Reality versus Imagination

The narrator would rather be writing fiction than working in the Department of Factual Verification. For him, the world of material reality as signified by his job checking facts does not equal the realm of truth. He understands that fiction, with its access via the pathways of the imagination, is able at times to lead to a deeper sort of truth. This romantic notion, questioning the value of reason and utility, has led him in the story, however, into an underworld of abuse and self-destruction. He is stuck between the two modes because he has not fully developed an understanding of the uses of imagination, preferring selfish pleasure to an empathetic view of the human condition. Although he is able to voice the duality and use this theme as a means of organizing his thoughts, the understanding itself has not passed through lived experience into a...