Alienation

Much of the tragedy of the novel is derived from the characters’ inability to communicate their true feelings to one another. The characters of the novel all have difficulty with forming meaningful connections with one another, and this is largely due to the characters’ inability to express their true thoughts and feelings. One recurring instance of this is between Jacob and his mother. After Jacob moves away from Scarborough to attend university, he is never shown to return to Scarborough, and while he likely does see his mother again at various times, their relationship is portrayed as one of alienation and completely separate lives. Jacob’s mother deeply wishes to tell Jacob how much she misses him, but she is never able to bring herself to write this in her letters to him. Instead, she is forced to a rather lonely life on the moors of...