Sigi Fisch

Mrs. Williams
10th Honors Lit
4 December 2015
The devastating effects of social isolation, compared to forced and self inflicted isolation.
Isolation defined by dictionary is the process or fact of isolating or being
isolated. The worst type of isolation is social; social isolation is an objective condition in
which people have little interaction with others. There are different types of isolation
such as self-inflicted, forced, and social. Three specific novels introduce characters
suffering from one of these types of isolation. William Golding, Aldous Huxley, and Ken
Kesey all use these different types of isolation in the novels, Lord of the Flies, Brave new
World, and One Flew over the Cuckoos nest. Social isolation provokes dangerous longterm damage to an individual, while forced and self-inflicted isolation inflict lesser
deterioration to an individual. Self-inflicted isolation can lead to insanity, as shown in
One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest: but still wreaks less damage than social isolation.
Chief Bromden suffers from self-inflicted isolation due to his false inability to
hear and speak. Chief Bromden is isolated from activities within the mental facility,
causing him to feel like an outsider. Chief Bromden inflicts this isolation on himself; he
pretends to be deaf and mute, causing him to hallucinate and feel insane. As Chief
Bromden starts go insane, he states, I been silent so long now its gonna roar out of me
like floodwaters and you think the guy telling this is ranting and raving my god; you
think this is too horrible to have really happened, too awful to be the truth (Kesey 8).
Chief Bromden is responsible for his own isolation. He decides to make himself deaf and

mute, when he really can hear and speak. Even though Chief Bromden starts to exhibit
insanity within, he causes himself the insanity. Self-inflicted isolation is not as
detrimental because the individual puts it upon him or herself, knowing the potential
outcomes. Chief Bromden demonstrates the effect of self-inflicted isolation and how it is
less harmful than social isolation; Ralph also projects how social isolation is worse by
experiencing a different type of isolation.
Ralph from Lord of the Flies is a sufferer of forced isolation, which is brought
upon by refused communal activity. Ralph loses his best friend and finds that he has no
one to confide in. Ralph lost control and, wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of
a mans heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called piggy (Golding
248). This damages Ralph greatly because he is now isolated. None of the boys
understand him, in fact they turn on him, causing him to feel alone and depressed. This
type of isolation is forced due to the fact that Ralph did not choose this. Forced isolation
is not as damaging as social isolation because forced isolation does not always mean
someone is against someone else. Ralph had a friend, but his friends death contributed to
him feeling alone and misunderstood. Forced isolation is not as ruinous as social
isolation, as Ralph demonstrates. John the Savage shows how Ralph and Chief
Bromdens isolation is not as severe as his.
John the Savage is a victim of social isolation as a result of his incapability to
fit into a certain society. Social isolation is by far the worst because of the long-term
damage it can cause. John does not fit into the Brave New world because he does not
uphold their values. No one understands John and he is looked at as an outsider. This
causes John to be in serious distress. John finally breaks and yells, Oh forgive me! Oh,

make me pure! Oh, help me to be good! Again and again, till he was on the point of
fainting from the pain. (Huxley 244). John is breaking up inside from his isolated state.
He is pushing himself to fit in, which he cant. The long-term damage he suffers inflicts
more pain than forced and self-inflicted isolation could cause. The corruption that social
isolation causes is dangerous, and ultimately will lead to John committing suicide.
Johns social isolation is most dangerous because it leads to self-harm. John wants
to be included in society, but ultimately pushes himself to suicide. John tries very hard to
change himself, he had sworn to remember, he had sworn unceasingly to make amends.
And there was he, sitting happily over his bow- stave, singing, actually singing. (Huxley
247). John pushes himself mentally and physically to fit in. He changes who he is to fit in
to society, which is long-term damage that cannot be reversed. Social isolation can
change who someone is, but it can also lead to self-harm. John the Savage is an example
of long term damage social isolation causes.
Social isolation can be brought upon by many varying factors and can lead to
extreme destruction, such as suicide in John the Savages case. Isolation is being separated
from other people and an environment. Forced and self-inflicted are not nearly as
damaging, displayed by Chief Bromden and Ralph. Isolation is a serious issue in general,
and leads to many differing results. All three novels display the different results isolation
administers on a person. Although forced and self-inflicted isolation are damaging, social
provokes the greatest long-term damage. Golding, Huxley, and Kesey use isolation to
enhance the struggles of the protagonists. Ralph suffers from forced isolation, but the
situation is temporary. Although this hurts Ralph, he will recover. Chief Bromden
chooses his own fate by self-inflicting isolation upon himself. John does not get a choice,

and does not get a chance to change his fate. Forced and self-inflicted Isolation can be
resolved, where as social isolation causes undoable damage. Isolation can cause serious
destruction to ones state of mind, causing this irreversible long-term damage.

Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Coward-McCann, 1962. Print
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World Revisited. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958. Print.
Kesey, Ken. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest: A Novel. New York: Viking, 1962
. Print.