Blog Assignment 4

" Alone had always felt like an actual place to me, as if it weren't a state of being, but rather a room where I could retreat to be who I really was." Chapter 8 page 119

1. Does the quotation relate to a theme? If so, which theme and how does it relate?

This quotation related to theme of aloneness.  After her mother is diagnosed with cancer, Cheryl begins to gradually isolate herself from her husband Paul.  This is brought full circle after her mother's death and after the deterioration of her family as she had known it.  After divorcing Paul and ten days before leaving Minneapolis, Paul tells Cheryl that she has finally got what she wanted; to be alone.  Aloneness would become a major theme throughout the novel with Cheryl trying to determine the root of her longing for isolation.  

2. Does the quotation characterize Cheryl, Paul, her mother, or another character? If so, in what way does it characterize?

This quotation characterizes Cheryl. Cheryl first isolates herself from her husband.  She loves Paul but does not want to necessarily be married to him.  Next she isolates herself from the career that she had chosen; to become a writer.  Instead of writing a five page essay to complete her degree, Cheryl takes on waitressing jobs to earn a living.  Cheryl isolates herself from "real love."  She is not ashamed of telling of her meaningless sexual encounters with seemingly strange men.  Her greatest display of aloneness occurs, however, when she begins her journey on the PCT.  She starts the trail alone.  Although she meets a few people along the way, at this point in the novel, she is still literally by herself; alone.