Dug

Class

Article

College

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Faculty Mentor

Brock Dethier

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Abstract

“Dug” is a fictional short story that illustrates the inner workings of depression and Outsider Syndrome framed around a single character trying to work a dead-end job at a grocery store. The story goes through the inner-monologue of the main character, “Dug,” as he stocks product in a walk-in refrigerator behind the store’s dairy products. While working his regular shift, Dug examines the world and the people around him, contemplating his place in that world and his confusion at not feeling connected to any part of it. The dull gray of the refrigerator reflects his difficult reality as he observes the brightly-lit and colorful world from within not only the inside of the refrigerator, but the clouded insides of his mind, eventually leading him to an existential crisis of sorts – a literal breaking point in his life. Sprinkled with humor and irony to lighten the substantial plot themes, Dug struggles through “just another day at [his] office,” depicting the all-too-relatable isolation that often comes from being stuck in whatever one views as a mundane existence – in Dug’s case, a “nine-to-five” job. Writing this story has allowed me to bring a commonly-isolating problem into the public eye. My ultimate hope in sharing this story is that people will learn from Dug’s experience and be a part of the upending of the isolating gloom of depression and Outsider Syndrome.

Location

Room 421

Start Date

4-12-2018 3:00 PM

End Date

4-12-2018 4:15 PM

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Apr 12th, 3:00 PM Apr 12th, 4:15 PM

Dug

Room 421

“Dug” is a fictional short story that illustrates the inner workings of depression and Outsider Syndrome framed around a single character trying to work a dead-end job at a grocery store. The story goes through the inner-monologue of the main character, “Dug,” as he stocks product in a walk-in refrigerator behind the store’s dairy products. While working his regular shift, Dug examines the world and the people around him, contemplating his place in that world and his confusion at not feeling connected to any part of it. The dull gray of the refrigerator reflects his difficult reality as he observes the brightly-lit and colorful world from within not only the inside of the refrigerator, but the clouded insides of his mind, eventually leading him to an existential crisis of sorts – a literal breaking point in his life. Sprinkled with humor and irony to lighten the substantial plot themes, Dug struggles through “just another day at [his] office,” depicting the all-too-relatable isolation that often comes from being stuck in whatever one views as a mundane existence – in Dug’s case, a “nine-to-five” job. Writing this story has allowed me to bring a commonly-isolating problem into the public eye. My ultimate hope in sharing this story is that people will learn from Dug’s experience and be a part of the upending of the isolating gloom of depression and Outsider Syndrome.