The Theme Of Loneliness In The Novels Of Juan José Millás

Juan Jose Millas,born in 1946,is one of the contemporary Spanish writers with much prestige.His literary writing begins with poetry and enjoys high reputation in columns and novels.To date,he has published more than thirty pieces of work and has won fourteen journalistic and literary prizes,including the Nadal Prize and the Planeta Prize.He specializes in various genres,including short stories,novels,essays and even invents a genre of "articuento".Among his works,we select the following ones to interpret:Vision del ahogado(1977),El desorden de tu nombre(1988),La soledad era esto(1990),Tonto,muerto,bastardo e invisible(1995)and Laura y Julio(2006).These five novels from different writing periods of Millas reflect the vicissitudes of the Spanish society and the changes of the characters.However,loneliness is present in all these works as a same theme.Some works of Millas have been translated into Chinese and have been warmly welcomed.However,compared to numerous studies at abroad,researches in our country are few.We would like to analyze the concept of loneliness in eyes of Millas by analyzing the manifestations of loneliness,the reasons and ways to get rid of that feeling.This paper is divided into four chapters.In the first chapter we will review the loneliness in the world and Hispanic literature:loneliness in Cien anos de soledad is caused by ignorance,poverty and the backward of the Latin American society.Loneliness in El laberinto de la soledad is a very special Mexican history and a complex of not being able to confirm the national identity.The Metamorphosis reflects absurdly the alienation between the outside world and the individual.In Don Quijote de la Mancha,the lonely spirit is betrayed as an insistence of beating the bad guys and saving the world,even without the understanding of the others.Loneliness in Fortress Besieged is presented by the ugly form and embarrassing life of the intellectuals under the impact of western culture.And for Millas,loneliness exists in individuals of all the ages and the lonely feeling comes from urban life,with Madrid as its center.In the second chapter we analyze the manifestations of loneliness by reading the texts.The external stress of urban life in the city makes the characters feel a great emptiness and failure both in sentimental life and at work.The inferiority complex caused by a comparison with others also evidences loneliness.Either teenagers or the middle-aged,all of us suffer such a negative feeling.In the third chapter,we analyze the reasons of loneliness.The external causes of loneliness are analyzed with the theory of urban literature.These five novels represent respectively the Madrid in the Franco era,the Transition and the democratic period.But behind the superficial progress,the city remains as a closed space,just as the limited places where the characters live.And as the internal reasons,the confusion between the reality and the fiction is an obstacle for them to find the true identity and differentiate between the "id","ego","super-ego".The fourth chapter discusses the ways to get rid of loneliness.That is,with the views of others to reflect themselves,eliminate the rivalry at any price and rebuild the identity through writing.During this process,Millas also emphasizes the increase of the women’s status.For Millds,loneliness may be necessary for certain groups or for a certain period and writing can also serve as a remedy to get out of loneliness.However,all ways are only temporary.In the end,we come to the conclusion that loneliness is an eternal theme in literature,and for Millas,everyone feels that loneliness.It occurs due to the closed state of mind and the feeling of emptiness and failure and it comes from the double impact of urban and social environment.Loneliness is inevitable and can’t be completely eliminated.The pessimistic view of Millas about loneliness also lies here.