Isolation; the feeling of complete loneliness does not always occur when you are alone, but this desperate feeling that there is no way out can occur even if you are not once physically isolated. Emotionally, however, you can feel completely alone and abandoned. Simply, what happens is that you become so involved in mainstream society that you lose the ability to successfully interact with others. Eventually, they will begin to feel that they have become so insignificant that nothing they do can pull them out of the barren abyss. More or less this is what happens for the female protagonists of both Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway and Girl by Jamaica Kincaid. Both characters find themselves isolated as they struggle to sustain the social mask which acts as a double-edged sword as it protects one's emotional well-being but also isolates the wearer from those around them. In Kincaid's Girl, the story is about becoming a real "lady" while avoiding the dangerous traps of a common slut. The narrator struggles to keep up with all the rules that are recited to her as if there were a shopping list and soon feels trapped in this very rigid gender role. However, by taking on this generic role of a woman, the narrator is also creating a new identity for herself to the extent that she will behave differently towards everyone. In the narrator's guide lesson, the young girl is taught several ways to "smile at those who [she] doesn't like... those who don't like [her] at all... and those who like [her] completely" (Kincaid, 280). Not being able to fully express one's individuality can lead that person to feel alone and isolated as they lose their meaning of self. Unfortunately, if one doesn't know what... middle of paper... from the intense feeling of isolation, one must be willing to make oneself vulnerable in order to have an emotional impact and connection with another person. This way we break down the barriers that have been implemented by society and we begin to interact with each other on a more personal level and it immediately becomes more intimate. If we want to maintain some personal identity we must be willing to put aside the mask and personality from time to time so that we do not forget who and what we are at our core. Works Cited Gwynn, R.S., and Wanda Campbell, Eds. "Lass." Fiction: A paperback anthology. By Jamaica Kincaid. 2nd edition. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada, 2005. 279-80. Print.Gwynn, R.S., and Wanda Campbell, Eds. "Hills like white elephants." Fiction: A paperback anthology. By Ernest Hemingway. 2nd edition. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada, 2005. 124-28. Press.