Experiences of Reality in "The Rabbit Hutch"

One concept that Tess Gunty raises for discussion in her novel The Rabbit Hutch is the idea of reality; more specifically, the ways in which certain characters in the novel perceive themselves as present in society and how feeling chosen by others affects their feelings of realness. One character that experiences conflict in this area is Tiffany/Blandine. Before the changing of her name and throughout her relationship with teacher, James Yager, she comments on feeling “unreal”, or less present in her life than those around her. In this way, she exists as a fantasy character in her own world, possibly because she has been neglected by the foster care system and abandoned by previous family members. Tiffany’s loneliness and isolation becomes more evident once she gains a relationship- one with her teacher, whom she feels most seen and chosen by because of his manipulation of power over her. In comparing herself to Yager’s wife upon their meeting, she describes how Meg “is here, in three dimensions, as real as [she] is- probably realer [...] Her presence makes Tiffany feel like a prototype of a woman, not the real thing” (Gunty 115). When Tiffany witnesses the woman Yager choses over her, she feels less wanted by him, and therefore less real, because she understands Yager as her tether to being seen in real life, especially in her experience in school at St. Philomena. Furthermore, Tiffany voices this feeling to Yager, on the night that they have sex, saying “‘you make me unlonely [...] You make me feel real” (126). Here, Tiffany’s feelings of chosenness in the presence of her teacher affects her decision making in this type of romantic relationship, leading her to pursue it further. 

Another character that encounters the relationship between feeling real and chosen by others is Jack. Jack is similar to Blandine in his experience of life throughout the foster system. He describes himself as detached from others and sometimes unfeeling. Jack says that life with his previous foster parents Cathy and Robert “never felt realer than a video game” (89-90) to him, although they made efforts to connect with him, as well as other foster children in the home. While Blandine’s experience of reality seems to stem from her upbringing, Jack recounts how he can not remember an experience that caused him to be the way that he is; rather, his loneliness and feelings of detachedness from reality are a part of his character. The romantic interest that pulls Jack from a fantasy life is Blandine, his roommate. Jack describes feeling chosen by her, in a way, as she laughs at the fish he’s captured for her, saying that as “she put her real hand on my real chest [...] I finally understood the phrase time stopped” (93). Gunty illustrates the way in which feeling chosen by another can affect a person’s perception of themself and their experiences moving throughout life. She emphasizes this relationship by repeating the word “real” in describing the interactions among characters who are either the chooser or the chosen party.