Despite how feeble humans are, I’m always struck by how
adaptable we can be. In John’s Trial,
after being shunned by his community, John becomes a bit of a loner. I wouldn’t
go as far as to say that he was happy to live apart from society, but he
sustained himself in a way that kept him busy and sane. It amazes me how
smoothly he creates a routine in a world that no longer resembles the one he
inhabited before being accused. After many years without much contact, his name
is cleared, and visitors and old friends who are eager to rekindle friendships
and regain lost time overwhelm him. But something fundamental had changed
within him and he has a hard time transitioning back in to society.
“He had traveled too long and far in that fearful desert of
loneliness easily or quickly to return”. I love this sentence. It’s searing,
twisted, sad. It makes me wonder if writers like Emerson, who removed himself
from society, ever wanted to come back, yet couldn’t because of the same
feeling John has. Did Emerson live out his entire life alone because there was
no comfortable forum in which he could return to society? John was forced back
in, though friends apologies and neighbors reaching out to him. Had solitary
writers been extended the same hand would they have been able to accept it if
they wanted to? Or were they also trapped in a desert of loneliness that kept
them from escaping?
No comments:
Post a Comment