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There are two central, interconnected themes prevalent within Smoke that I would like to focus on, and they are those of loneliness and finding purpose. The universal characteristic of the characters’ in the movie is their loneliness and isolation, this idea being juxtaposed with the dense population of their home, Brooklyn. (Only Cyrus lives in an empty setting, but the feeling is the same. No matter how many conversations each character may have in a given day, they all go home alone with no company but their own – this is why Paul kicks Rashid out, because he is not used to the intimacy that he experienced with his wife, and it becomes too emotional; he is used to his cage of isolation, and having a cellmate scares him. Each character has an occupation, but it does not fully occupy them, and they each possess a hole in their lives, a sense of purposelessness. While these themes of loneliness and purposelessness are the most ubiquitous in the movie, they are not the point.
Rather, the great meaning found within the movie is how the characters’ deal with this loneliness and purposelessness. The movie starts off with some of the characters knowing each other well, some not as much, maybe distantly in the past, and some are complete strangers. Gradually throughout the movie they get to know each other, and whether or not they had some purpose – Paul had none; Auggie’s was just going day by day and to try and make some money; and Rashid’s was a vague idea of finding his father, and more basically to not be killed – their individual purposes each shifted towards each other, more specifically in helping each other. This is summed up in the end of the movie in Auggie’s Christmas story, where he lies for the sake of the grandmother, but he himself gained much meaning and purpose from it.
The symbol of smoke in the movie represents this dichotomy between loneliness and finding meaning in each other very well. On one hand, smoking is a very lonely experience – each person smokes their own cigarette, cigar, or what have you; he or she smokes to ease the monotonous aches of living a lonely existence. However, smoking also brings people together: many different people come into the tobacco store and talk to Auggie or each other; they tell stories and joke around. While each person smokes their own type, they may offer a smoke to another, as a way of giving the other insight into their own existence – this is the exchange between Cyrus and Paul at the picnic. Finally, while smoking may be lonely, it is a loneliness shared, and the potential for that shared experience is demonstrated in the final pre-credits scene, where Auggie and Paul smoke at truly enjoy being together.
Liam, I really like your insight on this theme of loneliness. I definitely agree with you that it’s kind of strange that in such a metropolitan and densely populated city, each character would still feel lonely at the end of the day, and I believe this ties strongly to the losses we discuss in class. But as you mentioned, it is through each of them helping one another (whether it’s Rashid saving Paul, Paul offering a place for Rashid and taking the time to understand him, Auggie offering Rashid a place to work) that their stories not only intertwine, but that they can find purpose and escape from this loneliness.
The observation you made about the characters being lonely despite being surrounded by many others everyday in a crowded city is priceless. This phenomenon is easily overlooked and readily undervalued. You made it clear that isolation is a universal struggle for the characters and in many ways, it is not only inherent but also a preference, especially for Paul, who is constantly challenged with his wife’s absence. As you said, Paul is unable to forge a sense of compatibility with Rashid, even though deep inside he longs for intimacy. Rather than conveying the unifying outer dilemmas, I liked how you paid attention to the internal struggles of these characters, who were often very ambivalent in regards to stepping outside their comfort zone or maintaining their rigid dispositions. Perhaps the most brilliant metaphor you employed was by comparing Paul’s isolation to being in prison, and describing his perception of having company as “having a cellmate”. This idea vividly illustrates the lack of vibrant color and optimism which characterize the freedom of creative expression. Paul, after all, is a writer and it is only by the encouragement of Rashid that his work soars to new heights. I liked how in the end you indicated the potential of smoking to bring people together and dissolve the plagues of isolation.
Hi Liam,
This is a brilliant observation in a way that I hadn’t interpreted “Smoke” before. The act of trying to escape from loneliness with other lonely people reminds me of a Billy Joel lyric from Piano Man – “They are sharing a drink they call “Loneliness” but it’s better than drinking alone.” It’s a pretty big source of irony that New York is one of the largest cities in the world, yet people feel so alone. New Yorkers have become so desensitized to giant swarms of people yet they feel like the only people in the room
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