“The feeling of not being understood and of not understanding the world is no mere accompaniment of first passion, but its sole non-accidental cause. And the passion itself is a panic-stricken flight in which being together with the other means only a doubled solitude.”
Torless is a terribly lonely person because of his intelligence. He struggles to make friends and find relatable topics of conversation with his average peers. After visiting Bozena, the prostitute, he realizes that artificial intimacy only serves to remind both parties that they are alone. What Torless really wants is understanding and appreciation of who he is, but he cannot allow himself to intimate enough with anyone in order to achieve this.
“His life was focused on each single day. For him each night meant a void, a grave, extinction. The capacity to lay oneself down to die at the end of every day, without thinking anything of it, was something he had not yet acquired.”
Young Torless is dealing with a constant mess inside his head. He cannot still his mind because it is constantly responding to new data, whether because of his age or his intellect or some combination of the two. He dreads the coming of each night because he lies awake for hours unable to sleep, tortured by his ceaseless thoughts.
“She liked to convey that she was well acquainted with the smartness and the manners of the stylish world, but that she had got beyond all that sort of thing. She was fond of declaring that she did not care a snap of the fingers for that, or for herself, or indeed for anything whatsoever. On this account, and in spite of her blowsiness, she enjoyed a certain degree of respect among the peasant lads of the neighbourhood. True, they spat when they spoke of her, and felt obliged to treat her with even more coarseness than other girls, but at bottom they were really mightily proud of this ‘damned slut’ who had issued from their own midst and who had so thoroughly seen through the veneer of the world.”
Bozena is a fascinating character. She admits to Torless that she could've accomplished a lot more than becoming a prostitute, but she chose this life because of its simplicity. She enjoys her reputation because her clients are both intimidated by her and abusive toward her. She takes pleasure in teasing them since she knows in her heart that she is their superior. Dismissing all the complexities of life, she prefers this alternate lifestyle as a means of spiting the often cruel requirements of civilized society.
“There were moments when life at school became a matter of utter indifference to him. Then the putty of his everyday concerns dropped out and, with nothing more to bind them together, the hours of his life fell apart.”
Here we have a glimpse into Torless' boredom. He cannot stand the loneliness and meaninglessness of his existence, so he's constantly struggling with boredom. In particular, this description hints at his almost necessary depression. Resulting from such a vast intellect, depression is an inability to receive satisfaction and the chemical release of seratonin in the brain for activity. As a consequence of his intelligence, Torless is depressed because he's smart enough to understand the arbitrary nature of his suffering but not yet strong or disciplined enough to resist indulging it, so he spends his days utterly bored and disinterested in everything happening around him.
