M Train

Patti Smith depicts herself as a deeply solitary person. She is alone in many scenes from M Train, and she responds to that solitude in various ways. Sometimes, she seems genuinely lonely, especially when considering the people she has lost. However, being alone is an enriching experience more often than not because it affords Smith so much time for deep introspection. When she is alone, she can think carefully about her work as a writer, reflect on her past experiences, and connect deeply to her favorite books and television shows. Solitude initially seems like a kind of emptiness, but like all the forms of emptiness and nothingness that Smith describes, it is actually full and rich. Being alone helps Smith better understand herself on her own terms, accepting herself and her sometimes unconventional choices for what they are.

Because Smith spends so much time alone, she tends to form deep connections with inanimate objects, locations, fiction, and people who are no longer living. A cup of coffee can be a companion during a morning of writing. The well from The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is so vividly real to Smith that she visits it in her imagination. The graves of Genet, Plath, Ozu, and Dazai help Smith feel real connections to those who are no longer alive.