The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford · Theme
Isolation and Loneliness
How The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford develops Isolation and Loneliness.
Rutherford's profound sense of solitude, both as a result of his intellectual pursuits that separate him from ordinary people and his inability to form deep, reciprocal emotional connections with others.
Where it surfaces
- III: Water Lane
After his first sermon, no one visits him in the vestry but the chapel-keeper; he walks home alone in the rain, underscoring his profound isolation.
- Emancipation
Rutherford feels isolated in the cold, lifeless chapel and in his personal despair after Mary's rejection.
- Progress in Emancipation
Rutherford's solitary life, his sense of dread in London, and the butterfly-catcher's solitary household highlight deep loneliness.
- Oxford Street
Rutherford feels utterly worthless and alone in London, missing the country and struggling with self-contempt.