Bez-użyteczność manekina? Samotność mężczyzny spoglądającego w wystawę… (Rozkoszne konanie Iana McEwana)

In the time of pandemic, solitude has proven to be such a prevailing issue that it has been propounded by Professor John T. Cacioppo, a social psychologist from the University of Chicago, that it should be considered a disease. The present article shows reflection on one’s attempts to escape the sense of desolation. The author interprets Dead As They Come, a short story by Ian McEwan, whose protagonist wallows in love for a clothes dummy. At first, the object of his desire, in compliance with Roland Barthes’ theses, appears to be remarkable and unique. Nevertheless, the closing part of the work documents the protagonist’s failure, as he realises that he succumbed to his own phantasm. In the final part of the article, the author makes a reference to the phenomenon of reborn dolls, as an example on nonfictional combat against solitude.