Alienated People

Word Count: 993

The Oxford dictionary defines alienation as; to estrange, isolate,
detach, distance, to put a distance, to turn away from another person.
Alienation, like a lot of other social attitudes and concepts, can give a
wide variety of interests. I have found six main points in The Encyclopedia
of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Psychoanalysis that have gotten the most
attention and things written about alienation; A) Powerlessness: The feeling,
belief, or expectancy that a persons behavior can't control some events
whether positive or negative, B) Meaninglessness: The person feels
incomprehensive in his/her social life and feels the "absurdity of life", C)
Normlessness: High expectancies for, or commitment to socially unapproved
ways to achieving a goal, one will go about achieving a goal in a not
normally excepted way, D) Cultural Estrangement: person's individual values
rejected by society, the image that the alienated value's not being standard
to that of the environment around him/her, E) Social Isolation: The
individuals low expectancy for inclusion and social exceptance, being lonely
and commonly found a member of a minority or physically disabled, F) Self
Estrangement: This focuses on the discrepancy or differences between one's
ideal self and one's actual self.

In the novel, The Metamorphosis, Gregor wakes up one morning as a giant
insect and feels out of place. When Gregor sees his father and his attitude
to him, Gregor feels alienated in that fact that his father yells and shows
his anger and frustration to his son and throws an apple which gets stuck in
his slimy backside. His father feels Gregor has not become successful and a
failure. He probably also feels that he has let his sister down along with
his mother for not being supportive enough as the father was not.
Continuing with the same concept of Mr. Samsa not being a good father,
Gregor felt alienated again by his mother and sister by not filling in the
father role while his father was out or doing whatever. His mom and sister
took things out of his room and the only thing left was a picture of a woman
who he probably felt was the only thing close to him. His boss surely wasn't
and his family was sure not there either.
In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya gets an incredible toothache and
is taken to the dentist who refuses to work on her because of her race.
Because of Dr. Lincoln and his nurses, Maya feels distrusted, hated, and
these things prevent her from receiving her share of community respect. She
remains unacknowledged except by her black neighbors.
Towards the end of the novel, Maya lacks parental support and runs away.
Sleeping in old cars and meeting other run away children as independent as
she is. She fe

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