The Search for a Better Reality Essay -- Comparative, Kidd, Chrouch

The Search for a Better Reality Life is not easy. It is all about surviving the storms that you will eventually have to face. As a result, sometimes people feel overwhelmed, and they try to find ways that will allow them to break away from reality. In most cases, individuals resort to escape either because they want to be relieved from all of their responsibilities, or because they are trying to avoid facing unpleasant truths or painful situations. Everyone deals with tough circumstances in a different way. For example, some folks try to avoid problems and painful facts in their lives by drinking, or even doing drugs. They know that using these substances will not solve their problems, but it will buy them some time free of stress and troubles. In addition, other people attempt to find some kind of shelter, where they can feel safe and be happy even if it is doesn’t last long. Overall, these behaviors allow individuals to escape from everything that is too hurtful, or hard for them to deal with. Everyone at some point in their lives has felt the need to escape. Take, for example Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Secret Life of Bees or Katie Crouch’s Men and Dogs. The Secret Life of Bees is about a young girl named Lily Owens, who searches for answers to her mother’s death, while Men and Dogs talks about a now grown woman named Hannah Legare that is looking for answers to her father’s disappearance. Both of these novels focus on characters that constantly try to get away from difficult situations, or even reality itself. Also, in these works of literature, the protagonists try to escape from the truth. Yet, in contrast, they both eventually realize that facing the facts is much more liberating than avoiding them. Thus, clearly th... ... everyone’s grief in her back, which made her life unbearable. Finally, June tries to avoid getting hurt and potentially losing her freedom by declining Neil’s marriage proposals. In the same manner, Hannah’s brother in Men and dogs tries to escape from dealing with his father’s death, and the fact that he was homosexual by doing drugs (pg. 91). In conclusion, the rhetors of both The Secret Life of bees and Men and Dogs provide multiple examples of the elaborate escape mechanisms that were employed by the characters in these narratives. Through these examples, they show that avoiding problems and hurtful situations only makes people’s lives more miserable. Thus, Sue Monk Kidd and Katie Crouch want individuals to realize that accepting the truth, no matter how bitter it might be, is the only thing that will allow them to move on with their lives, and be happy.