If M. believes that "our free will has no product more properly its own than...friendship," why does he say it "seized his whole will [pp.107-10]?"

Why does M. believe that "a single dominant friendship" [p. 112] dissolves all other obligations?

Do any of M.'s observations on friendship apply to women?

Are we meant to believe M. when he says, "For myself, I like only pleasant & easy books...[p. 124]?"

How can we determine when "it is time to untie ourselves from society, since we can contribute nothing to it [p. 121]?"

Are friendship & solitude meant for different stages of one's life, or does M. make a case for holding them in a kind of perpetual,moderating balance?

Is the grandmother’s final appeal to the misfit genuine, or just another ploy?