Self-Discovery, Identity, and Loneliness

Self-discovery is a major theme in the novel "In Paradise" by Peter Matthiessen. Self-discovery involves learning more about one's own identity, nature, and character, often through a process or journey that involves real-world experiences. In the novel, self-discovery is crucial for Olin, who travels to Poland in an attempt to find out more about his family's heritage and, thereby, his own identity as a man. Specifically, he wishes to learn more about his mother, Emi, who is believed to have perished at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Olin has lived a relatively lonely life, from not being close to his father's family to his own divorce -and so he is seeking answers, and acceptance, both in love and in his identity.

While spending time in and around Auschwitz and Krakow, Olin comes to discover that his mother was indeed Jewish, and was his father's...