If you’ve been reading contemporary fiction, you might have noticed that both male and female writers are writing about lonely women who often have all sorts of problems, including social, behavioral, and psychological; simply said – they are barely able to put themselves together.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste NG, and the recent hit A Woman in the Window by AJ Finn, and I bet that the list goes on.
Does it make you wonder? Where does this trend come from?
I don’t believe that the trend comes from the same source as the superhero movies. Each of the books mentioned above is a true peace art and as we all know – the art is nothing more than a mirror image of a society.
I can’t claim that this trend is deeply engraved in all of the modern fiction, but the vast majority of female leading characters in the books that I’ve read during last two years or so, are depicting a disturbed, mentally ill, women.
This problem doesn’t exclusively affect women; men are affected as well but for some reason when we talk about loneliness, we tend to present it through a lonely woman because there is nothing more sad than a hurt woman.
On a global level, we seem fine, our economies are blooming, we live longer, we can afford more goods, we can travel farther and more easily but on the individual level, we are deeply wounded.
We are members of different groups and clubs, we can have deep conversations with anyone in the world and yet we feel lonely and miserable which often leads to certain substance abuse and consequently to more trouble.
To avoid being hurt by others, we hurt ourselves and fall deeper into the abyss of misery.
When did we become so estranged? Aren’t our social media tools supposed to make us more connected? Obviously, not because humans crave for touch and a tender, understanding voice.
But, can we put the entire blame on social media and fast living? What if we point the finger at ourselves? What if it’s our fault?
Do we pay enough attention to people near us? Do we get involved in their problems, do we share their desires? Are we supportive enough? Or we’re just criticizing?
If so, then – good job.
If not, then think about something you can do to make the people around you feel just a little bit better, just a little bit more loved and then we might see this ugly but powerful trend of writing about lonely and disturbed women disappear.
Until that happens, I strongly recommend that you to read the books which I’ve mentioned above because only after absorbing the problem through the kaleidoscope of a true art you will be able to feel and experience the problem in its entire size and that might make you act upon it.