Crescenta Valley High School A Means of Escape Dylan Asprer Advanced Placement English Literature Mr. Evans May 29, 2018 Dear Escapism,
Are you really there? Perhaps not if I choose not to acknowledge you. Though people tell me you are real, if I close my eyes you are no longer a part of my reality. I may take a gander along a road that leads me away from the struggle and the pain. Or I may sit still, and imagine a road that leads me far away. Truthfully, my tendency to seek distraction and escape from unpleasant realities and sometimes create a pseudo-reality to remove myself from the world that surrounds me can so real. Taking one step forward, backward, or any direction away from this reality is where I feel compelled to continue. No one understands me. I sometimes feel like Herman Melville; not appreciated for what makes me different. Melville challenge the traditionally writing style by introducing a story with dark overtones. As a result, the public at the time did not receive his work with praise but rather hostility, just as I feel for my uniqueness of character. Melville failed to attain the attention he has now, long after his death. Certainly I hope that I may one day be loved, but until then I choose to escape, just as Melville’s demonstrated in his work. I feel as though I emulate the main character of the Melville’s Moby Dickwant to escape. “Call me Ishmael”, because I too feel outcasted (Melville). Melville refers to the biblical allusion of Abraham’s son, Ishmael. In the bible Ishmael was exiled from his home just as I believe society has done to me. The main protagonist goes by this alias of Ishmael as he identifies himself as an outcast. Ishmael and I are one in the same. I look to escape whenever “I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul” (Melville). Ishmael seeks a physical escape to sea in order to cope with his depression. The vastness of the sea evokes mystery and rebirth. Rediscovery of purpose, is what I seek as I stand in the shadow of Ishmael teetering on the line between life and death. The openness of the sea, like a breath of fresh air, contrasting the constraint of the land I currently stand on. Ishmael
withdrawing himself from his reality allows him to embark on a journey that uncovers the tools
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