Loneliness is one of the most desolate emotions a human being can experience; feeling lonely means being alone, at least most of the time. However, emotions are changeable and tend to move away from the textbook definitions that humans have assigned to them, choosing instead to become more complex. The complexity of emotions creates a multitude of interpretations, allowing each to individualize with the human being who experiences them. Writers have often taken advantage of the complexity of emotions and attempted to display them through their words, poems, and stories. Loneliness is one of those emotions that writers tend to favor because it explores the darkest part of the human soul and leaves room for growth and improvement of the characters. The use of loneliness as an overarching theme is expressed in depth in Elizabeth Ritchie's poem “Sorting Laundry,” Willa Cather's novel My Ántonia, Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman, and Jhumpa Lahiri's short story “Interpreter of Maladies ”. In each piece of literature, writers explore the depth that loneliness has to offer as an emotion while their characters explore various ways to handle that same depth. In the poem "Sorting Laundry" by Elizabeth Ritchie, loneliness is established through the theme that often, to avoid feeling alone, one clings to what is no longer there. Even if the person never experiences true loneliness, he is still afraid of waking up on an "empty side of the bed" (line 51) where his lover normally lies. The relationship between the two, revealed to the reader as the character examines his clothes and belongings, is not one that will lead to a happy ending. They may have undergone “many washings” (lines 7-8) together, but… middle of paper… different, they are all made up of the same backbone or base. The loneliness described and experienced by each of the characters has different effects on them, but originates from the same place. The characters feel alone because in their minds they are alone, no matter the situation. In fact, it's that mindset that creates the complexity of emotions and causes them to stray from how they are defined. Humans have the ability to convince themselves of anything, and when it comes to emotions, it's easier to persuade ourselves to believe that they feel a certain way because they can't look at themselves objectively. As for loneliness, a person is not always able to see the support or way out that others are able to see. It is this bleakness that keeps writers focused on this specific emotion because there is so much potential and possibility available to work with..