In the short story, The Saucer of Loneliness, the audience is introduced to a young woman who describes a story when she sees a flying saucer in Central Park. Following her experience; she is forced to move, is isolated and only gets attention when people wish to hear about her encounter with the flying saucer. Because her isolation comes after the encounter, we can say that the saucer in the story symbolizes loneliness. Throughout the short story the young woman tells her story about how she moved around a lot, and never went on dates that didn't end in her being questioned about her experience (88) and she had a hard time obtaining a job because people were uncomfortable around her so she was forced to work at night at jobs with little interaction (88). After her experience with the saucer, she instantly became someone different, someone who "aliens" or "some other life form" wanted to talk to, and since she would not reveal what she learned from the saucer, people instantly believed she was a threat. The experience had made her different from other people; had set her apart. This difference became the determining factor in making her isolated and lonely. She is fairly young when all of this is happening too; about 17 years old. Most 17 year old girls are fairly social and excited about life, and for the girl in the story this is not true. Instead she goes through her life lonely and sending out messages in bottles.
I think that the loneliness in the story suggests that modern society has people with many differences. Not every person is the same, and this story establishes a girl that is lonely and very different from others because she wanted to keep a message to herself. I think that many younger people in the world feel lonely because they can not find friends that they relate to and can talk to.
In the time period that this was written, a war had just ended and people were adjusting to domestic life. In the 1950's people had his classic "All American" look about them. (image below is the classic family style I'm talking about.)
So, in the 50's straying from this perfect family oriented style of living made someone very weird or strange because they weren't acting in the ways that the normal people did. So, for a girl like the one from the short story, she is forced to differ from what was socially acceptable. Not only did she just not reveal the saucers message, but this led her to ultimately not be the typical 1950's woman. This kind of woman would cook, clean, take care of the children, wait at home for her husband and plans social events, pretty much just the typical feminine role. And in Sturgeon's story he is depicting a girl who does not fit her gender role at all, instead she avoids people, lives alone, does not date and has no friends. So, I think that the significance of the loneliness portion is suggesting that the modern world avoids change, and things that are different and inexplicable. The girl perfectly represents the modern world shunning her because of one thing that sets her apart, people refuse to accept her and make her feel worthless. The modern world, as suggested by Sturgeon, does not approve of differences; they except you to be normal in order to live socially.
No comments:
Post a Comment