Isolation

Paul Auster’s novel City of Glass mentions the theme of isolation and its impact on a person’s identity. This theme is most relevant when we look at it in connection to the main character, who willingly isolates himself, and to Peter Stillman, who is forced to spend his childhood in isolation.

After the death of his wife and son, Daniel Quinn isolates himself from the people he knows. He refuses to answer their questions about what he does now for a living and ends up breaking away from his friends completely (Chapter 1, 25%). However, Quinn’s need for isolation seems to have always been part of his personality: “Quinn had always thought of himself as a man who liked to be alone.” (Chapter 1, 63%). Therefore, Quinn’s isolation is something th...