"Some People are Meant to Live Alone" by Frank Collymore

In this text you can see a theme that a lot of the post colonialism text showcase, the theme of loneliness and being isolated. The story by Frank Collymore really showcases the effects of being lonely and how it can affect a person's well being even if it isn't easily noticeable at first glance. The text starts off by making Uncle Arthur seem like a normal quiet man who minds his own business and prefers to stay alone and away from others. The story talks about another man who was driven insane by loneliness and required some form of interaction, it seems that Arthur might be describing himself but it was never implicitly stated. The story seems to also show people have a dark side as the dark side for Uncle Arthur is a person named Jones. Jones is said to have killed someone and the reason Arthur might be saying it is a different person is that he is unable to cope with the fact he has murdered a man. 


Comments

  1. shawnSeptember 9, 2020 at 12:47 PM

    I agree, I also believe that Arthur did not truly want to be alone. He was excited to see his nephew and wanted to talk to him about all sorts of things. I believe life's negative impacts on him drove the belief that he was always better and happier alone.

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  2. JP RicheySeptember 9, 2020 at 12:55 PM

    This is a great analysis. I imagine living in solitude can really change a person. I think part of the reason why the text made Arthur seem normal is because he is Jones and has dark secrets.

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  3. Spencer PetersSeptember 11, 2020 at 10:33 AM

    I couldn't fix the one line issue on this one so I'm posting it here in the comments

    In this text you can see a theme that a lot of the post colonialism text showcase, the theme of loneliness and being isolated. The story by Frank Collymore really showcases the effects of being lonely and how it can affect a person's well being even if it isn't easily noticeable at first glance. The text starts off by making Uncle Arthur seem like a normal quiet man who minds his own business and prefers to stay alone and away from others. The story talks about another man who was driven insane by loneliness and required some form of interaction, it seems that Arthur might be describing himself but it was never implicitly stated. The story seems to also show people have a dark side as the dark side for Uncle Arthur is a person named Jones. Jones is said to have killed someone and the reason Arthur might be saying it is a different person is that he is unable to cope with the fact he has murdered a man.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Spencer PetersSeptember 11, 2020 at 10:36 AM

    (cont.)

    As we see in a lot of post colonialism stories there is usually a group or person who is isolated from society. In today's society we see the same thing still as people struggle with depression or anxiety which causes them to isolate themselves from people, these stories I believe talk about these issues before they had a name associated with them.

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  5. Ian MillerOctober 5, 2020 at 7:16 AM

    Uncle Arthur I found actually preferred to be alone. I found it interesting the way he taught his nephew about loneliness. Like in many comedy skits, or kids TV shows nowadays, he tells a story about himself using a random name to disguise himself from telling a lesson about himself. I find it strange that someone would do this, because I feel like family learns more from a personal connection so that they do not make the mistake again.

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