The feelings of alienation and loneliness are bitter and harsh. They can drive a person crazy. People have been known to go to great lengths to abolish these feelings. In many cases these attempts have terrible results. Such is the case in various fictional stories where the protagonists try to overcome emotion and are very unsuccessful. In Sinclair Ross' "The Painted Door" and D. H. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner" the protagonists combat feelings of alienation and turn to drastic measures which bare disastrous results.
             Both the protagonists in "The Painted Door" and in "The Rocking Horse Winner" feel very alone in this world and experience feelings of alienation. In "The Painted Door" the protagonist Ann is a character who wants more out of life. She is isolated in her home in the middle of no where. She does not realize her husband's great compassion for her and instead feels alienated by him and their lifestyle. "Plenty to eat- plenty of wood to keep me warm- what more could a women ask for" (Ross 288). Ann wants more from her husband John but he does not realize it. "Pay no attention to me. Seven years a farmers wife- it's time I was used to staying alone" (289). Ann clearly feels very alienated and alone. When John mentions their neighbour Steven, Ann "glanced up sharply then busied herself clearing the table" (289). This is the first sign of Ann's infatuation with Steven showing how much Ann wants something more out of life and for her feelings of loneliness to vanish. By spending her entire day in boredom, Ann's feelings of alienation surface.
             The young protagonist of Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner", Paul, is experiencing a life very similar to Ann's. It is evident in the beginning of the story that Paul, too, leads a life of alienation and emptiness. Paul is yearning for love from...