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Lonely Lives 97
see only in the distance sometimes quite near,
again in the far-off distance. These are the lonely
lives.
This drama also emphasizes the important
point that not only the parents and the wife of
John Fockerat fail to understand him, but even
his own comrade, one of his own world, the
painter Braun, the type of fanatical revolution
ist who scorns human weaknesses and ridicules
those who make concessions and compromises.
But not even this arch-revolutionist can grasp the
needs of John. Referring to his chum s friend
ship with Anna, Braun upbraids him. He
charges John with causing his wife s unhappiness
and hurting the feelings of his parents. This
very man who, as a propagandist, demands that
every one live up to his ideal, is quick to condemn
his friend when the latter, for the first time in his
life, tries to be consistent, to be true to his own
innermost being.
The revolutionary, the social and human sig
nificance of
"
Lonely Lives
"
consists in the les
son that the real revolutionist, the dreamer, the
creative artist, the iconoclast in whatever line,
is fated to be misunderstood, not only by his own
kin, but often by his own comrades. That is the
doom of all great spirits: they are detached
from their environment. Theirs is a lonely life
the life of the transition stage, the hardest and
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