Imprisonment, Escape and Gothic Postmodernism in Jennifer Egan's The Keep

Künstlerromans, is how throughout the novel he finds his voice as a writer and as a human being.
When considering the postmodernity of The Keep, Ray's writing process moves the narrative
forward, as he unravels the secrets of the Gothic castle with his writing. This is in accordance with
postmodern fiction, where in Hutcheon's words, ”the process of narration began to invade the
fiction's content. Out of the Bildungsroman or Entwicklungsroman, then, came the Künstlerroman
with its preoccupation with the growth of the artist” (11). It could be argued that the idea of growth
is also important when considering Egan's novel, as it also functions as a coming-of-age story for21
many of the characters. I will continue to analyze this idea of spiritual growth more in chapter 3 of
this thesis, especially in relation to the ideas of imprisonment and escape.
In the beginning of the novel, Ray is an institutionalized prison inmate with little hopes of
being anything more than that. In his writing lessons he realizes that through his writing he is able
to mentally escape the prison. This is only the beginning of his liberation, as later in the novel he
does perform and actual, physical prison escape. The personal growth of Ray's character is one
important theme in the novel also when considering the ideass of imprisonment and escape.
Therfore the ideas of mental and physical escapes will be further analyzed in chapter 3.
Now I would like to briefly return to the question of "the self", which has proved to be an
important aspect of postmodern fiction. On top of Howie, Danny as a character has to endure a
journey of personal growth as well. It could then be argued that the intended purpose of the castle
seems to fill its function as a place for people to come and leave their emotional baggage. For
Danny, this journey is anything but easy, as he has to face his inner demons to be able to come to
terms with his past. As this is one key point of this thesis, I will get back to this with more detail in
the final chapter, where I will discuss postmodern fears and anxieties.
To continue with the idea of connecting The Keep to the postmodern literary genre, the novel
employs all of the “spatially defined tropes” Timothy Bewes has outlined as belonging to
postmodern fiction. These tropes include such features as intertextuality, irony, double-coding, a
text's simultaneous orientation towards a “sophisticated” and a “popular” audience, self
referentiality and metafiction (Bewes, 7). The way these tropes are used in The Keep clearly place
the novel to the continuum of postmodern fiction. When regarding the postmodernity of The Keep,
in addition to these literary tropes, it is also important to note the actual spaces and spatiality in the
novel.
The main literary spaces in The Keep are the two different settings: the castle and the prison.
In addition to these physical spaces, there are also more abstract spaces present in the novel. The22
most obvious example of these abstract spaces is the metalevel created by the writer who is writing
a story inside the novel. One space that is very important in the novel is the virtual space, where
Danny spends most of his time. Danny seems to be completely attached to his portable wi-fi
connection, and his world almost falls apart when he loses it. Danny's online life is self-created, but
at the same time vulnerable and transient. Immediately after losing his wi-fi device, he loses a part
of this world he has become addicted to. This said, the metalevel running throughout the novel and
Danny's virtual world are two examples of the more abstract spaces a postmodern novel can create.
Danny lives in his virtual space through his mobile phone and wi-fi connection, and the
sound of his phone connecting is enough to calm him down and make him feel like he is connected
to the outside world. This connection is explained in the novel as follows: ”He was hearing