Escapism through Literature

What Roxane Gay emphasizes in this passage is an idea that I believe is universally relatable. When a reader finds a story or a novel that he or she feels strongly for, it can make the process of reading an amazing experience. Gay classifies those stories as a part of herself. She used them as an escape from the tortuous words of the mean girls at her school. Literature, among other things such as music, art, or writing, are excellent forms of escape from the brutality of the real world. I am reminded of a story I once read on Facebook about a young girl who was suffering from anorexia. She was a passionate fan of the Harry Potter book series, and when she met the author, J.K. Rowling, Rowling promised to give her an audition for the movie if she was able to beat her disease. This girl went on to play Luna in the movies. This is just another example of how stories can become much more than small lines of ink printed on thin sheets of paper. Stories have the ability to shape our personalities, behaviors, and perception of the world. I get the impression that Gay enjoys fantasizing quite a bit. She discusses how she would imagine herself hanging out with the Wakefield twins, becoming Miss America, and accepting a Grammy Award with her handsome movie actor husband. I think that everyone likes to fantasize a little bit. It is fun to think about the infinite possibilities the shape of your life could take. It is also fun to imagine yourself in situations in literature – to be a part of the story. I certainly imagined myself on the street corner with Holden Caulfield, piecing together the broken vinyl record in The Catcher in the Rye. I crouched in the bushes while hiding from my peers who had turned savage with Ralph in Lord of the Flies. I struggled with the concept of 2 +2 = 5 with Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is not hard to lose yourself and become a part of the stories you are reading, especially when the author is articulate enough to communicate the storyline so well, which makes it easier for the reader to delve into the plot. Gay’s story is a perfect example of the true magic of literature. She exemplifies how hundreds of combinations of a measly twenty-six characters can transport a reader into another world.