Rejection: Fiction

This story takes the form of an editorial rejection letter written by a fictional publisher to author Tony Tulathimutte. The publisher’s decision is based on the evasive position the book takes to its subject. While Tulathimutte uses different perspectives to communicate rejection as a theme, it is difficult to divorce the characters he is writing about from the personal opinions and autobiographical experiences he has likely injected into their lives.

The publisher interprets “The Feminist” as an attempt to signal that Tulathimutte is morally superior to the title character. However, this merely enacts the same anxieties “The Feminist” espouses, which undermines the story’s argument. The publisher reads “Pics” similarly, accusing Tulathimutte of virtue-signaling his concern for women’s struggles. 

“Ahegao” is seen as trying to punish the reader’s sympathy for Kant’s childhood with the hyperbolic obscenity of his sexual fantasies. The publisher suggests that Kant closely resembles Tulathimutte, accusing the author of revealing his fear of self-exposure by changing enough details about Kant to make their similarity less obvious. The publisher claims to want to aid Tulathimutte in being more intentional with his stories.

The publisher critiques “Our Dope Future,” which, on the surface, appears to be a reversal of “Ahegao.