¶ … Rewards of Solitude and Socialization
America has always idolized outsiders in its literary imagination. Consider the figures of the heroic outsider, the rugged individualist, and even the stalwart homesteader upon the frontier. All of these individuals are positive constructions of the solitary outsider in American society. These lonely ideals span the range from Emerson's essays to Thoreau's life at Walden Pond, to Hemingway's fiction. But in reality, and in ordinary conversation, solitude and solitary people are often suspected by the neighborhoods in which they might choose live. The other side of the outsider in American life is the television camera pointed at the glazed features of the neighbors of a serial killer, as the police dig up the individual's backyard. Invariably, they respond. 'He was quiet. He always kept to himself.'
The poet and essayist May Sarton offers neither extreme in her positive view of living outside the societal fold, alone. Being in solitude does not automatically make one a hero or a crazy hermit. Instead, solitude can be a potentially beneficial state for those who chose it, or for those who must chose it. Her essay is entitled "The Rewards of Living a Solitary Life." She begins her essay with a story of a man, suddenly left alone. He is frightened by the prospect of solitude. This man, was always, as described by Sarton, a gregarious and charming individual. But he measured his worth against others and thus he was shocked and saddened at the prospect of being alone, even for a short period of time.
Instead, Sarton...
The difference of attitude towards solitude expressed by the suddenly lonely man and her own mind prompts Sarton's reflections over the course of the essay. This man's reaction surprises Sarton, partly because she is accustomed as a writer, to spending much of her day alone. Her solitude, she believes, allows her to be herself. Only when one is alone, does the individual's self truly emerge.
This assertion, although stark, causes the reader to think of how many times he or she may have changed his or her true opinion in words, but not in thought. One pretends to change one's mind, based upon one's loved ones and one's friend's advice and world perspective, are shifted and amended. The common wisdom may be simply that -- common, but not necessarily right, and accepted because everyone thinks that way. It may not even be that all human beings believe the cliches they circulate, regarding race, religion, gender or even such ethical assertions that 'it's an ill wind that blows nobody good.' Living alone, and not being forced to amend one's opinions and life to others, allows the uniqueness of every human soul to emerge without such amendment. In solitude, soaked in the juices of one's own character, fermenting alone, every human character emerges as something of a genius, according to Sarton. It is only when the individual is alone that he or she, says Sarton, can afford to be…
