Antecedents of desire and isolation in Proust

Here we have a character, a young man, partially invalid, a bit sheltered, in an elite society, surrounded by women, with a stern unforgiving father and a sensitive and somewhat attentive mother. His main relations, while growing up, lead him, our young man, to feel distanced from his parents and, in many respects, more comforted and cared for by the servants. He almost learns to be an invalid through the extended family, and he begins to develop an unusual view of the society in which he lives. As the reader, you begin to suspect that, through his constant cataloging of the actions of his family members, and his dissection of their motives and morals, he becomes even more isolated and, what we call, in his head. A fair postulate would be, in my opinion, that his distance and somewhat aloof nature, lead to his success in society. He is never overt in describing situations that clearly show an isolated individual, rather we get peeks at the edges, small hints are dropped that let us, the reader, know that this young man is alone with a muffled understanding of the world at large.