Only is lonely?

I'm reading Somerset Maugham's _Of Human Bondage_ for my book group this month. It's a very well written book, and my first introduction to an author I was supposed to meet during AP English in high school. I didn't. I was too lazy. Same goes for Toni Morrison and James Joyce. I passed the test by talking at great lengths about Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors", which I had just performed in for our spring play. Anyway.... It's an interesting book, with some powerful language and intense emotional images. It chronicles the life of a young boy who is orphaned at the age of 9. Maugham makes several references to this child's loneliness, which comes not only of having lost both parents, but from being an only child. He goes so far as to suggest that this child is extremely socially ill-prepared for school when he arrives shortly after his mother's death, largely because he has held company with only himself for so long. As you can imagine, his social skills do not improve immediately upon meeting other boys. C'mon, does any great novel have a protagonist who is the quarterback of the football team and popular with all the girls? You can imagine what this boy's life was like at an English all boy's school. Misery makes great writing. But fictious characterization and miserable heroes aside, I get nervous when I read stuff like that about only children. There's a good chance my son will be an only child. We'll do what we can to change that, but a sibling in his life is far from guaranteed. Is he going to suffer in similar ways? Interestingly enough, Jacob's best friends both happen to be only children, and their mothers have made it very clear they are done. These children are happy, excited, basically well adjusted kids. But I wonder--are they lonely? I grew up with a houseful of people and close relationships with extended family. One of my best friends is my first cousin once removed, and our children play magnificently together. I mean, how many people can say that they know their 1st cousin once removed? I am close with not one, not two, but THREE of those kind of relations. Yeah, I know, pretty crazy. Jacob is not going to grow up with the same experience. And I think as far as social skills and all of that goes, he will be just fine. But how do you beat the solitude of being an only child? I don't know many Mormon families who face this. Actually, I can only think of one, and the mom said it was surprisingly difficult to raise an only child in the Mormon community. So I'm wondering, how do you do it? Are there ways to make sure an only child isn't lonely? Any onlies out there who can shed light on this? I guess there are lots of advantages to being an only child. You never have to wear hand me downs, and your older sister will never beat you up for stealing her bra. Not that I ever did that. I'm just, um, you know, speaking hypothetically.