The ancient Greeks wrote that fate was an absolute, inescapable cosmic order controlled by a force even the Olympian gods couldn’t stop. Today we might take a more sober view about fate vs free will. But when it comes to fiction writing, that raises some interesting questions: Is every story an escape story? If so, how fated or trapped are we?
That kind of inevitability is a bold idea. But in fiction, all narratives move a character away from some sort of confinement, ignorance, or trouble toward a resolution. The most memorable protagonists are usually trapped by forces beyond their control.
Naturally, they’ll try to escape.
Closed doors
There are three general types of escape: place, relationship, or the self.
#1. Escaping geography or place
Straightforward escape stories feature characters trying to break out of something physical. Think The Count of Monte Cristo, Papillon, Escape from New York or The HandMaid’s Tale.
These stories aren’t always dystopian or science fiction, however. Sometimes the traps are both physical and psychological. For example, in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy dreams of escaping Kansas for a place “where troubles melt like lemon drops.” But once she lands in Oz, she spends the entire story trying to return home.
In Jaws, the danger isn’t just the shark. Brody must also choose between protecting swimmers and the town’s economic survival.
#2. Escaping a relationship
Relationships like a love affair, career, or family aren’t easy to quit. Sometimes, they’re nearly impossible to escape, or worse, a character can be trapped forever. In The Godfather, Michael Corleone doesn’t simply inherit the family business. He must choose between keeping his family safe and becoming ruthless like his father. But eventually, he gives into the family legacy.
In The Serpent Bearer, Solly Meisner can’t escape his past with Estelle, the British woman he loved during the Spanish Civil War. When they meet again in wartime Mexico, their love is complicated by politics, wartime loyalties, and buried secrets.
#3. Escaping oneself
Early thinkers used the maxim “Know thyself” (gnothi seauton) to explain knowing the extent of your abilities and your proper place in the social and cosmic order. It wasn’t until Plato wrote about the immortal rational soul (psyche) that the meaning shifted inward.
In stories with inner conflict, the protagonist tries to escape their self-destructive and often narcissistic tendencies. They may be outrunning their past, their identity, or their own mind.
There’s a litany of stories about escaping oneself — Les Miserables, Crime and Punishment, The Kite Runner, On the Waterfront, and Good Will Hunting. These characters are on the fast track to destroying themselves unless they change first. Indeed, the hero’s redemption and ultimate victory hinges on rising above self-sabotage and despair.
Choice in constraint
No matter how many enemies or traps writers invent, a hero’s deepest conflict is the need for transcendence. That can only come through sacrifice. Take Casablanca, for example. Rick is trapped in all three escapes at the same time.
- The Nazis/war
- His ex-lover
- His own self-pity and failures
But it’s the third escape in which Bogey rises to his most noble self. When he lets Ilsa go with Laszlo, he finally has the courage to act.
In the end, escape is not always about running from danger. Sometimes, it’s about the choices a character makes when they’re compelled to.