--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would sit in my room and become…" description: "\"I would sit in my room and become hysterical about the wild incredible story I was writing. And I thought I was writing realism. It never occurred to m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76d/chester-himes-30065_absurdity_i-would-sit-in-my-room-and-become-hyster_2613514.png" --- # I would sit in my room and become hysterical about the… ![“I would sit in my room and become hysterical about the wild incredible story I was writing. And I thought I was writing realism. It never occurred to me that I was writing absurdity. Realism and absurdity are so similar in the lives of American blacks one cannot tell the difference.” quote by Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76d/chester-himes-30065_absurdity_i-would-sit-in-my-room-and-become-hyster_2613514.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76d/chester-himes-30065_absurdity_i-would-sit-in-my-room-and-become-hyster_2613514.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76d/chester-himes-30065_absurdity_i-would-sit-in-my-room-and-become-hyster_2613514.png) > “I would sit in my room and become hysterical about the wild incredible story I was writing. And I thought I was writing realism. It never occurred to me that I was writing absurdity. Realism and absurdity are so similar in the lives of American blacks one cannot tell the difference.” [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator confuses intense emotional imagination with realistic depiction, highlighting how absurdity can masquerade as realism, especially in marginalized experiences. **In simple terms:** Imagination can look like reality, especially for oppressed groups. Key Takeaway Question the lens through which you view narratives. Themes identity perception racial experience Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type literary analytical social commentary When to use this quote - writing workshops - teaching literature - social activism - media critique Key Concepts absurdism realism narrative voice Questions to Reflect On - How does absurdity reveal hidden truths? - When does realism become a mask? A Different Perspective The claim may overgeneralize Black experiences, ignoring diverse perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity/) [Absurdity Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity-realism-2048616/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Hysterical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hysterical/) [Incredibles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incredibles/) [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) [Realism Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism-absurdity-2048615/) [Rooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooms/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Absurdity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-absurdity-2048614/) [Writing Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-realism-2048617/) ## Related quotes > [“Which one hadn't he walked down? Was it Barkovitch? Collie Parker? Percy What'shisname? Who was it? 'GARRATY!' the crowd screamed deliriously. 'GARRATY, GARRATY, GARRATY!'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king-as-richard-bachman/which-one-hadn-t-he-walked-down-was-it-barkovitch-collie-parker-percy/) [Stephen King as Richard Bachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king-as-richard-bachman/) > [In the sequence where I am burned at the stake, everything was so casual and hazardous that the bottom of my dress caught fire,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-steele/in-the-sequence-where-i-am-burned-at-the-stake-everything-was-so/) [Barbara Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-steele/) > [Idealistic reformers are dangerous because their idealism has no roots in love, but is simply a hysterical and unbalanced rage for order amidst their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-irwin-thompson/idealistic-reformers-are-dangerous-because-their-idealism-has-no/) [William Irwin Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-irwin-thompson/) > [You want the vote so badly that you think it worth while to become hysterical over it.' 'There is not much hysteria in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-benson/you-want-the-vote-so-badly-that-you-think-it-worth-while-to-become/) [Stella Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-benson/) > [I watched 'The Neighbors' when it first came on, and I thought it was hysterical. And every time I think something just tickles my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhea-perlman/i-watched-the-neighbors-when-it-first-came-on-and-i-thought-it-was/) [Rhea Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhea-perlman/) > [Everyone in a position of authority is hysterical, and everyone else is pretending to be asleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/everyone-in-a-position-of-authority-is-hysterical-and-everyone-else/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [I became hysterical and frightened and begged for sedation. And that was just the first prenatal visit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/i-became-hysterical-and-frightened-and-begged-for-sedation-and-that/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [What I had mastered was fly-fishing Rule # 1: Remove all hooks from soft tissue under water, where near-freezing temperatures anesthetize exposed nerve endings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-maxwell/what-i-had-mastered-was-fly-fishing-rule-1-remove-all-hooks-from-soft/) [Jessica Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-maxwell/) > [I have no faith in our hypocritical, false, hysterical, uneducated and lazy intelligentsia when they suffer and complain: their oppression comes from within. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/i-have-no-faith-in-our-hypocritical-false-hysterical-uneducated-and/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [Anyways, trying to express yourself to the press is often like arguing with a hysterical person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-koenig/anyways-trying-to-express-yourself-to-the-press-is-often-like-arguing/) [Ezra Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-koenig/) > [The hysterical find too much significance in things. The depressed find too little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-hysterical-find-too-much-significance-in-things-the-depressed/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [I think that 'Family Guy' is hysterical. It's edgy and hip - and they can do whatever they want to do because it's animated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-levi/i-think-that-family-guy-is-hysterical-it-s-edgy-and-hip-and-they-can/) [Zachary Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-levi/) > [Saiman picked up a coffee mug, stared at it, and hurled it against the wall. It shattered into a dozen pieces. We looked at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/saiman-picked-up-a-coffee-mug-stared-at-it-and-hurled-it-against-the/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [“Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the confabulation of testimony of 'satanic ritual abuse' legitimated a programme of political and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/blaming-therapy-social-work-and-other-caring-professions-for-the/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [ \[Concerning monotheistic religions\] The only thing these hysterical cults have in common is the belief that this world will be consumed, and deservedly so,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/concerning-monotheistic-religions-the-only-thing-these-hysterical/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## More by Chester Himes > [“what i really need is a dead man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/what-i-really-need-is-a-dead-man/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [American violence is public life, it's a public way of life, it became a form, a detective story form. So I should think that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/american-violence-is-public-life-it-s-a-public-way-of-life-it-became/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [Our highest ambition is to be included in the stream of American life, to be permitted to "play the game" as any other American;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/our-highest-ambition-is-to-be-included-in-the-stream-of-american-life/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [It seemed so illogical to punish some poor criminal for doing something that civilization taught him how to do so he could have something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/it-seemed-so-illogical-to-punish-some-poor-criminal-for-doing/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [“Don't ever lean your whole weight on happiness, Jimmy. You fall too hard too hard when it gives away”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/don-t-ever-lean-your-whole-weight-on-happiness-jimmy-you-fall-too/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [“For he reached the conclusion that everything he had ever seen, or had ever done, or had ever dreamed of doing would in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/for-he-reached-the-conclusion-that-everything-he-had-ever-seen-or-had/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [I grew to manhood in the Ohio State Penitentiary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/i-grew-to-manhood-in-the-ohio-state-penitentiary/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [When you get to mixing sex and religion, it will make anybody crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/when-you-get-to-mixing-sex-and-religion-it-will-make-anybody-crazy/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [Democracy is not tolerance. Democracy is a prescribed way of life erected on the premise that all men are created equal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/democracy-is-not-tolerance-democracy-is-a-prescribed-way-of-life/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [Growth is the surviving influence in all our lives. The tree will send up its trunk in thick profusion from land burned black by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/growth-is-the-surviving-influence-in-all-our-lives-the-tree-will-send/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [Man cannot live without some knowledge of the purpose of life. If he can find no purpose in life he creates one in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/man-cannot-live-without-some-knowledge-of-the-purpose-of-life-if-he/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [The Harlem of my books was never meant to be real; I never called it real; I just wanted to take it away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/the-harlem-of-my-books-was-never-meant-to-be-real-i-never-called-it/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [There is an indomitable quality within the human spirit that cannot be destroyed; a face deep within the human personality that is impregnable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/there-is-an-indomitable-quality-within-the-human-spirit-that-cannot/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [If one lives in a country where racism is held valid and practiced in all ways of life eventually, no matter whether one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/if-one-lives-in-a-country-where-racism-is-held-valid-and-practiced-in/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [“She held him at arms’ length, looked at the pipe still gripped in his hand, then looked at his face and read him like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/she-held-him-at-arms-length-looked-at-the-pipe-still-gripped-in-his/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) [Explore all 17 Chester Himes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) ## More Absurdity quotes > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [We all live inside the terrible engine of authority, and it grinds and shrieks and burns so that no one will say: lines on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-live-inside-the-terrible-engine-of-authority-and-it-grinds-and/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Desire is this absurdity that holds open the infinity of possibility. Ever optimistic, ever resourceful, desire tells us what it sees as it speeds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-farley/desire-is-this-absurdity-that-holds-open-the-infinity-of-possibility/) [Wendy Farley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-farley/) > [I've always felt that comedy doesn't just come from misery. It comes from an absurdity around that misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-amstell/i-ve-always-felt-that-comedy-doesn-t-just-come-from-misery-it-comes/) [Simon Amstell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-amstell/) > [Unaware of the absurdity of it, we introduce our own petty household rules into the economy of the universe for which the life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-herzen/unaware-of-the-absurdity-of-it-we-introduce-our-own-petty-household/) [Alexander Herzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-herzen/) > [“Christianity would be helpless without the idea of free will and the idea of free will would be helpless without incongruity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/christianity-would-be-helpless-without-the-idea-of-free-will-and-the/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [The tales of our exploits will survive as long as the human voice itself,' he said. 'And even after that, when the robots recall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-tales-of-our-exploits-will-survive-as-long-as-the-human-voice/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Life packed a clever one-two punch: cruelty and absurdity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/life-packed-a-clever-one-two-punch-cruelty-and-absurdity/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) [Browse all 689 Absurdity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurdity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would sit in my room and become hysterical about the wild incredible story I was writing. And I thought I was writing realism. It never occurred to me that I was writing absurdity. 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