Lessing, Doris: 1919 - 2013

Ben, in the World, 2000 - Thematic Parallels: Isolation

Lessing, Doris: Ben, in the World, 2000, ~300pp
The topic of the novel is the outsider’s struggle to survive in an unwelcoming world.
The following books are thematically simliar. These texts lend themselves well to being read in groups, compared with one another, or used to teach a similar topic over an extended period with a class:
- Cole, Teju: Every Day Is for the Thief, 2007, ~170pp
  Themes of identity, belonging, and social dislocation make this novella a compelling companion to Lessing’s exploration of an outsider trying to find a place in a world that no longer feels familiar.
  - Both novels focus on outsiders navigating fractured societies, use journeys as structures, and deliver social critique through spare, reflective narration.
- Morrison, Toni: Beloved, 1987, ~270pp
  This novel conveys the lasting impact of being dehumanized—and the search for redemption.
  - Both texts place an “outsider” at the center to explore what it means to be human when society refuses to recognize one’s humanity. Even though Morrison’s novel is rooted in American slavery and Lessing’s in existential allegory, they share deep thematic ground: both are about the figure who embodies the unassimilable, both blur reality to capture trauma, and both probe how societies exclude and dehumanize.
- Plath, Sylvia: The Bell Jar, 1963, ~250pp
  This novel explores isolation, mental illness, and the feeling of being an outsider in society.
  - Both texts explore how society isolates those who don’t conform to its norms. They explore alienation, marginalization, and the struggle for identity. Furthermore they depict protagonists who are “othered” by society, misunderstood by institutions, and left in precarious, unresolved states — making them powerful studies of what it means not to fit in.
- Sillitoe, Alan: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, 1959, ~170pp
  This novel depicts working-class disaffection, rebellion, and the isolation of the individual in conflict with authority.
  - Both characters are outsiders who cannot be assimilated, highlighting how society marginalizes those who don’t conform. Each resists in different ways — Smith defiantly, Ben more tragically — but both highlight the loneliness of those who cannot fit the molds imposed on them.
List of general discussion questions on Isolation (pdf)
List of essay prompts on Isolation (pdf)