Isolation In Drinking Coffee Elsewhere By Dina And Ho

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It is human nature for people to attract themselves to others. However, when put in a difficult situation, one can either work through it or run from it. If one chooses to run, he makes the conscious decision to isolate himself. In the novel Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer, isolation is a common theme found within the stories. Particularly in “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” and “Our Lady of Peace”, Dina and Sheba’s inabilities to form and maintain relationships with others lead to their constant seclusion. Ever since Dina’s mother, the only person she truly loved, passed away, Dina became a very introverted and isolated person. Dina manages to drive away those around her, including her roommate Amy in her first semester at Yale, making …show more content…

She doesn’t live with a family and just moved to a new school after knifing her former teacher. However, her surprising eagerness to learn and role as the class enforcer helps her create a relationship with her teacher, Lynnea. Sheba consistently keeps the class quiet and even tries to help Lynnea more effectively teach the students by suggesting the class act out the book. Lynnea describes that she and Sheba had “become a team”, despite the fact that it was a “crazy, lopsided one” (Pacer 74). However, Sheba gets pregnant and begins to regularly miss classes. When she is present, her behavior towards Lynnea completely changes, and she begins to give her attitude and mistreat her like the other students do. A few days before winter break, Lynnea saw Sheba sitting alone and offered to give her a ride home. In a final attempt to help her student, Lynnea reaches out to her student, saying if she needed anything or wanted Lynnea to visit, she could give her a call. Sheba responded by saying that she “didn’t think [she’d] be needing [her] help” (Packer 77). Lynnea has done her best to reach out to Sheba, offering genuine companionship. However, Sheba’s pregnancy and depression cause her to consciously reject Lynnea and instead, she secludes herself and becomes

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