Loneliness is a common problem among many people. Old as well as young. Fortunately, some people are lucky enough to find others, who can bring a joy into their life. This is the case in the short story “Uncle Ernest” by Alan Sillitoe. However, the story also shows, how quickly this joy can disappear, if you don’t appear the right way.
The short story is written by the English author, Alan Sillitoe, and is a part of the work “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner” from 1959. When Sillitoe was little, he grew up in a poor working-class family in Nottingham, where his father worked at a bicycle factory, which paid him a very paltry salary. Alan followed in his dad’s steps and worked at a bicycle factory before he joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 20. Later in his life he started writing, and today he is considered as one of the best English writers in modern time. This is among other things due to the way he has given the working class a spot in modern English literature.
The story is about the wretched middle-aged man, Ernest. For a very long time, he has been eating alone at the same café, thinking of his participation during World War I, which clearly affects him. “I should be dead with the rest of them in France (p. 111, l. 38)”, he states. One day, he meets two young girls, who bring a joy into his life again. He is feeling like a father for them and buys them food and presents. He spends a lot of money, that he doesn’t really have. Although, they give him a belief in life again, so it is all worth it. They are meeting at the same café every day, and the other costumers are starting to notice them. They think it is strange, what a miserable man like Ernest is doing with two young girls. Later on, two policemen tell him not to be with them, and he is forced to not having contact with the girls anymore.
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