 |
[email protected] |
 |
3275638434 |
 |
 |
| Paper Publishing WeChat |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Isolation in the Ruins: Post-Apocalyptic Loneliness in Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars
XIN Hui-min, CAO Wen-qing
Full-Text PDF
XML 308 Views
DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2024.11.004
Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars is a fascinating meditation of post-apocalyptic loneliness. Set in a dismal world devastated by a devastating virus, the story centers on the protagonist Hig’s experience and response as he navigates a terrain devoid of human connection and meaning. This paper investigates the complexities of loneliness, focusing on Hig’s response to the loss of his wife and dog. Furthermore, it delves into the transformational power of companionship, including Hig’s link with his dog Jasper and his ultimate connection with Cima and her father. The fragmented narrative style of the novel mirrors Hig’s internal struggle, offering a raw and intimate portrayal of his journey towards reconnection and hope. Through the novel, Heller offers his profound thinking on the significance of connection in overcoming even post-apocalyptic loneliness.
Peter Heller, The Dog Stars, post-apocalypse, loneliness
Journal of Literature and Art Studies, November 2024, Vol. 14, No. 11, 978-984
Alberti, F. B. (2019). A biography of loneliness: The history of an emotion. New York: Oxford University Press.
Borges, M. J. (2020). Narratives of the self. In K. Barclay, S. Crozier-de Rosa, & P. N. Stearns (Eds.), Sources for the history of emotions (pp. 99-113). London: Routledge.
Cacioppo, J. T., & Patrick, W. (2008). Loneliness: Human nature and the need for social connection. London: W. W. Norton & Company.
Freud, S. (1964). Mourning and melancholia. In J. Strachey (Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 14, pp. 239-258). Hogarth.
Heller, P. (2013a). The dog stars. New York: Vintage.
Heller, P. (2013b, February 27). One book one broomfield—Peter Heller, “The dog stars” [Video]. Broomfield County Government. https://archive.org/details/bfcoco-One_Book_One_Broomfield-_Peter_Heller_The_Dog_Stars.
Popp, A. (2023). “I feel as if part of [my] self was torn from me”: Entrepreneurship, absence and loneliness in nineteenth-century England. In K. Barclay, E. Chalus, & D. Simonton (Eds.), The Routledge history of loneliness (pp. 75-87). London: Routledge.
Weiss, R. (1975). Loneliness: The experience of emotional and social isolation. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Willis, A. (2017). Loneliness in an era of mass extinctions. In O. Sagan & E. D. Miller (Eds.), Narratives of loneliness: Multidisciplinary perspectives from the 21st century (pp. 162-171). London: Routledge.