There are some unique groups of people in Richard Yates's novels, such as withdrawn students, couples about to get married, eccentric old teachers, tuberculosis patients, jazz pianists...their lives Among the crowds of people running around, they are no different from other people. They are everyone, and there is a unique quality in their hearts called loneliness.

Loneliness, in English, means an unpleasant feeling of being unable to communicate with other people, even close ones. Today, when communication is becoming more and more convenient, to say the least, in the 1930s to 1960s, when Richard Yates lived, which was known as the "Age of Anxiety", there should have been no obstacles to the convenience of communication. So, what is the real problem? What makes people feel lonely is the spiritual distance from the inside out, which is an innate nature of human beings.

Richard Yates spent his whole life describing people's plight, especially the difficult lives of the middle- and lower-class people in the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s. They often felt lonely, confused and miserable, and he His own life is a true portrayal of the subject he describes. In his childhood, his family life was not stable. His parents divorced when he was three years old. This coincided with the Great Depression in the United States. Most people lost their jobs and financial resources. They relied on The government is struggling to get by on minimal government relief funds. Influenced by Hemingway in his youth, he joined the army and served in the military in France and Germany during World War II. Unfortunately, he contracted pneumonia while in the army, which left a lasting legacy in his later life. After returning to China, he married his wife, but they officially divorced in 1959 due to emotional differences. For many years after that, he lived alone. He spent the last year of his life in Boston. Living conditions are extremely shabby.

In "Eleven Kinds of Loneliness", a "Dr. Jack-O-Lantern" appears to describe the plight of a new transfer student. The protagonist's name is Vincent, who comes from a not-so-wealthy foster family in New York. He has been growing up as an orphan since he was a child, and he has struggled to survive on the welfare issued by the Welfare Department. Vincent, who was not good at sociability, allowed him to take the initiative to deal with others under Miss Price's kind advice. In the weekly sharing class, the students spoke freely. Some students were very good at telling stories and won everyone's interest; some students were clumsy in articulation and always became the one who was laughed at. It was Vincent's turn, but Vincent lied to everyone at the sharing meeting, so the movie "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" became "Dr. Jack-O-Lantern and Mr. Hyde". A lie that made Vincent The distance between Te and everyone is getting farther and farther.

Miss Price is a warm-hearted teacher. She is very concerned about the school life of the new Vincent. Because she is worried that he will not get along well with the classmates in the class, she always comes to the classroom during lunch break. Be alone with him and talk to him about what's on your mind. Regarding the sharing he made in the morning, she expressed her wishes very tactfully - she hoped that Vincent could make a real sharing. Vincent listened, but did not make any reaction.

After lunch, he walked to the corner of the school and was doing nothing. Suddenly he found a piece of chalk in his pocket, so he took it out and wrote the curse words he wanted to curse on the wall. He was discovered by his classmates on the way. Vincent's behavior surprised his classmates, and this incident once again informed Miss Price that she needed to have another "spiritual" dialogue with Vincent.

Miss Price did not lash out. She played the role of a friend this time, telling Vincent how disappointed and sad she was with his behavior, and then expressed that she did not want Vincent to Center made a similar move again. Vincent didn't have any reaction. There were tears in his eyes at first, and finally he lowered his head.

Vincent walked out of the classroom, and several classmates saw him and gathered together to urgently ask Miss Price what she had done to him. Vincent was not used to being called "Vincent" by his classmates. He once again lied habitually. He said that Miss Price hit him with a ruler, which surprised his classmates. Unfortunately, they happened to bump into Miss Price on the way back. Her gentle greeting made the students present realize that Vincent had lied again, which made them angry. Vincent was pushed a few times and then left in disgust by his classmates. At the end of the story, Vincent himself walked back to school and drew a nude version of Miss Price with chalk.

The ending seems to end abruptly, staying on the picture of a nude painting; but it is also expected, it is almost impossible for one person to change another person. In the story, Vincent is lonely. On the surface, he receives care from his teacher and verbal communication among his classmates. However, all the sounds are just the vibration of sound waves near his eardrums. In his heart, he is Not touched. He was a young man who loved lying, swearing, and being withdrawn. After receiving the earnest care of his teacher, he still loved lying, swearing, and being withdrawn. In the end, he even used actions to hurt the teacher who "cared" about him again. In fact, if you think about it carefully, except for Vincent, the teacher's "caring" behavior did not establish an effective connection with Vincent. In their conversations, the teacher was always in a one-sided output state, although Vincent Occasionally there was corresponding feedback, but judging from his subsequent performance, it did not cause any waves in his heart. From this perspective, the teacher was also talking to himself and could not truly understand from Vincent's standpoint and perspective. Instead, he wanted to change him into what he expected.

At this point, the protagonist ends up lonely, as if nothing had happened.

(Actually, after reading this story, I especially want to think of a follow-up to the story. What would happen if the teacher later saw her nude paintings? It is possible that he would realize that the students’ thoughts are distorted. Serious, patient and strong teachers will spend more effort to understand the students' childhood experiences and current family life conditions, so as to take more effective measures. Through time and accumulation, I think Vincent will be influenced. Some; and it is also possible that what he did completely broke the teacher's heart, and the teacher gave up on Vincent's influence and let him fend for himself in the class and continue his own education method. Vincent is still a A boy with weird behavior, but the teacher still uses the way of moving himself to influence others... Therefore, the teacher's guidance to the students is more important to play a correct guiding role in the formation of his three views of personality, which may save his life. A lost boy.

However, I think Yates’s ending is more normal. Whether it was the United States in the “anxious era” he lived in at that time, or today, the anxious mentality prevents people from going deeper. Understand the essence of things and a person's soul, and the communication between people only stays at the superficial level of interests, and the distance between hearts will become farther and farther.

It is a common question, but it is a common problem. It is also a status quo that has been generally ignored)