this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2010
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turtlestack 2 points3 points 4 months ago[-]

I've found that the sentiment of disillusionment is a tough nut to crack. There's plenty of details you can put out there in a story, but for me, it always comes down to the "why does the character feel that way?"

For example, you mention specific things this character owns (or that own him) but you don't really mention why they make him feel the need to escape? What got him to this point in his life? Was he divorced? Did he lose a job? Is he disabled?

Expressing that a character has a dissatisfaction with middle-class life is straight forward - but expressing why he is dissatisfied is much more difficult.

There's also the issue that too often this has become such a "straw man" in fiction that there really isn't anything new to expressing this sentiment. DeLillo did it masterfully in White Noise and even Bee Season has some nice moments of expressing the insanity of civilized, middle class life, but it has been done a lot.

Also, if the writer is much younger than the character and hasn't experienced being in their 40's (I don't know how old you are, I'm just guessing you might not be), then it's hard to relate to the character and really feel the weight of that characters life in your own words.

I might suggest taking the exact opposite approach by illustrating a character who feels quite happy and safe surrounded by all the wonders of modern life and through that show the absurdity of it all. If anything, it would make for a fuller character and even present some nice moments for comedy too.