Searching for the Self: Classic Stories, Christian Scripture, and the Quest for Personal Identity

by Adrian T. Smith

Escapism Escapism! That’s bad, right? Well, it depends. C. S. Lewis aptly notes that every act of reading involves escape, in the sense of mental projection into the world conjured up by the text.620 According to Lewis, there are two kinds of escapist readers. One egocentric (and baser), one self-transcending (and nobler). The former reads narrative for “egoistic castle-building”—the vicarious thrill of imagining the protagonist’s exploits (erotic; military; entrepreneurial; etc.) as one’s own.621 The latter seeks the “enlargement of our being” that comes from exposure to other worlds and viewpoints.622 Of this kind of escape, Lewis writes: “Here, as in worship, as in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.”623 Defenders of the nobler kind of literary escapism use “re-” words to describe the benefits of a temporary sojourn from the pain and boredom of our own existence.624 Recreate. Reinvigorate. Regroup. Re-form. All imply an eventual return, from the story-world, better equipped to deal with our own world. (What about your own escapist reading and viewing? How does it impact your functioning in the real world?)