Short Fiction Selections - Essay Example

Literary Analysis Essay on Short Fiction Selections “Darlyn lives her real life with all its little pieces locking into one another, a seemingly complete picture….But this is an illusion. Lift up one of the pieces and you’d be looking into an entire universe tumbling with color and light.”(Anshaw 5). This quote captures the typical life of almost individual in this current society. This is because things have become tough, and life is rough and cruel on some people especially with regard to lack of income and poverty. Those who are fortunate to have money may also lack some vital elements of life such as joy. As a result, the harsh reality is that individuals in this society hardly achieve what they wish to have in life. In order to console themselves, most individuals use several activities and concepts that take them into the world of illusions in order to escape from these harsh realities. Several literary works indicate how different individuals in the society use imagine space to create illusions and pretend that they are in a world where they wish to be. In The Last Speaker of Language by Carol Anshaw and Pilgrim Life by Taylor Atrim, the characters love and a sense of belonging to forget their problems, albeit on a temporary basis. Similarly, in the short story Navigators by Mike Meginnis, the characters drown their problems using video games to avoid the realities that they have to face. Likewise, in other short stories such as Volcano by Lawrence Osborne, Diem Perdidi by Julie Otsuka, The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West and Culver City by Richrad Lauge, the characters employ several techniques to create illusion and experience the imaginary world. In today’s society, people use the imagine space to escape from their harsh reality. The authors through the short stories portray how characters use love and a sense of belonging to experience the imaginary world and escape everyday harsh realities. For example, in The Last Speaker of the Language, Darlyn comments, “It’s just about—even for a day—being this purely happy. Like, happy to be a carbon-based life form” (Anshaw 7). In another short story, Pilgrim Life, one quote that relates to this topic says, “Pilgrim Life” starts with that calming view, that apartment, my millionaire roommate, my wine magazine job. The rest of it I entirely made up (I swear) over a three-month stretch in the midst of the worst financial crisis I’ve ever lived through” (Atrim 67). These quotes clearly illustrate how the characters create their own imagination in order to avoid real world. For instance, Darlyn expresses how she values happiness, and acknowledge that it may be for a short time, but is so important. This happiness helps her to escape from the problems with her alcoholic mum as well as job related problems. Similarly, in Pilgrim Life quote, the character acknowledges that not all the good things that he mentions are real, which shows that he sometimes seek imaginary experiences in order to escape from the problems that he has with his-girlfriend among other problems. Dreams and illusions is another strategy used by the authors to demonstrate how the characters uses imagine space to forget their problems. For instance, in the short story Volcano by Lawrence Osborne, Martha dreams of things that she would wish for, for example, she thinks that she can change her dream, and thus, change her situate\ion of being with an older man. Perhaps this comes from the technology captured in the following section, “The dream technique includes a drug and goggles that emit infrared light during REM sleep to allow the dreamer to be present in the dream and remember it, even influence it: by touching a rough surface”(Osborne 10). Other instances of illusion include Diem Perdidi by Julie Otsuka with the most famous quote “she remembers she does not remember.” She is suffering from dymensia, however, she can remember some things from the past. The most interesting part is that what she remembers are only the good things that happened in her life before (Otsuka 145). Therefore, she does this to escape from her current predicament. Humans use the imagine space in different forms such as video games, and other activities to escape from the harsh realities. For example, from the short story Navigators, this quote clarifies how games can be used to experience the imaginative space, “this was the logical culmination of his father’s theory of Navigators In games, where it was so often so easy to lose perspective, but also in life” (Meginnis 101). The characters here rather play the game, in which they find pleasure in in order to forget their problems. Similarly, in The Days of the Locust, “the quote he had been in Hollywood less than three months, but he still found it very exciting, but he was lazy and didn’t like to walk.” (West 96). This quote echoes the prestigious life tied to Hollywood. Everyone dreams of going there, and being at the place gives the characters a sense of pleasure, which allows them to escape the ordinary harsh world into a world of imaginations. Finally, in Culver City, “we wait out our slumps in flaking stucco apartment building; count the stars on our cottage cheese ceilings” (Lauge 127). This quote shows some of the activities that the characters engage in to forget their problems and experience the imaginative space. Humans create illusions and sometimes dreams as part of the imaginary experience aimed at escaping the harsh realities of the world, even if it is for a few moments. Illusions such s dreams provide humans with an opportunity to travel into an imaginary space and be what they want to be (Ichikawa 520). This also provides humans with the ability to experience some of the imaginary moments, and forget the cruelty that they face each day in the real world. A good use of dream to create illusion is seen in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this story, characters extensively go back into the world of dreams, which in this case belong to the fairies. Here, the characters are able to experience something new and temporarily forget their problems. Other individuals prefer to engage in other activities, which offers them safe haven where they can experience, joy, happiness and forget the realities of the society that have become so nagging (Ballantyne 230). It is safe to say that all human beings have illusions, and it is part of their nature that is inevitable. These illusions in most cases are harmless thoughts that are usually unattainable (Warren 78). However, they play a critical function in humans because they are a means of escaping reality and living a perfect life in one’s thoughts for a few moments. The pleasure gained from this exercise makes life bearable and worth living even though things may be tough. Undoubtedly, the current society consists of humans who are under pressure, to perform certain tasks and attain success. This has created a harsh environment whereby people hardly find happiness and fulfilment. As a result, the need to find peace the midst of all these occasionally, and this comes in the form of creating an imaginative space. The society presents harsh realities and choices to individuals, and in order to escape this they venture into imaginative space activities. The short stories illustrate how the characters achieve this act of escaping realities through imaginative space. For instance, love and a sense of belonging is one of the strategies used to create imagine space where they can unwind. The short stories that demonstrate are The Last Speaker of the Language, and the Pilgrim Life. Similarly, yet other characters create illusions and false experiences by the use of video games among other activities that can have significant effect on the unconscious mind. Furthermore, some people may prefer their safe haven to be places and activities such Hollywood. Hence, the short stories share thing in common meaning that Overall, dreams and illusions play a very important role in humans as they help shape the future or career path of an individual. Works cited Ballantyne, Nathan; Evans, Ian. "Sosa's Dream". Philosophical Studies 148 (2): 249–252. 2010. Ichikawa, Jonathan. "Skepticism and the Imagination Model of Dreaming". The Philosophical Quarterly 58 (232): 519–527.2008. Perrota, Tom. The American Short Stories. The Last Speaker of the Language by Anshaw, Carol. 2012. Print. Perrota, Tom. The American Short Stories. Taylor. Pilgrim Life by Tailor Antrim. 2012. Print Perrota, Tom. The American Short Stories . Culver City by Lauge, Richard. 2012 Perrota, Tom. The American Short Stories. Navigators by Meginnis Mike. 2012 Perrota, Tom. The American Short Stories. Volcano by Osborne Lawrence.. 2012 Perrota, Tom. The American Short Stories. Diem Perdidi by Ostuka Julie. 2012 Perrota, Tom. The American Short Stories. The Day of the Locust West Nathaneal. 2012 Shakespeare, William. Midsummer Night’s Dream. 1968. Warren, Jeff. "The Daydream". The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness . Toronto: Random House Canada, 2007. Print. Read More