Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different

by Chuck Palahniuk

Whether it’s a cat or a baby inside the suitcase, whether it’s dead or alive, the story is still a depiction of the Schrödinger’s cat paradox. That’s the archetype. And that’s why readers will readily engage with it. The lesson is: if you can identify the archetype your story depicts, you can more effectively fulfill the unconscious expectations of the reader.