human disconnection across art

"Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: “Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.” That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday." Albert Camus, The stranger (1942) The opening lines of The stranger set the pessimistic tone of the novel, a dark and emotionless world, void of feeling and human connection; the meaninglessness of human existence.  

In Suzanne Vega's song Tom's Diner,  a similar disconnection is felt through in the song.  Watching the video, we can see Vega as an observer of life, watching people and things happen while not "connected" in any meaningful way. I hear echos of Meursault pessimistic view of life: "it doesn't mean anything" 

Although there is much to be said about Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times I want to focus specifically on the distant and inhuman connection between actors in the factory scene, as commentary on the mechanistic approach work-place relationships have taken in modern society.   

One of the major themes explored in 20th century art is the issue of human connection or disconnection.  This post attempted to demonstrate a transfer of knowledge around the theme of disconnection from one piece of art to another.  Because often times art influences art, students can and should be able to see how a theme presented in a piece of art is also represented in another and should be able to gain deeper insights into what that artist added to the conversation about a particular topic.