“Alone. Yes, that's the key word, the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn't hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym.”
― Stephen King, Salem's Lot
This page is to help define the term “isolation” and what it means to be “isolated,” while also providing readers with explanations of the different kinds of isolation that I find within the works.
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“The action of isolating; the fact or condition of being isolated or standing alone; separation from other things or persons; solitariness.”
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“The separation of a person or thing from its normal environment or context, either for purposes of experiment and study or as a result of its being, for some reason, set apart.”
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“To place or set apart or alone; to cause to stand alone, detached, separate, or unconnected with other things or persons; to insulate.”
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“To cut off (an infected person or place) from all contact with others; to subject to strict quarantine.”
Through my research, I found that there were primarily three kinds of isolation: physical, emotional, and social. These three aspects of isolation have the ability to interact and influence one another based on the conditions that they are presented in.
Physical Isolation:
When a character is physically separated from people, either willingly or by force. This physical separation can occur in a variety of settings, as a character can isolate themselves in a crowded house, or be separated from other people by hundreds of miles.
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Credit: Getty Images
And finally, here are some of the roles that characters can step into when faced with the theme of isolation, and some qualities of writing and filming that isolation can be depicted through.
Inflicter
Someone who subjects, forces, or inflicts isolation upon another person.
Example: When an antagonist kills everyone but one character, who is exposed to isolation because of their actions.
Victim
The character that is exposed to, or forced into, isolation by an outside force. The outside force that subjects the individual to isolation can be many things, such as another character or the setting.
Example: The last character left alive after a killer’s rampage.