“When all else fails, there is always illusion” (Conan Obrian). People can only have so many tragedies in their lives before they have to escape, but an escape only lasts so long and sooner or later they have to face reality. Life goes on with or without you and you can't escape it. You can't hide from reality. This theme is found in “Navigators” by Mike Miginnis and other literary works such as “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller. This can also be seen in daily life when people play video games or use drugs to forget their problems. “Navigators” by Mike Miginnis is about a boy named Josh and his father Dustin. They bond with each other by playing a video game called "Legend of Silence." The game tells the story of a queen who goes on a quest to reach Nirvana. This game is different from most because as she progresses through the game she gets "power-ups", but instead of making her more powerful, they make her weaker. Throughout the game, they become more and more obsessed with it, and eventually neglect the things necessary for daily life. The video game parallels their own lives. They struggle to make ends meet; and just like the main character in their video game, as their story progresses, they also become weaker. Dustin ends up turning off the gas to save money, but when he tells Josh this, he says they have "more money to play with" (Miginnis 103), referring to their video game. As they continue to play, the main character continues to get weaker, as do Josh and his father. They have to move to a smaller apartment so the rent will be cheaper. Eventually, they stop taking care of themselves, which is noticeable when at the store, “it’s been almost a month since they’ve done the laundry” (Miginnis 102). This is also implied... middle of paper ...what happens won't make it go away. They often find themselves worse off than when they started using drugs or alcohol. They may start by using drugs or alcohol to escape reality; but ultimately it only hurts them more. Many people try to escape reality, but it never works. It will either end up hurting them more in the process, like in the story "Navigators", or hurting the people around them, like in "Death of a Salesman". Life is hard and sometimes people need a break from stress. But life continues to move forward, whether you're active in it or not. You can't escape reality forever. Works cited by Miller, Arthur and Gerald Clifford Weales. Death of a seller. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. print. Mginnnis Mike. “Navigators”. Hobart. 12th edition. Ed. Aaron Burch. Berkley CA: Small Press Distribution: 2011. 97-107. Print.