"At 20, 25, 30, we begin to realise that the possibilities of escape are getting fewer. We have jobs, children, partners, debts. This is the part of us to which literary fiction speaks"
About this Quote
What makes the quote sting is how mundane the cage is. Jobs, children, partners, debts: no villains, no dramatic catastrophes, just accretion. Haddon’s list is culturally fluent in a late-capitalist, middle-class register where responsibility isn’t heroic, it’s administrative. The subtext isn’t anti-family or anti-work; it’s anti-fantasy. The older dream that you can always reinvent yourself - move cities, change identities, start over clean - collides with the real world’s paperwork, obligations, and emotional entanglements.
Then Haddon turns and makes a claim about literary fiction that’s both a defense and a dare. Genre fiction often promises escape as plot: the quest, the mystery, the romance, the win. Literary fiction, he suggests, offers escape as recognition. It speaks to “this part of us” that suspects the real drama is interior: the negotiation between who we were told we could become and who we’re now tethered to being.
Quote Details
| Topic | Aging |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Haddon, Mark. (n.d.). At 20, 25, 30, we begin to realise that the possibilities of escape are getting fewer. We have jobs, children, partners, debts. This is the part of us to which literary fiction speaks. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/at-20-25-30-we-begin-to-realise-that-the-95297/
Chicago Style
Haddon, Mark. "At 20, 25, 30, we begin to realise that the possibilities of escape are getting fewer. We have jobs, children, partners, debts. This is the part of us to which literary fiction speaks." FixQuotes. Accessed February 3, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/at-20-25-30-we-begin-to-realise-that-the-95297/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"At 20, 25, 30, we begin to realise that the possibilities of escape are getting fewer. We have jobs, children, partners, debts. This is the part of us to which literary fiction speaks." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/at-20-25-30-we-begin-to-realise-that-the-95297/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
