Reality in Terrance Hayes´New York Poem and George Saunders The Simplica-Girl Diaries

Comparative Analysis
Growing up you expect a lot of things. You expect your family to always support you, you expect to have a lot of friends, you expect to get married, you may expect to go to college, or expect a well paying job that you love. These things are not always guaranteed though. The media fills our heads with these high expectations for perfect glamorous lifestyles the will never actually be a reality for most of us. Terrance Hayes’ poem “New York Poem” and George Saunders’ short story “The Simplica-Girl Diaries” are two modern pieces of literature that depict how reality does not always meet our expectations. Both take place from the perspective of being on the outside looking into the glamorous lifestyles they expected to be living. The narrators feel as though the people around them are all the same, boring copy of one other. Who lack individualization and value the most ignorant materialist objects. The authors of both expose the sad truth behind these perfect lifestyles we all strive for. Nothing is all good or all bad; there is a price you pay to have this certain lifestyle. Morals, values, and beliefs you are forced to abandon. You have to decide whether these are things you are willing to give up, like in “Simplica-Girls”, or if that lifestyle is one that you rather admire from the outside, like in “New York Poem”.
In today’s society, reality television shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians and the Real Housewives expose us to the wealthy and glamorous lifestyles. I don’t know about you but after seeing their lives my new life goal was marrying rich. From the outside this lifestyle appears to be perfect; never having to worry about money, people falling in love with you, getting paid to film your...

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...inwashed us into idolizing. Reality TV and the idolization of celebrities have created a culture where glamorous lives are what every person should strive for. The contrasting conclusions to these two pieces juxtapose the two sides of this culture. You can either chose to be apart of the glamour, ignoring the ugly and morally unjust parts, or remain on the outside, where you will still be surrounded it. These two pieces reveal how today we all expect to have these fabulous lives free of financial and relationship problems as well as escape all forms of unhappiness when in reality there is no such lifestyle. These pieces expose how greedy and vain people can be. The result being that in today’s culture you must decided whether this lifestyle is worth giving up certain morals and beliefs to be apart of it, or if it is better to simply admire it from the outside.