Black ice Quote by Susan Minot
““Starkly in an instant she saw herself as she really was-alone in a wood standing among blue shadows with no sounds and the air a sort of black ice. She had no coat. All the people she’d known had forgotten her. Her mother, biting off thread between her teeth, couldn’t hear her, and her father with his eyes turned sorrowfully inward did not see her. They never had. Those she loved did not need her. Lila and Carl danced together in a bubble. Ralph Eastman picked lint from his sleeve. Buddy tucked in his shirttails, jumped in a truck and drove away. Fiona Speed showed the back of her hat, heading downtown in a cab. They all had more important concerns, they were all in their own lives, and there was no room for her. At night their doors were shut and through lit windows she could see them consulting one another, checking the baby, looking after business, licking envelopes, turning back the bedcover, shutting off the light switch, while she was left stranded out in the chill night in the true human state, lost, in the dark, alone. ””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Last Summer, 1995
She feels isolated as everyone else pursues their own lives, highlighting deep loneliness and neglect.
In simple terms: She feels alone while others are busy.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and address feelings of isolation.
Themes
loneliness
alienation
family dynamics
existential angst
Mood
melancholic
introspective
Type
literary
emotional
When to use this quote
- family gatherings
- urban life
- personal crisis
Key Concepts
psychology
social isolation
Questions to Reflect On
- What steps can one take to reconnect?
- How does society overlook individual suffering?
A Different Perspective
Isolation can be self‑inflicted or socially imposed, not always external.
![“...[She] felt as if she were both a stranger to herself and more herself than she'd ever been.” quote by Susan Minot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/888/susan-minot-11041_stranger_she-felt-as-if-she-were-both-a-stranger_1161928.jpg)
