You Disappearing Short Story

Social identity, a powerful driving force in human beings, develops early in life and strengthens throughout adulthood based on chosen roles. In the short story “You, Disappearing” by Alexandra Kleeman, the main character struggles to understand her former boyfriend’s need to maintain his social identity while struggling to find hers in a new reality. As things start to disappear in the apocalypse, her former boyfriend chooses the consistency and predictability of maintaining his position as an architect. However, she regresses and has become depressed trying to live her life without structure. This conflict within the main character seems to distract her from making a plan for when the end arrives. By giving the main character a real human emotion to a disaster scenario, can this help relate the story to readers on a personal level?

The way people react to disasters may not always act

accordingly, however people who trait a strong sense of self identity tend to be better equipped to handle a disaster situation. The article “How We Really Respond In A Crisis” by Allison Van Dusen claims that a person with “a strong sense of confidence or self efficacy” would be better prepared than someone who is not. Those who are aware of themselves tend to have more control of their behavior and therefore more likely to rationalize and get through a disaster (para. 12). By comparison, the main character has lost her sense of self awareness by quitting her job and staying home. She imagined planning for the end of the world with her boyfriend, however he continued to live his normal daily life. This consistency helped him cope with the disaster while she was at a loss on how to proceed. The two characters reactions to the apocalypse shows a different sense of self each one seems to have. For any disaster scenario there may not be time to plan or a clear idea of how to handle the situation, but people who understand themselves tend to possess the ability that determines the best plan of action and make a positive outcome, or at least a positive attitude to make the best of the situation. In addition to the main character quitting her job, she also leaves her home which compels her to feel forsaken in the apocalyptic world. Another great example of the requirement for real emotion in writing comes from the short fiction author Beth Hill. In “Creating Emotion In The Reader” Hill states how "readers like to be touched, moved by a story” (para. 1). A reader that can imagine themselves in a challenging situation gives them that opportunity to do it in made up scenarios (para. 1). She then goes on to explain how to make characters relatable. For instance, she claims to make characters sympathetic so a reader can identify with them. This way readers can relate to these personal experiences from their own. For example, the feeling of being stuck or that things are slipping away, much like things disappearing in the apocalypse. In addition to this, writers who use real life scenarios or human emotions, can use this to capture a readers attention.
When writing a story, a great way to show a character’s true nature is revealed by using characterization.

In doing so, the author can give real emotions to a character that will help portray their personality. In the short story “You, Disappearing,” the author reveals the personality and inner conflict of the main character by showing her dependence and attachment to her former boyfriend she’s moved away from. However, by using a first person narrative, the author gives the reader little outside knowledge of the character’s true personality and the reader must make this determination based solely on what the character says or does. What highlights her uncertainty and lack of self identity as the story progresses is how she ponders her old relationship and does not have a plan for the end of the world. In this situation, an example of her instability shows when she recalls how “[he was] the sort of person that [kept] it all going, and [she] was the other kind” (You, Disappearing). Furthermore, this seemed to conflict her and was something that compelled her to move

away.
In almost every story, conflict tends to jump start the action. To capture the readers attention, the conflict should be something that the reader can relate to or understand. To demonstrate, the book Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte states that having a conflict with resolution is what persuades the audience or reader to care enough to “jump in” (page. 35). A story that exposes the humanity and flaws of a character are “the stories that have the most inherent power” with something the reader can relate to (page. 24). In addition, a story with conflict typically brings a tragedy or loss. These emotions can play key roles in the characters behavior and how they handle situations. For instance, grieving can affect a persons decisions and in a story setting even affect the plot. Strong emotions such as this can even physically affect the body. In fact, Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains in his article “How Grief Can Make You Sick,” that daily interactions with people help our psychological and physical functioning (Gupta). When we lose a connection with someone it can leave a person feeling disoriented (Gupta). On a personal level, this is something most people can relate to even on a small scale because people come and go as friends grow apart or move away.
In conclusion, the main characters personal struggle to find her place in the world seemed to affect how she handled her situation. The plot, although an impossible scenario, made her emotions correspond with the way people react to a lost relationship and by giving a character true human emotions, this strengthens the connection between the reader and character. Without a sense of self identity, this truly affects how people handle difficult decisions and respond to disasters.