How Can Shrek Help Us Understand Loneliness?

Living as part of a society is natural for people. At one time we did it to survive. We needed to defend ourselves from animals and rival tribes and produce enough food. Cities and towns offered protection to their inhabitants. They also offered security and a sense of belonging. Even today , people are looking for the kind of refuge that living in a society offers. In this context, understanding loneliness can be a bit difficult. Is being alone a bad thing?

What happens if someone thinks they are strong enough to defend themselves from imminent dangers? Doesn’t that person need to live in a community? Do they need friends? In this article, we will study and understand loneliness by analyzing the movie Shrek.

Shrek: Ogren who lives in a swamp

Shrek is an animated DreamWorks movie that was released in 2001. The main character is Shrek, a ogre that lives in a remote swamp in the middle of the forest. He is completely happy with his life and loves the loneliness in his home.

But one day, Shrek’s precious loneliness is unexpectedly interrupted by an invasion of annoying fairy tale characters. The evil Lord Farquaad stole all their land and expelled them from the kingdom.

Ogren, desperate to save his home, makes a deal with Lord Farquaad. In exchange for returning the fairy tale characters to their homes, Shrek promises to save Princess Fiona. That’s why Shrek goes on a very long journey. His companion on his quest to find the princess is a donkey named Donkey.

To understand loneliness and its benefits

People often think that you are a failure if you are alone. This is not true. Loneliness is a transient condition that people can voluntarily choose.

Sometimes voluntary isolation comes from the desire to be responsible for your own life. You want to be authentic and not wear masks or disguise. Selected loneliness can lead to personal growth and can also help you complete projects and reach goals.

Here are some of the benefits of choosing to be alone:

• It allows you to focus your energy on personal projects. Instead of exhausting yourself and always trying to please others, you can concentrate on exactly what you want to do.
• You do not have to explain yourself or follow a schedule. Being alone means you can clean whenever you want, eat whenever you feel like it, etc. You can decorate your home just the way you want and use your space however you want.
• Loneliness gives you time to think about your own behavior and reflect on it. In a world full of distractions and unfinished tasks, it is difficult to find a moment to meditate on what you want to do. Loneliness allows introspection.

• Being alone encourages independence. It makes you feel responsible for yourself. This means that you do not have to trust anyone else, which can increase your happiness and well-being.

Single people also find love

In the film, Shrek goes in search of the beautiful princess Fiona, who is locked inside a tower guarded by a dragon. When Shrek and Donkey free her from her terrible prisoner, she is thrilled. However, this happiness disappears when she discovers that a ogre, and not a prince, saved her.

On their journey back to Lord Farquaad’s castle, Shrek and Fiona discover that they have much in common. They fall in love during the trip, but the princess has not revealed the secret to him yet. Fiona is under a curse. Every night she turns into a ogre just like Shrek. In the morning she becomes human again.

Donkey is the first to discover her secret. Fiona explains that she was cursed when she was a little girl, and only true kisses of love can free her from the curse. Shrek overhears part of the conversation between Fiona and Esel, but he misunderstands it and feels betrayed.

To understand loneliness and self-confidence

Despite spending a long time alone, Shrek is not very self-conscious. Loneliness can be good for introspection, but it’s obvious that Shrek has not taken advantage of this opportunity. Thus, Shrek lacks the necessary skills to define or express his needs and feelings.

Therefore, when Lord Farquaad takes Fiona to his castle, Shrek returns to the swamp worried and lonely. He feels bad for not telling the princess how he feels about her, even though he was sure she was sick of him.

The swamp becomes a self-imposed prison. The loneliness that made Shrek happy before now makes him miserable.

The end of loneliness

Shrek quickly realizes that, despite regaining his home and loneliness, he feels completely miserable. He misses Fiona and Esel’s company. However, ogren has low self-esteem. He does not think he deserves good things.

Shrek, like many people with low self-esteem, felt compelled to reject other people. Their poor self-esteem makes them feel unable to relate to others. This seems to be the reason behind Shrek’s loneliness. It does not seem that he freely chose to be alone. On the contrary, he chose to isolate himself because he was afraid of suffering or being hurt.

Single people must work to feel deserving of the company of others. There is nothing wrong with being alone as long as you freely choose it and not because you are afraid. In Shrek’s case, he decided to spend time with Donkey and Fiona, when he finally felt he deserved the affection and love of others.

When loneliness is imposed, it usually affects people with negative emotions such as sadness. But as we said before, being alone is not necessarily bad. It’s only bad if it’s not what you want.

Do not be afraid to be alone. Take advantage of these moments to get to know yourself better. Strive to be a better person and find out what you want in life. On the other hand, if you want to spend more time with other people, work on making it happen. After all, we are all worthy of being accepted by others.