End Of Solitude

“The End of Solitude” creates the overall theme of pitting technology against solitude and gives many detailed examples and evidence of how technology has removed solitude from our lives and some downfalls of the social situation our culture has placed itself in. Tomine’s cover paints an image of many of the issues brought up in Deresiewicz’s article. Both the article and the cover make a point of showing the opposition of superficiality and authenticity in our lives. Technology has become a means for superficiality, especially through social media, and because we no longer seek solitude, we lack the authenticity of self that is established during time spent alone. Solitude helps us to achieve greater truth and meaning of self. In Tomine’s picture, the people are looking at an image on a screen when the real thing is right in front of them. This shows people’s satisfaction with having a surface level glance at something, rather than seeking deeper and being able to enjoy the magnificence of the real thing. Deresiewicz makes this point in his article when he notes that we have shifted our focus from substance to quantity in relationships. How many “friends” do I have on social media? Do people recognize and acknowledge me? We have become more and more isolated physically as cities have expanded into suburbs and people’s perception of safety has declined. Yet as we are alone in our little bubbles, we are still

Tomine seems to focus a little more on the difference between urban technology and solitude from the approach of nature, which is portrayed through the people sitting on the grass barefoot. However, I think they would both agree that solitude is a valuable part of being a deeper person as it allows you to process your own ideas, and technology may create a social connection for us, but it ultimately leads to a loss of