An Analysis of the Use of Tone in "Alone with Everybody" Dessi M. Gravely College

Charles Bukowski’s poem “Alone with Everybody” was written in the mid-1970s, and it was first published in a poetry collection titled Love Is a Dog from Hell in 1977. Bukowski is a German-born American author who is known for his ability to convey feelings of utter despair in his writing, and he does not fall short in creating a tone which transitions from disinterested to disgruntled in this poem. “Alone With Everybody” details the emotions of an isolated individual in contemplation of the significance of life. Bukowski explores the complex inner workings of an existential crisis with his readers in “Alone With Everybody” through the use of dramatic tone change in his stream of consciousness style of writing.

The poem begins with the speaker mulling over the idea of creation and the significance of the human form, but Bukowski’s word choice leads readers to assume a sense of indifference rather than awe in regards to these subjects. The flow of the first stanza is very slow and droning, and it seems to mimic a sort of emotionlessness in the poet’s thought process. Bukowski uses the word “and” seven times in the first stanza of the poem, mimicking a feeling of repetitiousness that he senses in life. Bukowski describes the...