Self-Deception in Suburbia: Plotting Escape in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

Abstract

Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay concerns itself primarily with the issue of escape. This essay explores the subject of escapism through the novel’s protagonist, Sammy Clay, a comic book writer. Immersed in the world of comics, Sammy uses fantasy to assuage his pain, and his denial of his homosexuality is the direct result of such an impulse. The novel uses the terms of self-deception to frame these larger themes of fantasy and escape as they present themselves in the domains of comic books, sexuality, suburbia, and the novelistic enterprise. The essay ultimately determines the limits of escapism, finding Sammy’s permanent escape problematic in the face of a more productive temporary escape from life’s realities.