Escape
The major theme of Kavalier & Clay is escape. The main characters escape from certain situations into others, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. This has me thinking a lot about escape, and the effect that it has on our lives.

I think I now understand why married people cheat on their spouses, why people commit crimes, why people do drugs, etc. It seems obvious that these are all merely forms of escape, once you think about it. I guess I have never really thought about it. It seems that as times go on, and the pressures of surviving in this increasingly hectic world mount, the forms of escape are becoming more ill-advised and dramatic.

We have teenagers arming themselves with arsenals, walking into schools, and blowing away other children. We have divorce rates over 50%. We have a possession and status-driven mindset that is soulless.

I think that America is the Home of Escapism. TV, movies, retail bliss. Is our society itself a burden that we must escape from? It seems like there is something fundamentally wrong with a society that promotes such behavior. Look at reality TV - we use it to escape our lives for a little while and live someone else's.

Our society today constantly strives to bind us. The 8-9-10 hour workday bookended by a traffic-laden commute is one chain. Marital/Familial obligations are other chains. The constant stream of bills, maintaining the flow of money needed to exist in society are heavier and heavier chains. Conforming to the latest trends, striving to maintain a body weight or look that is "acceptable" to society, buying a big house with a big mortgage - all are chains. Of course, these are all chains that we can choose to avoid, if we are willing to make the sacrifice involved in doing so.

Don't get me wrong. When I label marriage or family a chain, I'm not saying that these things are inherently bad. I love my wife, and I love my family. But each impose obligations and responsibilities on my life. I gladly shoulder those responsibilities, because I consider the reward to be greater than the burden. You may love your job, but it is still an obligation that limits your freedom. That's what I'm referring to when I use the chain metaphor.

We need to be wary with our escapes - oftentimes we escape to something that is worse than what we are escaping. One of the characters in the book has a maxim - "Forget about what you are escaping from. Reserve your anxiety for what you are escaping to." This is so true. Sometimes people focus so much on what they are escaping from that they neglect to see what they might be escaping to. Someone that drinks or does drugs to escape their problems may escape into the prison of addiction. Someone that escapes by accumulating more and more possessions may escape into the prison of financial ruin.

Escape itself isn't inherently bad either. I think it's a necessary survival technique, an integral part of human nature. If we never had any positive avenues for escape, I think we would all go mad (which I consider a negative means of escape). Many forms of escape serve to relieve stress, which certainly does us good. Many provide joy, and comfort. Escape is a good thing, in moderation.

Boy - I'm talking like this before I've even read Walden, which seems like a significant exploration of one man's escape. What will happen once I've read that? I'm likely to move to a shack in the middle of nowhere! :)

I'm going to escape this entry now. I have a feeling that I will revisit this stream of thought once I'm done with Thoreau.