--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's hard being a hostage in somebody…" description: "\"It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a character in somebody else's novel.\" — David Antin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/david-antin-16464_books_it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-el_2526850.png" --- # It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a… ![“It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a character in somebody else's novel.” quote by David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/david-antin-16464_books_it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-el_2526850.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/david-antin-16464_books_it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-el_2526850.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/david-antin-16464_books_it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-el_2526850.png) > “It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a character in somebody else's novel.” [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Being a hostage or a fictional character reflects feeling trapped by others' narratives. **In simple terms:** Feeling trapped by others' stories. Key Takeaway Recognize and reclaim personal agency. Themes identity control storytelling Mood reflective empathetic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal relationships - creative writing - media consumption - mental health Key Concepts narrative dominance psychological confinement Questions to Reflect On - Who defines your story? - How can you assert your own voice? A Different Perspective Overcoming external narratives can be difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Character Somebody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character-somebody-669927/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hard Hostage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-hostage-1306471/) [Hostage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hostage/) [Hostage Somebody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hostage-somebody-1306472/) [Mouths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouths/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Somebody Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somebody-novel-1306473/) ## Related quotes > [I woke up last night and thought: 'I must call somebody in my next novel Casablanca.' It's such a great name. I don't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-collins/i-woke-up-last-night-and-thought-i-must-call-somebody-in-my-next/) [Jackie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-collins/) > [I do think that the strongest character is somebody that you can connect with to your personal self, or at least find the humanity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruthie-ann-miles/i-do-think-that-the-strongest-character-is-somebody-that-you-can/) [Ruthie Ann Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruthie-ann-miles/) > [When you take on a role, even if the character is somebody that you are dissimilar to, you have to identify with the role…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-eisenberg/when-you-take-on-a-role-even-if-the-character-is-somebody-that-you/) [Jesse Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-eisenberg/) > [I'm always happier and a better actor when I can really lose myself in a character and become somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-bacon/i-m-always-happier-and-a-better-actor-when-i-can-really-lose-myself/) [Kevin Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-bacon/) > [I had never had a positive leading character - somebody that wasn't an antihero, or who wasn't more of a guy that you're supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/i-had-never-had-a-positive-leading-character-somebody-that-wasn-t-an/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [I don't believe you can get into somebody's character but more that somebody comes in you. You just use yourself. In everything I play,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carice-van-houten/i-don-t-believe-you-can-get-into-somebody-s-character-but-more-that/) [Carice van Houten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carice-van-houten/) > [If you want to know about the character of somebody in public life, look to see if they have a passion that has animated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-kaine/if-you-want-to-know-about-the-character-of-somebody-in-public-life/) [Tim Kaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-kaine/) > [Some celebrities, it's interesting, because they're fantastic playing a character when somebody is writing the lines for them, and they're amazing actors, but they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-degeneres/some-celebrities-it-s-interesting-because-they-re-fantastic-playing-a/) [Ellen DeGeneres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-degeneres/) > [My character is somebody who is smaller in stature and yet who's strong, so to see the fighting situations between people who are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiaki-kuriyama/my-character-is-somebody-who-is-smaller-in-stature-and-yet-who-s/) [Chiaki Kuriyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiaki-kuriyama/) > [I think in times of fear and hysteria in a culture, gender experimentation as it pertains to men has to go underground because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupaul/i-think-in-times-of-fear-and-hysteria-in-a-culture-gender/) [RuPaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupaul/) > [After spending 460 days as a hostage, I did emerge a fundamentally changed person. But I think, like everyone does as they grow older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/after-spending-460-days-as-a-hostage-i-did-emerge-a-fundamentally/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [When death gives us a long lease of life, it takes as hostages all those whom we have loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/when-death-gives-us-a-long-lease-of-life-it-takes-as-hostages-all/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [There is a thin line between peace of the brave and peace of the hostage... between compromise - even calculated risk - and irresponsibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ehud-barak/there-is-a-thin-line-between-peace-of-the-brave-and-peace-of-the/) [Ehud Barak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ehud-barak/) > [Has one hostage from Lebanon come back with a photograph of his abductors? Has any hostage ever come back with a photograph of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-schultz/has-one-hostage-from-lebanon-come-back-with-a-photograph-of-his/) [Dwight Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-schultz/) > [I had a great dislike to the annoyances entailed by baggage; and it was always with some feeling of elation that I cut myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/i-had-a-great-dislike-to-the-annoyances-entailed-by-baggage-and-it/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## More by David Antin > [A myth is the name of a terrible lie told by a smelly little brown person to a man in a white suit with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/a-myth-is-the-name-of-a-terrible-lie-told-by-a-smelly-little-brown/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [The ancient Greek oral poets all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the Muse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/the-ancient-greek-oral-poets-all-had-this-anxiety-about-the/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [My way of thinking is very particular and concrete. It doesn't follow a continuous path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/my-way-of-thinking-is-very-particular-and-concrete-it-doesn-t-follow/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [While I don't script and I don't use other performers, I think my taste for underlying precision gives me something in common with Allan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/while-i-don-t-script-and-i-don-t-use-other-performers-i-think-my/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [While I've had a great distaste for what's usually called song in modern poetry or for what's usually called music, I really don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/while-i-ve-had-a-great-distaste-for-what-s-usually-called-song-in/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [There is probably no oral society that fails to mark the spatial distinction of left and right, peculiar as this distinction may be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/there-is-probably-no-oral-society-that-fails-to-mark-the-spatial/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I thought poetry could do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/i-hardly-remember-how-i-started-to-write-poetry-it-s-hard-to-imagine/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [I can manage a prose format as long as I keep closer to Laurence Sterne than to Henry James.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/i-can-manage-a-prose-format-as-long-as-i-keep-closer-to-laurence/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [Disney made a fortune out of inventing the businessman's idea of the imaginary as the contradictory of the businessman's idea of the real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/disney-made-a-fortune-out-of-inventing-the-businessman-s-idea-of-the/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [There are editing procedures for talks just as there are editing procedures in jazz improvisation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/there-are-editing-procedures-for-talks-just-as-there-are-editing/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [For several centuries what has passed for song in literary circles was any text that looked like the lyrics for a commonplace melodic setting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/for-several-centuries-what-has-passed-for-song-in-literary-circles/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [Stories are different every time you tell them - they allow so many possible narratives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/stories-are-different-every-time-you-tell-them-they-allow-so-many/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [When you grow up in a family of languages, you develop a kind of casual fluency, so that languages, though differently colored, all seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/when-you-grow-up-in-a-family-of-languages-you-develop-a-kind-of/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [I'm not sure what theory is, unless it's the pursuit of fundamental questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/i-m-not-sure-what-theory-is-unless-it-s-the-pursuit-of-fundamental/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [My mother turned into a professional widow. She couldnt understand why I wanted to be an engineer; she thought I should be a chicken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/my-mother-turned-into-a-professional-widow-she-couldnt-understand-why/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) [Explore all 39 David Antin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a character in somebody else's novel.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Antin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-else-s-mouth-or-a-character-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-else-s-mouth-or-a-character-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/david-antin-16464_books_it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-el_2526850.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/david-antin-16464_books_it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-el_2526850.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/david-antin-16464_books_it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-el_2526850.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a character in somebody else's novel.” — David Antin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Antin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's hard being a hostage in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-else-s-mouth-or-a-character-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/it-s-hard-being-a-hostage-in-somebody-else-s-mouth-or-a-character-in/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```