The lonely inmate turns into a tragic figure in his own imagination,
and pours his heart out on canvas or paper as his revenge on a
heartless world.

He may even turn into a snob, and look upon the rest of the world with
pity, for his own heart is full of joy. Even the ailing and the
suffering can develop a form of snobbery, as Aldous Huxley had once
said. Not on such a scale or in exactly the same form, but the
Parisian garret has its counterparts elsewhere.