Kevin Wilson Absurdism

Absurdism fiction is a type of fictional narrative where the characters are unable to find a purpose in life and the lack of purpose is usually shown in meaningless activities. Absurdism is also a philosophical school of thought where humans effort to find definite purpose in life will fail because of the vast amount of things unknown to them. Kevin Wilson is an American writer, and educator, he released a collection of short stories titled Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories in 2009 (Kevin Wilson). Two short stories in the collection that exhibit the traits of absurdism fiction are “Tunneling to the Center of the Earth,” and “’Blowing up on the Spot”. In the two stories, Wilson uses absurdism and an isolating setting to explore the truth of how people want a reason to live, but life does not inherently provide one, so people must create or find their own. In “Blowing up on the Spot,” the main character uses his absurd actions and beliefs to separate himself from the reality of his situation, being that he has no purpose in life. In “Blowing up on the Spot,” the main character Leonard counts his steps everyday to and from work. In the story, Leonard claims that he counts his steps because it …show more content…
The story takes place in the main characters home town, but the readers see very little of the town because the whole story really takes place under the town. The main characters isolate themselves because they are unable to find their purpose in life after college, so they start to dig these tunnels as a way to feel as if they have purpose. In James Belassie, analysis of another piece of absurdism he pointed out that the main character in that story falls into absurd way of thinking (322). The main characters in the story also fall into an absurd way of thinking too because they have nowhere else to find purpose, they find purpose in the