Much of American literature explores the theme of isolation.

In ‘The Great Gatsby’, the theme of isolation is prevalent in Gatsby’s unwavering

commitment to ‘the dream’. Gatsby is fundamentally isolated due his disassociation with
reality, and the belief that by acquiring wealth he will be able to secure Daisy’s love.
The irony in Gatsby’s isolation, is that although he hosts lavish parties where ‘men and girls
came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars’, at the
end of the night he remains alone in his fantastical illusion as if he knew no-one, and no-one
had been there. At the beginning of the novel Gatsby is ‘content to be alone’, completely
isolated as he reaches out for the intangible ‘single green light’, demonstrating his vigorous
individualism in searching for his dream. Gatsby’s dream like the capitalised American
dream (not sure how to phrase this) is isolating in the way that it fosters an unreachable
ideal, separating individual from authentic connections and instead creating a fixation on an
illusionary realm. While Gatsby experiences isolation from the upper class due to his new
wealth, Fitzgerald does not portray their society as exclusively restrictive in the manner that
Wharton does. In ‘The Age of Innocence’ isolation is felt by those who do not conform to
the ‘form’. Set in 1870’s New York, Wharton depicts a society that is in many ways the
antithesis of war-devastated Europe. Wharton uses the term ‘tribe’ to describe this wealthy
and elite class in which Ellen Olenska is isolated, surprisingly not because of her heritage but
instead due to the rumours circulating about her past,’ I am conscious of there being a
shadow on Poor Ellen Olenska's reputation’. Olenska’s progressive nature and
unconventional taste in clothing ‘revealing as she leaned forward, a little more shoulder and
bosom than New York was accustomed to seeing.’, contributes to her sense of isolation, her
presence threatens the close-knit fabric of old New York therefore casting her as an
outsider.