In The Novel
In the novel The Solitude Of Prime Numbers, by Paolo Giordano, Alice & Mattia are two misfit youth. Both Alice and Mattia are "primes" who have both encountered a series of traumatic childhood events that have determined their fate with depression. This leaves them with an unexplainable feeling that they cannot reach out to anyone for help. They seem to be destined to be alone. Mattia and Alice both feel isolated and enjoy their space, however when they connect as teens they recognize a deep hurt and longing void inside one another. They sense each other's damaged spirit and feel that they connect; they understand each other.
Throughout the story, Mattia and Alice find each other through various events and work to find out that they share similar interests and identities as misfits and loners. They both become the target of most negative situations and find council in each other's presence. Depression has affected both of their lives. A turn of events eventually separates the two. The solidarity they feel is an emotion that they feel they can no longer handle alone. This is when the irony of it all comes...when Mattia and Alice realize that they are perfectly alone...together. See "Prime numbers are divisible only by 1 and by themselves. They hold their place in the infinite series of natural numbers, squashed, like all numbers, between two others, but one step further than the rest...twin primes: pairs of prime numbers that are close to each other, almost neighbors, but between them there is always an even umber that prevents them from truly touching" (Page 111). They relate to this sequence because they feel ordinary, different, and they don't seem to quite fit-yet they are somewhat relative to each other. They relate to primary numbers through their depression because in a chain of events they are torn from each other and always seperated by a third middle party. They are never happy, never truly feeling the "company" of another human being. These two hold their place in each other's hearts. They connect. As the story progresses we see that Alice and Mattia grow farther and farther apart as time goes on, as do prime numbers as the number sequences grow similarly farther and farther. This enhances their feelings of aloneness. Just as they are about to give up hope, another sequence brings them back together as a pair of "twin primes" would. They somehow find each other-close-almost neighbors, but between them is always a third party. Mattia and Alice are never successful in achieving a life together.
The author gives us a deeper insight to people with depression. He shows the deeper thoughts of an individual with this mental illness through Alice and Mattia. Mattia uses cutting as a "way of releasing the pain he feels inside." Alice uses starving herself a way of coping. These truths are a major reality in the lives of those with depression. The author gives insight to the mind of depression and we can see through these two characters that hurt can be healed when an understanding "prime" such as oneself comes into the mix. He shows how depression gives people the sense that they want to be alone, but they also want others who are like them near. The author shows us the correlation between prime numbers; primes are secluded, solitary and unexplainable …just like people with depression. Depression Hurts.
