Rejection: Fiction

Tony Tulathimutte’s book draws on the 21st-century concept of the loneliness epidemic. All of the characters in Tulathimutte’s collection either fear or resent isolation, which drives them to perform identities designed to appeal to others—such as Craig’s feminism in “The Feminist”—or reject the conformism that social acceptance demands of people—as Bee does in “Main Character.” 

Studies on loneliness and isolation have been conducted as early as the 2000s, observing dips in community life and social engagement. Then, during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic when some parts of the US imposed strict lockdowns, studies monitoring social behavior observed loneliness as a significant crisis that exacerbated social conditions. The loneliness epidemic became an even more widespread topic of interest in 2023, when US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy published a government advisory asserting that loneliness carries health risks like mental illness, heart disease, and cognitive disease. Even more recently, in 2024, the Harvard Graduate School of Education identified some of the prevailing factors of loneliness in the United States: technology, exhaustion due to work, mental health challenges, and individualism (Ross, Elizabeth M. “What Is Causing Our Epidemic of Loneliness and How Can We Fix It?” Harvard Graduate School of Education, 24 Oct. 2024). 

A recognizable picture of the loneliness epidemic emerged from these studies: Spurred by the belief that they can achieve their goals through individualistic efforts, people bury themselves in work in the hopes of finding personal validation. The resulting exhaustion is more likely to exacerbate mental health challenges. To address the issues on their own, people use social media as a substitute for interpersonal social engagement, which only deepens withdrawal from others.

This dynamic is a recurring element in Tulathimutte’s stories. In the opening story, the titular character retreats into isolation when he finds that no one will pity him for his lack of romantic engagement. The story ends with him trying to find validation in an online community of people with similar experiences. Alison in “Pics” struggles to live her life while monitoring Neil’s social media accounts, and Kant in “Ahegao” hopes a custom porn video will satisfy his sexual fantasies better than a human partner. Tulathimutte’s characters fear isolation, which makes them view rejection as something to be avoided at all costs, rather than embraced as an avenue for potential connection and change.