The End Of Solitude Analysis

Solitude — the state of seclusion — in the modern world differs from solitude in the Romanticism era. Romanticism is a point in time within the 19th century, most known for its literature written about sadness, loss, and heartbreak. The article “The End of Solitude,” written by William Deresiewicz, addresses how solitude no longer exists today due to the access of technology. He believes the newer generations do not have moments of solitude because of their constant need for visibility, or referred to now as attention. Contrary to Deresiewicz’s claim, present-day solitude does exist.

To begin, there are different versions of solitude. Deresiewicz says, “Protestant solitude is still only figurative. Rousseau and Wordsworth made it physical” (para. 5). Rousseau and Wordsworth created Romanticism solitude, which “inherited the 18th-century idea of social sympathy” (para. 6). Despite that Protestant solitude is not physical, it is still an idea of solitude. Moreover, Romanticism solitude was influenced by the past. This implies solitude can evolve to adapt to how society currently is. Simply because people today can access social media sites such as Facebook, we still can be alone. One example is having the ability to turn off our electronics for a
He constantly talks in circles rotating between the idea of Romanticism solitude and how he didn’t have technology and social media as a child for his explanations. The only point he makes throughout the piece that remotely makes sense is, “I was told by one of her older relatives that a teenager I know had sent 3,000 text messages one recent month. That's 100 a day, or about one every 10 waking minutes, morning, noon, and night, weekdays and weekends, class time, lunch time, homework time, and toothbrushing time. So on average, she's never alone for more than 10 minutes at once. Which means, she's never alone” (para.