use the metaphor of confinement to explore themes of social conformity, self-expression, and the search for genuine connection. Two poems by Langston Hughes, "Let America Be America Again" and "Mother to Son," consider the challenges faced by marginalized communities in their pursuit of the American dream, using the extended metaphor of a difficult journey to convey resilience and hope.

Two short films, Belonging by Pierre Ieong and Beautiful Dreamer by David Gaddie, offer meditations on the search for connection across cultures and time. Belonging tells the story of George, a young Syrian refugee who finds solace and community in a diverse international school in Paris. Beautiful Dreamer, a science fiction film adapted from Ken Liu's short story "Memories of My Mother," explores the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship impacted by an experimental treatment that allows the mother to live for decades but only visit her daughter at certain points in her life.

Last but not least, the lesson "The Deluded Self" examines the complexities of self-delusion and its impact on perception and relationships by contrasting two texts, “Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure” by Carmen Maria Machado and the play No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre. Machado story uses a choose-your-own-adventure format to recount experiences in an abusive relationship, emphasizing the difficulty of escaping self-deception as choices ultimately lead to the same outcome. Sartre's play explores the concept of bad faith and the façades people construct to avoid facing their true selves.