The Inextinguishable Longing for Elsewhere: Escapism in Recent Pulitzer Prize Winning Novels

In reading a selection of Pulitzer Prize winning literature since 1980,1 found that many of the novels included characters who, either literally or metaphorically, longed to escape from the reality of their lives. Four novels in particular embodied this theme: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Martin Dressier: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. All four books treated escape and escapism ambiguously-sometimes escape is a flaw; sometimes escape is a virtue. Upon closer readings of the four novels, I came to the conclusion that the deciding factor is hope. Escapism, when it is temporary and meant to inspire engagement with reality, is not only virtuous, but also has ties to the ideal of the American dream