The Confusions of Young Torless Background

The Confusions of Young Torless is a fiction novel written by Robert Musil. It was first published in 1906. Robert Musil is an Austrian writer who has written several books, and one of the most important of his was The Man Without Qualities, which was not finished.

The novel talks about three friends in a boarding school who decide to punish a friend of theirs who allegedly stole something out of one of the three boys. They physically hurt him, then mentally, and finally, start to sexually assault him secretly then openly. Torless, the main character, goes through a major internal dilemma where he tries to understand the morals of his society (there are many homosexuals) and his identity.

There are many views on whether Musil has inspired to the write the story from his childhood memories or not. It was first believed that he indeed was alluding to childhood moments. However, Musil later denied that this story was related to his life in any way because of the sexual content there.

Many critics reviewed the story. It earned a 3.5 out of a 5-star on Goodreads. Christopher, a Goodreads member, wrote about the book: "That moment when you realize that having your head in the clouds is not always a good thing. In short, the "confusions" of Young Torless are the confusions of all who wonder how the seemingly rational person can become embroiled in the heinous." Another member wrote: "Semi-autobiographically little Robert slowly develops into an adolescent. Sensitive and insecure in the company of equally insecure boys without qualities, except being of respectable aristocratic families."