The modernist movement of the early 20th century radically changed the way art and literature were perceived in Western culture. The themes expressed in modernism are perhaps among the most diverse, most disturbing, and most difficult to understand. One of the main themes expressed in modernist literature is alienation; this motif is found in James Joyce's story "The Dead", TS Eliot's poem The Waste Land and Joseph Conrad's short story Heart of Darkness. Each piece evokes the idea or feeling of alienation in a unique way. Say no to plagiarism. Get Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay “The Dead” by James Joyce is a short story that presents the theme of alienation primarily through the central character: Gabriel Conroy. Gabriel's participation in a Christmas party thrown by his aunts is accompanied by a feeling of isolation and a distaste for social activities. Gabriel longs to escape the company of the people at the party; he longs to go out into the cold and walk by the river instead of socializing with those inside (Joyce 2355). Gabriel is socially alienated due to his “paralysis of will, energy, and imagination” (Stevenson 49). This is particularly evident in his failed attempts to form a meaningful connection with Lily, Miss Ivors and his wife, Gretta. Lily and Miss Ivors say things that make Gabriel anxious and uncomfortable because he is unable to communicate effectively with them; Gabriel makes no effort to overcome disagreements and as a result, he constantly seeks escape and isolation. Gabriel's physical desire for his wife is not reciprocated on his part; Gretta's introspection and lack of awareness of Gabriel's feelings isolates Gabriel to the point that he is ultimately forced to examine his own feelings and his past. At this point, Gabriel understands that while he is estranged from other human beings, he is also estranged from himself. It is the ending of “The Dead” that embodies the modernist theme of alienation. Like many other characters created by James Joyce, Gabriel experiences a revelation at the end of "The Dead". Gabriel's awakening isn't exactly positive; the epiphany is his true realization of isolation. Gabriel experiences his revelation through his wife: it is her memories and realizations that inspire him to examine his own past (Gillies 138). Gretta's nostalgia for the past and what might have happened with Michael Furey leads Gabriel to reflect on his own past; Gabriel realizes that “he had never felt this way himself towards any woman but he knew that such a feeling must be love” (Joyce 2373). This epiphany is rendered hollow because it contains no redemption: Gabriel realizes how alienated he is from his own wife, from love, and from life itself. This moment of total loneliness and isolation is compounded by the awareness of Gabriel's death and its physical manifestation in the snow that covers Ireland at that time. Gabriel's dark observation that "one by one they all became shadows" (Joyce 2373) clearly defines Gabriel's view of life. Although death is inevitable, it appears even more tragic because many people have never truly lived. This alienation from life is symbolized in Gabriel's reaction to the falling snow: "His soul faded slowly as he heard the snow fall faintly across the universe and fall faintly, like the descent of their last end , over all the living and the dead” (Joyce 2373). This poignant end ofthe story perfectly illustrates Gabriel's feelings of isolation and alienation. TS Eliot's poem The Wasteland is often hailed by critics as one of the pillars of modernism. The theme of alienation is as prevalent in this poem as the poem's literary references. The fragmentation of the poem is the essential alienating factor of the piece; the poem “suggests a way of experiencing material, historical, time-limited existence, daily life, as never truly fully real” (Underhill 150). The fragmentation of the poem exists on a multitude of levels; each serves to distance the “voices” of the poem from each other or to distance the reader from the work itself. To begin with, the technical language of the poem is very fragmented and confusing: "Sections unfold disjunctively, like a frightening dream, while the fractured syntax and collage of 'found sounds' articulate 'modern Babel as Bedlam' ( Brown 92). These elements can be interpreted as reflecting a desert of language: in the structure of the poem, the grammar is sterile and meaningless, the sentences are dead husks, and, occasionally, tattered pieces of coherent meaning undulate aimlessly. in a dry wind of determination. As a result, the reader of The Waste Land cannot claim to be familiar with the basic mechanics of the English language. In a poem with such complex and multiple meanings, the fragmentation of language further alienates the reader. the individual “characters” of The Waste Land are also fragmented; these alienate the reader due to the large amount of associations that must be made with each character. The characters vary in terms of social status: gods, beggars, sailors, kings, queens, madwomen and fortune tellers compete for notoriety with eunuchs, hat sellers, single mothers, lords and faceless children. Unlike many mythological or biblically inspired texts, "the constant disruption of quotations and allusions expresses less the mythic control sought by two generations of scholars than the chronic collapse, under stress, of a broad Harvard education » (Brown 92). The plethora of historical, mythical, religious and literary references contained in The Waste Land are used in the imagist and symbolist tradition: references generate allusions which then allude to other references. The amount of references and allusions becomes even more overwhelming and therefore alienating when the overall context of the poem is taken into consideration. Although most of the basic Western cultural archetypes are present in the poem, the inclusion of Eastern and more obscure references makes the meaning of the poem even more difficult to grasp. Hindu and Egyptian references as well as those made in languages ​​other than English are not intended to be understood; they are only accessible to an erudite scholar. The Waste Land is a poem that depicts alienation and isolation on an epic scale; the deep desolation and confusion that the poem presents to the reader is precariously balanced by the wealth of knowledge and history behind the piece. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a short story that influenced many later modernist writers, including Eliot and Joyce. Heart of Darkness is, in many ways, an impressionistic story of alienation, among other things. The story's central characters, Charlie Marlow and Jim Kurtz, are the only ones with human names. All other characters are given purely functional names; it's often just about their work or their relationship with the main characters. This denial of human individuality constitutes an alienating force, 1992.