Escaping Reality

          Throughout Ready Player One, the characters are able to escape from their reality via OASIS. The world they live in has numerous problems, from overpopulation to a shortage of energy. However, while they physically must live in this world, they in a sense get to mentally leave it by entering into the game. While OASIS is in many ways an enjoyable experience for its players, it also has its dangers. This is true in the novel, as well as in video games in reality. People tend to enjoy being immersed in video games; however, they can be addictive and can harm one’s real life if they cause them to neglect their responsibilities, such as their relationships with others and their daily needs, from remembering to eat food and drink water to practicing basic hygiene. Nevertheless, it is not necessarily OASIS, video games, or any technology that is inherently bad. They tend to be neutral and can be either positive or negative, depending on how one uses them.

            Like Ready Player One, Hamid’s short story “Of Windows and Doors” demonstrates an escape from reality. In the story, the reality of the world, or of the city, is in many ways negative, as violence is rampant and war is impending. Just as the characters in Cline’s novel can escape the reality of their world through OASIS, Saeed and Nadia can escape from their city through doors. However, while in OASIS the players can stop playing the game and return to reality, once the individuals go through the doors, there often is no turning back. Saeed knows, for example, that once he leaves he will never be able to see his father again. Because of this, this escape from reality also has the possibility of negative consequences. Further, it is dangerous, as the characters cannot be certain that they will not be caught by the military during their escape attempts.

            Both texts demonstrate that while to escape from one’s reality can be positive, as it can be enjoyable and bring relief, it can also be harmful. While one can leave reality, whether through a game or through migrating, one cannot destroy it, or wish it away. Because of this, Martin Luther King Jr. would say, as in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” to escape from or ignore reality can be detrimental, as one should not continually avoid problems, but should attempt to remedy them. He claims that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” By escaping from injustice, individuals do not necessarily work to improve reality. This further demonstrates that while leaving one’s reality, whether temporarily or permanently, may be necessary at times, it can also be harmful if not done properly, or if it allows us to be ignorant of our reality.