Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is about a young boy who is waking up to a terrible day. Alexander wants to move far away to Australia, mainly because he believes only good things could happen to him there. However, his mother tells him people in Australia have bad days too.
Alexander wakes up to a terrible day, destined with numerous injustices and bad luck. The story is filled with misfortune, misunderstandings, and missteps that befall one unlucky and pessimistic child. Alexander thinks the universe is playing against him. Therefore, he wants to escape. Alexander wrestles with a range of emotions from being in a bad mood, to jealousy, frustration, anger, and rage, and he is forced to manage each of these emotions. Some of them he handles inwardly, and some of them he handles outwardly and it is when he punches his brother.
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One can fathom the injustice that has befallen Alexander through Aristotle’s definition, “The just’ therefore means that which is lawful and that which is equal or fair, and the unjust’ means that which is illegal and that which is unequal or unfair” (2004). The unfairness of the universe can be detected when Alexander finds only breakfast cereal as opposed to the toy car his brother finds in the breakfast cereal box. In addition, his brother gets brand new shoes with colorful stripes, but Alexander has to get plain boring white ones because they are sold out. At the dentist, he was the only one with a cavity. His brother pushed him in the mud, but still he got scolded by his mother for being muddy. These incidents surely mean that the world is being unfair to him.
Throughout the story, Alexander keeps threatening to abandon the injustice that has occur to him, and move to Australia. The recurring mentioning of Alexander wanting to move to Australia represents his hope that if he moves far away from everything, things will get better. It raises the question about whether or not it is appropriate to run away from problems, and whether or not this is the best possible response. Chua defines escapism, “when you are trying to avoid something. It can come in different forms. Some people escape by seeking out alternate activities, such as sleeping and playing. Some drown themselves in work. Some immerse themselves in addiction, like emotional eating (bingeing), smoking, alcohol or even drugs. Some people escape by seeking out alternate activities, such as sleeping and playing. Some drown themselves in work. Some physically run away from their homes. Some may even go as far as to migrate to a new place where they can start “afresh.””. (2018) This is exactly what Alexander is trying to do. He is trying to escape unfairness, however, he does not act on it he is only setting a mental image of running away to Australia something that has comforted him. In the end of the story, His mother reassures him that “some days are like that. Even in Australia”.
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