Insanity and Isolation

Isolation is a major factor in the insanity that afflicts the Tarwaters. The old man and his nephew live in complete isolation from the rest of the world, and old Tarwater seems to be unable to understand the way that his ‘prophesies’ and visions fit into a larger social structure. As a prophet he preaches his own beliefs to no one except his nephew. He believes that he has direct contact with God, but his own inability to connect with anyone from the real world makes his prophesies worthless. The boy becomes a soundboard for the absurd preaching of the old man, but this is not the source of his own madness. The schoolteacher was also exposed to the madness of the old man, but the fact that he had a family that came to save him from an isolated existence in the forest saved him from becoming disassociated from society. The visions and hallucinations of the old man may be a madness that he had possessed his whole life, but because he was unattached the rest of the world he was able to drift further into madness. His young nephew was able to maintain a somewhat healthy mentality through a relationship with his insane uncle, but when he was left on his own he was visited by a detached voice that became his new friend and a reassurance to him. Initially it seems to keep him grounded by providing some reference point outside of his own consciousness, but unless he becomes permanently anchored through a relationship with real people his alternate consciousness could drive him further into isolation and insanity.