Theme Of Isolation In The Professor's House

In the Willa Cather’s novel, The Professor’s House, Cather writes about Professor St. Peter’s struggle to find meaning in his life. As he moves into a new house, he realizes that life is limited by society’s obsession with materialism. Therefore, as a way to hold onto his earlier memories, he keeps his office stationed in his old, shambled house. The professor’s internal conflict escalates as he reminisces about the life of Tom Outland, his late friend, that was filled with isolation from civilization. This solitude allowed Outland to idealize the beauty he found in the secluded village, enabling him to believe this untouched beauty could never be undermined. He passed away before he even got the chance to believe anything …show more content…
Peter so drawn to fitting in with society? His desire arose from his love of extravagant objects and superior taste, which easily comes along with being a Francophile. Unhappy to be in the middle class, St. Peter attempts to satisfy his materialistic needs by using decorative napkins and ornate European baskets when eating lunch. Ironically, this meal is eaten in the comfort of his old, run-down office, due to the fact he finds it more intimate, and welcoming than his brand new home. Throughout the novel, the professor is torn between finding comfort in his earthly possessions, such as pleasing his family by buying dispensable items, and being satisfied with the simple things in life that are priceless such as the view of the lake. St. Peter compares his life to Tom Outland in this aspect; however, this is an unfair correlation because Outland never had the opportunity to get married and face the challenge of entering society and its strict guidelines. Although the professor struggles with this internal conflict, he knows in the end that none of it matters. He even goes so far as to state, “that first nature could return to a man . . . untouched even by the tastes and intellectual activities which have been strong enough to give him distinction among his fellows” (242). St. Peter finally understands that, no matter what decisions he makes or what he makes of his name, his innate qualities will suppress all his new qualities made by experience. Once he becomes aware of this, his internal struggles mean nothing — He finally becomes aware that he is dying. Although materialism sparks some of St. Peter’s actions, he ultimately grasps that the success of his life is not based on his decisions, but instead on his intuitive