A Game of Insanity

What makes someone “crazy”? Is it being outlandish and flamboyant? Does the person have to have a mental disorder? Can it come from a person’s strict adherence to “norms”? In the short story “Game,” Donald Barthelme considers all of these questions. The story depicts two men, an unnamed narrator and Shotwell, who are trapped in some type of bunker, and they have been there for 133 days due to an “oversight.” After such a long time confined in a single space, the men start to act “strangely,” but the narrator acknowledges it is difficult to even comprehend what is normal and what is crazy anymore. Both men are supposed to be looking at a console, and if they both turn their key at the same time, “the bird flies” (Elements of Literature 879). This indicates the story in some way involves nuclear warfare (EoL 884). This necessity to watch the console all day everyday for so long is what drives these men mad, but the question is again posed: are they “crazy”? To fully understand Donald Barthelme’s view on the subject, one must explore his personal life, his writing style and the types of devices Barthelme uses throughout the story. Through all of this, Barthelme presents the idea that all human beings are insane, because insanity is portrayed in so many different ways. Donald Barthelme was born on April 7, 1931 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He lived almost his entire life, however, in Houston, Texas. He worked at the University of Houston, the Houston Post and The New Yorker (Shivani 385). His connection to Houston has been the source of great quandary for most. For a prospective writer, Houston is in no way the place where their dreams will come true. Yet there Barthelme stayed for a good portion of his life, caring for his students at the university and leading a mostly sheltered life. He also had three wives and the final one, Birgit Egelund-Peterson, had serious mental health problems (Shivani 386). Here is where one can begin to find Barthelme’s interest in the