Illusion of Reality in John Barth’s Lost in the Funhouse Essay

Lost in the Funhouse explores the some layers of the theme illusion of reality. This concept is first introduced in the second carve up as the explanation of initials or blanks replacing proper names in fiction-writing. The attempt at disguising a place name by reduce it, is really a tool used by authors to make a place seem real, in need of disguising. John Barth explains that this tactic is however an illusion of reality. In the following pages of this story, the theme illusion of reality is kick in in the funhouse and self- detection during adolescence.The illusion of reality is a concept manifested in a funhouse. The funhouse itself is an illusion, with its rooms of mirrors that distort reality, moving floors and walls that disorient you, and its mazelike qualities that take you away from the realities of life. A funhouse is an alternative world, champion meant for lovers embarking on a new adventure together.Ambrose nominate see its falseness from his single perspective a nd is aware of its deceptive powers. He is aware of the perversion inherent in the funhouse, the sleazy goals of sexual joy disguised as child-like pleasures. To be unconnected in a funhouse is symbolic of the puzzling and disorienting aspects of adolescence and peculiarly the sexual aspects of puberty.Ones perception of the self during adolescence can also be an illusion of reality. At one point in the story, we are led to believe that Ambrose is to be eer lost in this funhouse. This is representative of Ambroses fear that he pass on die illusioned, never sure of who he really is. Being lost in a funhouse alone is very much like divergeicularly painful stages of adolescence.It is a place of romance, but for Ambrose it is a scary and confusing place, where he is still too young to be a part of the romance, but old enough to recognize and have that desire. These feelings are non only contained to adolescence, the sensation of being outside the fold and being unable to make s ense of ones emotions are present throughout life. Barth puts it best, We will never get out of the funhouse (9).