Essay Questions

Alienation and disassociation are clearly brought out in the novel, The Woman in the Dunes. Show how the theme is presented in the novel.

Nikki, who also the protagonist of the story, becomes led into a pit by a man he asks for a place where he can spend the night. However, while at the pit, sand fills it a situation that results in the two, that is, Nikki and the woman, being trapped in the pit. In this way, the character becomes disassociated and alienated from his social environment. Social seclusion presents itself in the sense that the character, Nikki, is unable to understand the woman with whom she shares the pit. He is unaware of the way of life in the pit until he begins communicating with her later. Also, Nikki is of the idea that his colleagues are out there somewhere looking for him when, in the real sense, they are not. Nikki’s disassociation from his social environment in the novel is an epitome of alienation and estrangement.

Show how Nikki the protagonists attempt at escaping from the pit are all futile in Kobo Abe’s The Woman in the Dunes.

When Nikki gets trapped in the pit, he does not understand the woman he is trapped with in the pit at first. However, he tries to make attempts to escape from the hole, an aspect that proves futile. For instance, when Nikki begins digging through the sand, it begins to shower. As he persists in his digging, an avalanche of sand rushes in and presses him causing him to fall unconscious. Later, the man also tries to make another attempt at escaping from the pit. He decides to take the woman hostage. He then decides to use the woman as bait to trap the people who bring them food in the pit so that they drag him out using the rope that they use to lower the food down. However, his attempts prove futile as the men drop him down after pulling him up for a couple of minutes. In this sense, the man’s attempts at leaving are rather futile.