Loneliness

An Essay on Loneliness in the World

By Jennifer Carroll

Pine Point School

English

11/18/10

(TS) Loneliness is a common, yet terrible thing to have. (CM) It affects the mind, making the victim sad and desolate, like they are removed from the place where they want most desperately to be. (CM) They succumb to isolation and, believing themselves to be utterly alone, spend a good part of their time unhappy and miserable. (CS) Dill and my grandfather are just two cases of loneliness in the world, but they are the two that you will read about and hopefully, leave you with a better understanding of a human being in this state of loneliness.
(TS) An example of utter loneliness would have to be Dill, the tiny outcast in To Kill a Mockingbird. (CM) He has had the misfortune to be born to a mother who seems entirely focused on herself and not her young son, and he has no friends other than Scout and Jem due to being bounced from relative to relative over the years. (CM) He is so small, so fragile with his "wispy, light blond hair, like duck fluff," and yet he has the enormous burden of isolation resting on his slight shoulders. (SD) Dill is always alone, abandoned in his town, where his only family is either dead or paying attention to other, "more important" things. (CM) His mother, who has just remarried to Dill's new stepfather, is always off frolicking in the joys of married life, and has no time to spare for her little boy. (CM) His father dead, and with no siblings or close friends, the only question to ponder is why he waited so long before escaping from the cruelest prison of all- the cold embrace of solitude. (SD) He explains to Scout that his mother and stepfather love him, ( he is flesh and blood after all) but for the glaring fact that they cannot spare him a second of affection while leading their own busy lives. (CM) As he said, ""The thing is, what I'm trying to say is- they do get on better without me, I can't help them any". (CM) He leads his life, forever lonesome, until he snaps and makes a break for sweet affection and freedom, and who can blame him? (CS) Everybody needs love; it's like food, and if you don't get enough, you starve and wither away until not a shred of yourself is left whole and hearty.

(TS) My grandfather, an old man of 89, is a perfect example of a lonely being. (CM) Day after day, he sits in his decrepit, squeaky chair, his forlorn figure illuminated by the weak sunlight streaming through his window. (CM) He used to be a talkative man, bold and outgoing in his prime, but as the years have passed and the seasons changed, he has retreated further and further into the depths of solitude. (SD) His wife, my grandmother, is his only company and his main caretaker, but they never talk anymore. (CM) My mother sometimes visits him, along with my uncles and their offspring, but his sad, dejected expression soon drives them away, fleeing from the overwhelming feel of depression and lonesomeness that lurks through his home and shows in his expression. (CM) To drop in on him is at your own risk; when he's not staring numbly down at his newspapers, he's sitting quietly; the only sound that fills the awkward silence is the mechanical squeak of rusting metal as he rocks back and forth. (CS) I only wish that I could say something, anything at all, to make his face light up again with remembrance and joy, like it is portrayed in old pictures from long ago, when he was a younger and happier man.

(TS) Loneliness is, as I now hope you understand, a serious predicament to all involved, whether it be the victim or their concerned friends and family. (CM) It attacks you from within, slowly choking your feeling of connection, of being loved until it withers and dies within you. (CM) If you feel lonely, the only thing you can do is go to a relatives or good friends house, because only kind human contact can rid you of that melancholy emotion for good. (CS) Loneliness is not something to be taken lightly.

Self Assessment: I think that I deserve an A- for this essay. I really like some of my writing here and feel that I've done a good job on details and keeping the essay graceful. I think that I need to work on polishing my essays more thoroughly though.