Disconnect to Reconnect:  Estrangement, Alienation and the Rediscovery of the Self in Ottesa Moshfegh’s My Year of Yest and Relaxation (2018)

Abstract

Abstract: The present paper explores the dynamics of the main character’s alienation in Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation using Jean Paul Sartre’s existentialist perspective. Moshfegh’s novel depicts a story of a young woman who chooses to lock herself at her apartment, going through a year of hibernation, talking to nobody, and being estranged from the whole world. Through this story, the author showcases how alienation may be seen as a necessary step towards self-discovery to find meaning and purpose where everything may seem absurd and purposeless. It basically sheds light on the way the protagonist is alienated from herself, from others, and the way she is estranged from the world. Also, this study shows the protagonist’s attempt to achieve her goal which is to reach authenticity in unauthentic world through sleeping for a year and being alienated from everything and everyone. The study mainly aims to explore how Moshfegh problematizes the notion of alienation and estrangement in the novel to project the main character’s inner worlds. It finds out that the main character alienates and disconnects herself from her surrounding and even from herself for the sake of reconnection. Keywords: Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Existentialism, Jean Paul Sartre and Alienation.