It has been
said by author Angelica Baker that All
the Living “is essentially a study in human loneliness,” and I agree.
Loneliness is a prominent theme throughout the novel in times where Aloma is separate
from Orren, but also when she is with him. He spends all day dutifully
attending to the farm, while Aloma runs the house. This increases the already
large separation between them, they are both lonely but find no comfort in each
other. Orren states, “you been gone a whole lot,” and Aloma is surprised he has
even noticed her daily absence (106). In the same argument, Aloma states, “when
I do see you, you don’t have anything to say,” proving that physical proximity
alone is not a sufficient cure of her loneliness (106). Later, Aloma restates
this, “It’s like you’re leaving me without leaving your own damn property,” to
which Orren defends, “I’m just digging deeper in what you think’s an empty
well, but all the while you’re looking out” (160-161). This theme of lack in
their daily lives and the difference in their desires has led to this rift.
Orren is concerned about their primary needs, such as providing food and
shelter, while Aloma craves more. She craves true companionship, but also to
play the piano, a desire he seems to never understand and provides her one with
a sound “spoiled like a meat” (5). Orren never even bothers to watch Aloma
play, therefore he “did not know this part of her” (99). They both resolve to
endure the loneliness and expect nothing less from each other, Aloma watches
Orren “disappear into the dark in a way that was becoming familiar” (62). Loneliness
is further normalized throughout the novel, with Bell stating in his sermon
that “nobody’s immune [to loneliness] after the cradle” and even cites Jesus’
loneliness in the desert (79).
Eventually, the lazy tolerance that
both Aloma and Orren first live by fades into “more collision than cohabitation”
(88). Their primary interactions shift to either fighting or sex, but even then
“the door to him did not open” (109). No matter how close they physically are,
the loneliness in both of them never subsides. Aloma wants nothing else but to
escape to a place she does not know in search of her salvation which “was not
in a location” (187) while Orren seems content to slave away on the farm, never
obliging to her increasing desire to leave. Their resolution to marry still does
not cure their loneliness, they begin fighting within the second they return
for the first time as a married couple. Aloma has “settled in to endure” her
loneliness (90). The novel suggests that loneliness may often never be
overcome.
This post strengthened my view of the novel as an extended account of Aloma and Orren's loneliness. I agree that the loneliness seems insurmountable, because they do not feel connected to each other no matter how physically close they are or even after they get married. They also seem to be seeking something from each other that neither of them can give. They get angry at each other for never being around, but even when they spend the whole day in the field together, they are not content. Aloma is still resentful towards Orren, and "wanted to be almost anywhere else in the world, maybe most of all on another drive with Bell" (166).
ReplyDeleteI think that Morgan demonstrates Aloma and Orren's loneliness not only in their thoughts and actions, but in the desolation constantly surrounding them. From the very start of the novel, Aloma notices the soil that "leached to chalky dust under the sun," the "bare noon light," and the piano whose sound is "spoiled like meat" (3-5). The bareness and emptiness of Aloma's surroundings reflects the bareness and emptiness she feels inside, especially because Orren is too busy with the farm and immersed in his grief to fulfill any of her needs. Aloma has to life in a place to which she is not attached, with a man who seems to feel next to no attachment to her other than his needing someone to keep the house.
I would agree with you that lack and loneliness strongly influence both Aloma's and Orren's life. The lack of companionship, attention, freedom, and a life they both want all stem from their existence in poverty. The inescapable lack of money leads to inescapable anger withn themselves that they both seem to deflect onto each other. When Orren asks "God almighty, what do you want from me?", Aloma literally spits out her grief when she replies with "I want to not be murdered by birds! I want somebody to show me how to cook something! And I want to play piano again! I want a piano that works, one that's not ruined" (58)! She is not truly mad at Orren because she knows that he cannot fix these things; she is even surprised by herself as the words come out of her mouth. She is actually angry with her reality and with herself, and maybe begins to realize this when she wonders, "Is it really him who makes me unhappy or just me after all" (197). She has such high, unrealistic expectations for herself and when these expectations are not met, she blames it on anyone other than herself to feel in control. The reality of Aloma's existence, however, is that her life is not in her control. The void between what is and what she wants is so vast that she will never be happy, and on the other side of this void is Orren. The higher her expectations, the more distance she puts between them. Their relationship worked so well initially because Aloma did not expect anything from him. After Orren and Aloma get married and on the drive home, her thoughts sift through the memories she has with him and she concludes "And once the thing was done, it was too late to consider how they loved across a distance of three counties and two mountains, or that once that distance was crossed, distance would still remain" (175). Aloma will always feel lonely in the presence of Orren so long as she dreams of a better life, which he cannot give. It is selfish of her to dream of more, but it is unfair that she must submit to the life she has in order to feel loved and comforted. In the end, she makes plans to stay at home by tutoring people on a rented piano, which speaks well to the hardness of poverty and what it means to sacrifice everything for love. It is "morally beautiful" and something C.E Morgan appreciates.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you that lack and loneliness strongly influence both Aloma's and Orren's life. The lack of companionship, attention, freedom, and a life they both want all stem from their existence in poverty. The inescapable lack of money leads to inescapable anger withn themselves that they both seem to deflect onto each other. When Orren asks "God almighty, what do you want from me?", Aloma literally spits out her grief when she replies with "I want to not be murdered by birds! I want somebody to show me how to cook something! And I want to play piano again! I want a piano that works, one that's not ruined" (58)! She is not truly mad at Orren because she knows that he cannot fix these things; she is even surprised by herself as the words come out of her mouth. She is actually angry with her reality and with herself, and maybe begins to realize this when she wonders, "Is it really him who makes me unhappy or just me after all" (197). She has such high, unrealistic expectations for herself and when these expectations are not met, she blames it on anyone other than herself to feel in control. The reality of Aloma's existence, however, is that her life is not in her control. The void between what is and what she wants is so vast that she will never be happy, and on the other side of this void is Orren. The higher her expectations, the more distance she puts between them. Their relationship worked so well initially because Aloma did not expect anything from him. After Orren and Aloma get married and on the drive home, her thoughts sift through the memories she has with him and she concludes "And once the thing was done, it was too late to consider how they loved across a distance of three counties and two mountains, or that once that distance was crossed, distance would still remain" (175). Aloma will always feel lonely in the presence of Orren so long as she dreams of a better life, which he cannot give. It is selfish of her to dream of more, but it is unfair that she must submit to the life she has in order to feel loved and comforted. In the end, she makes plans to stay at home by tutoring people on a rented piano, which speaks well to the hardness of poverty and what it means to sacrifice everything for love. It is "morally beautiful" and something C.E Morgan appreciates.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your stance on Aloma’s and Orren’s shared loneliness. Instead of comforting each other in their limited time together, they fill their time with fighting. The conflicts in their relationship can be coined to the fact that Aloma and Orren have different end goals for their lives. Aloma craves something more, and Orren is satisfied with tending to his farm for the rest of his life, as you said. Two of Bell’s sermons perfectly illustrate the different types of loneliness and struggles that affect Aloma and Orren. In Bell’s first sermon, he explains how there is not an “animal in the whole animal kingdom with sadness laid on its heart like ours,” (78). He furthers his point by saying that humans have difficulty with “being amongst all the people and ever being alone” (79). This type of loneliness is not primal; it’s abstract. Aloma is not struggling to physically survive, she’s in emotional turmoil. In contrast, in Bell’s second sermon, he views animals and humans as one by saying that “the fate of the animals and the fate of the humans is the same; as one dieth, so dieth the other” (116). This exemplifies Orren’s perspective as he feels lonely because he physically is alone. In order for both him and Aloma to continue living, he must literally be alone and tend to his farm.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your analysis of the reoccurring theme of loneliness throughout All the Living and it got me thinking a lot about one particular moment in the story that you mentioned. The moment I am referencing is Bell’s sermon on loneliness. Not only did his sermon normalize the theme of loneliness, I believe it also provided an answer to a question I had while reading the novel. That question is “how can Aloma and Orren overcome the loneliness they are feeling?” Bell states in his sermon that “God turned me, so that my innermost heart was all exposed, facing the world and not my own self…God said, I’m coming in. All I did was only let him,” (80). I think this quote provides an answer to my question and a solution to Orren and Aloma’s sense of loneliness because it deals with opening up. Not necessarily to God but to one another. It is evident to me that both of them have a very difficult time doing this. Aloma, due to the fact that she never had family or anyone to truly care for her resulting in a stubbern, semi-self-absorbed personality where she feels as though she can only rely on herself, and Orren, who due to the loss of his family has shut himself off completely from both Aloma and the world. It seems to me that both want the other to open up, but are unwilling to fully do it themselves, which in turn makes them feel even lonelier. Only in the last few pages does it seem that there’s a chance they will eventually come to realize this.
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