Fear Of Getting Lost Within The Society: "Alone" By Maya Angelou

Many people fear isolation and getting lost within the society. Everyone needs someone that keeps them from isolation and to get through hard times. Every person living in society gets held captive in a feeling of despair, that they cannot escape, even the most powerful men and women feel this way. In the poem, “Alone” by Maya Angelou, Angelou conveys the main message that everybody needs someone that they can depend on by using weather themed diction, a troubled tone, and the melancholy mood.

The use of weather themed diction, evokes the need for community by consuming a feeling of loneliness. The people in this society could see, “storm clouds… gathering”, but remain unable to assist each other. The people have not understood their position in society yet, which encourages them to need to conform. The people in this society hear “the wind... blow”, and this causes them to feel mentally alone. The society has different perspectives here on the idea that they become alone because they see change in others. Everyone has the need to conform causing more problems, as they feel less accepted.

The negative melancholy mood, affects the message by providing the reader with perspective about having a steady presence of loneliness. This makes society question “how to find [their] soul a home” because they don’t know their purpose. Once they do find it, they will finally have a piece of mind. The people of this community captured by the feeling of isolation, where no one feels they belong. When people in this society experience this emotion they may feel like “their… run[ning a]round like banshees… sing[ing] the blues” because many feel affectionless. The different levels of life receive different treatment. This makes everybody understand how lonely one can become and what can then happen.

The troubled tone emphasizes an insight on the writer's attitude toward the poem. The author deepens her emotion when “ the race of man is suffering” and no one can do anything about it, because everyone else conforms and has nothing to offer. This implies that everyone has struggles, but no one can break away from this feeling. Most societies have young and happy children, but in this society “their children sing the blues”, which reveals the problematic situation in the community.

The children already feel depression, causing them to receive lots of negativity and have many personal problems. The troubled tone represents the emotion passed through generations as everyone remains lost until they find themselves and a strong support system. The weather themed word choice, melancholic mood, and troublesome tone all emphasize the message that everyone needs someone. Everyone has seems to struggle when they are alone, but no one seems to ask or want for help. These aspects showed how many feel alone or lost, because of the problems they face in society.