Some of you may recall a short story or two I posted a while back, on which I received a lot of positive feedback. I've been silent since then, because I have been mulling over ideas for a book.
In a lot of ways, I'm considering rehashing the thesis/antithesis/synthesis structure of the protagonist facing a fall, isolation, and then coming to terms with the new reality and more importantly, finding some new purpose in the midst of disillusionment. I didn't quite know how to frame the various ideas I had floating around into a strong narrative, until it hit me yesterday, when J.D. Salinger died.
I've quoted Mr. Andolini before, but I haven't addressed his answer to the problem of disillusionment that he proposes: you are not the first person to see the world as a dark and hateful place, nor will you be the last. The best of those who came before you recorded their pain for you to learn from; perhaps one might consider rising to the challenge of posterity oneself.
So, with this idea of the interminacy of the existential problem in mind, I want to set up a narrative as a parallel to the Epic of Gilgamesh. Protagonist starts strong, full of hope, and with the love and support of those around him (our Enkidu) goes to face a great challenge or fulfill an ambition. When the challenge is vanquished, however, and the truth is revealed, either the ambition was essentially meaningless itself or the protagonist outright fails. Humbaba cries in the stocks as the Bull of Heaven tears Ur apart, and Gilgamesh no longer knows himself.
Enkidu vanishes, but the only gods responsible for his "death" is Gilgamesh's broken pride; the protagonist shuts himself off from those who love him because he no longer considers himself a man worth loving. At his lowest, he begins a journey to seek Utnapishtim (whom I'm not quite sure how to play yet), and is confronted by the ghost of Enkidu; his support network has moved on.
etc. etc.