Alone in a Sea of Millions

  Allen Ginsberg's "A Supermarket in California" presents the audience with a piece in which the speaker appears to be a lonely observer - analyzing all those that come and go, rather than cluing the audience in on his or her person. With this being said, the speaker highlights the different individuals he or she views in stating, "Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes! - and you, Garcia Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons?" (Ginsberg, Lines 12-16). Then directly following this description, Ginsberg goes on to allude to fellow poet, Walt Whitman - ultimately, referring to Whitman in a lonely tone. At first, I found this continual allusion to be rather odd, especially given Whitman's piece entitled, "The Two Vaults," which greatly focuses on that of a crowd. But, upon a deeper look, the connection ended up making much more sense.

Simply put, just because Whitman goes into great depth explaining a crowd in "The Two Vaults," who really is to say that he is not truly lonely in this sea of individuals? 

For instance, in an attempt to explain the scene, Whitman states, "The thick crowds, well-dressed -- the continual crowds as if they would never end the curious appearance of the faces -- the glimpse just caught of the eyes and expressions, as they flit along..." (Whitman, Lines 19-21). In saying this, while yes, the scenes described by Ginsberg and Whitman are wholly different, who is to say that the emotions felt are different?

With this being said, both Ginsberg and Whitman provide the reader with two modern, accessible backdrops - a supermarket and a bar. While, yes, these two backdrops are rather different there is one way in which they are similar. The crowds they attract. But, just because these two places are filled with people, does not mean that either serve as a way for an individual to fill his or her own existential void or sense of loneliness. 

Similar to these two aforementioned works, Lauv's "Modern Loneliness," also speaks on this sense of being emotionally alone when surrounded by others. A rather powerful line in his song states, "Modern loneliness, we're never alone but always depressed, yeah love my friends to death but I never call and I never text". In short, this sense of modern loneliness essentially creates a crowd of its own - a crowd that seems to emotionally keep to themselves.