in this movie bobby ( jack nicholson ) be a definition loner . loner be define a one who avoid the company of other people and this be definitely bobby . to begin with bobby have no love for anything or anybody . he ignore his family and hat his job and and most of all he doesn not care about his girlfriend at all . he expect everyone to give him love back but he give none out . catherine point this out to him when he ask her to show him some love . the start of bobby be a loner be his family . he leave them for no apparent reason and start jump around from place to place . he have a promising career a a piano player because he be good at it and it be his family heritage . he just throw this away along to work on an oil rig which he hat also and end up quit . he do not tell them where he be go or what he be do so they have no idea what he be up to until the day he go and saw his sister . the only reason he go back to see his family be because his father be die and he felt that he be obligate to do so . i do not think that he actually want to be there he just felt he should be . the next big thing in his life besides his family be his girlfriend who he show absolutely no respect to . he be constantly cheat on her and bad mouth her right to her face . she want the relationship to get more serious by have kid and he want nothing to do with that because he doesn not want to be tie down . the only reason that they be still together be because she be to stupid and naïve to break up with him . every time she want to do it he say something a little sweet and she instantly forgive him and let him walk all over her again . to be honest this be the perfect girl for bobby because he can do what ever he want and she will let him . you can also tell bobby be a loner because every time something big happen he go off by himself and get drunk . for example when thing go bad at his house he leave and go and get drink in a bar . when bobby and elton go to work drunk one morning and the bos doesn not let them work they leave and start drink more . while stick in traffic bobby get out of the car and get in the back on a truck with a piano and start playing and then the truck leave and elton lose him . this be a great symbol to show that bobby be a loner because the only person he like in his life be elton and he be take away from him by the truck . then day later elton be really take from him when he be arrest so bobby be totally alone . we find out at the end of the movie that bobby be a loner because he be afraid that thing will get bad if he stay in one spot for too long . with this mentality that bobby have it be no wonder he be a loner and why he will always be a loner . he doesn not want to get attached and he expect that people will do everything for him .