Write a Short note About Hotel Gloriana.

Answer

Write a short note about Hotel Gloriana.  

The Hotel Gloriana in Saul Bellow’s (1915-2005) novella “Seize the Day” (1956) plays a significant. Hotel Gloriana highlights the theme of isolation and the struggles of the protagonist, Tommy Wilhelm. Located on the Upper West Side of New York City, the hotel is mostly inhabited by elderly retirees. The residents, including Wilhelm’s father, Dr. Adler, live in comfort, having already achieved financial stability.

In contrast, Wilhelm is out of place in this setting, as he is a middle-aged man who is still battling with his financial problems and emotional turmoil. The narrator says,

To him, the Gloriana was a place of finality, a place where people finished their days, while his own life was still unsettled.

Despite living close to his father in the hotel, Wilhelm feels a deep emotional distance. Tommy says,

…whereas Dad doesn’t want to be disturbed.

Tommy Wilhelm desperately needs his father’s help and sympathy, but his father refuses to give either. The Gloriana represents a space where Wilhelm does not belong. He is lost and disconnected from those around him.

The Hotel Gloriana highlights Wilhelm’s feelings of being trapped and suffocated in a world that does not offer him any support or understanding. It thus serves as a powerful symbol of Wilhelm’s isolation and the burdens he carries in a competitive, uncaring society.