In this movie Bobby (Jack Nicholson) is a definition loner. Loner is defined as one who avoids the company of other people and this is definitely Bobby. To begin with Bobby has no love for anything or anybody. He ignores his family, hates his job, and most of all he doesn't care about his girlfriend at all. He expects everyone to give him love back but he gives none out. Catherine points this out to him when he asks her to show him some love.<br /><br />The start of Bobby being a loner is his family. He left them for no apparent reason and started jumping around from place to place. He had a promising career as a piano player because he was good at it and it was his family heritage. He just threw this away along to work on an oil rig which he hates also and ends up quitting. He didn't tell them where he was going or what he was doing so they had no idea what he was up to until the day he went and saw his sister. The only reason he went back to see his family is because his father was dieing and he felt that he was obligated to do so. I don't think that he actually wanted to be there he just felt he should be.<br /><br />The next biggest thing in his life besides his family is his girlfriend who he shows absolutely no respect to. He is constantly cheating on her and bad mouthing her right to her face. She wants the relationship to get more serious by having kids and he wants nothing to do with that because he doesn't want to be tied down. The only reason that they are still together is because she is to stupid and naïve to break up with him. Every time she wants to do it he says something a little sweet and she instantly forgives him and lets him walk all over her again. To be honest this is the perfect girl for Bobby because he can do what ever he wants and she will let him.<br /><br />You can also tell Bobby is a loner because every time something big happens he goes off by himself and gets drunk. For example when things go bad at his house he leaves and goes and gets drunk in a bar. When Bobby and Elton go to work drunk one morning and the boss doesn't let them work they leave and start drinking more. While stuck in traffic Bobby gets out of the car and gets in the back on a truck with a piano and starts playing, then the truck leaves and Elton loses him. This is a great symbol to show that Bobby is a loner because the only person he likes in his life is Elton and he is taken away from him by the truck. Then days later Elton is really taken from him when he is arrested so Bobby is totally alone.<br /><br />We find out at the end of the movie that Bobby is a loner because he is afraid that things will get bad if he stays in one spot for too long. With this mentality that Bobby has it is no wonder he is a loner and why he will always be a loner. He doesn't want to get attached and he expects that people will do everything for him.