Supermarket was written by Bobby Hall, a.k.a Logic. It was originally published in March of 2019. The story is about Flynn, a twenty-something writer, who gets a job at the supermarket, after a terrible break-up, destined to finish writing his novel. Flynn uses the supermarket and the people working there as his subjects for his novel. But one day he arrives to work where there is a crime scene and realizes he is the one responsible.
“So this is how it feels to take a man’s life. Forced to kill for one’s own survival. I looked down at a puddle of blood by my feet, locking eyes with my own reflection. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead. How’d I get here? I was just a dude who worked at the grocery store. Now here I was, standing over a man I murdered” (Hall, 3).
I already have so many questions before even getting past the first page of Supermarket. Who did he kill? Why did he kill them? As he asked himself, how did he get there? I was instantly intrigued and pulled in. In the synopsis, readers are informed that Flynn is depressed. Later on in the story we find out that not only does Flynn suffer from depression and anxiety, but he is also diagnosed with several mental disorders: schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, bipolar disorder. My “reading for” for this novel is to understand the mind of Flynn and find out what drove him to commit murder.
As McKee states, a premise is an open-ended question. What is the idea that inspired Bobby Hall’s desire to create this story? A possible premise could be: “What would happen if a writer completely immersed themselves in their work?” Flynn is so compelled to finish his novel. His ex-girlfriend, Lola, told him he can never finish anything: “You start amazing idea after amazing idea, but you never finish anything, and … and that’s why I … why I’m finishing this” (Hall, 35). After weeks of being depressed, never getting out of bed, being in a slump, Flynn’s mom gets him out of bed or threatens to kick him out. Flynn decides to get up out of bed. He gets an offer from someone to publish his story and decides to get a job at the supermarket to fully immerse himself in writing his novel.
“‘Just finish the book! No matter what happens, finish the book!’ Repeating my mantra, I began to feel like I was being split in two. Like the old me was out of my body and this new me was here–present and yet not. I couldn’t control my thoughts or my body” (Hall, 51).
After looking and thinking about the premise further, I think I could dig a little bit deeper. Another possible premise: “What would happen if someone struggling with mental disorders dealt with his problems head-on?” Logic has opened up before about dealing with depression and anxiety, in interviews and his music. His own experiences, and experiences of others around him, could have inspired his desire to create this story. Flynn does not take any medication when in the psychiatric hospital. He goes through different types of therapy but nothing helps him rid the demons inside of him. What finally helps him kill the demons is facing the issue head-on. He trains himself to believe that Frank is real in order to face him and kill him.
How can we combine both ideas into one to become a strong premise? What would happen if a writer completely immersed themselves in their work?… and… What would happen if a man struggling with a mental disorder dealt with his issues head-on? Flynn creates a whole new reality in his mind in order to finish his novel. He drives himself to create these new characters inside his mind that he believes are real. Another possible premise could be: What would happen if a man struggling with mental disorders, created a whole new reality in order to completely immerse himself in his novel and finish it?
McKee describes the controlling idea as the story’s ultimate meaning expressed through the action and aesthetic emotion of the last act’s climax (McKee, 112). It should describe how and why life undergoes change from one condition of existence at the beginning to another at the end (McKee, 115). To find the controlling idea, we must look at the act’s last climax. Flynn is finally trying to get rid of Frank, kill him, once and for all. He keeps asking himself: How do you kill a man who doesn’t exist? A man who only lives in my head? Flynn is trying to kill Frank but is obviously only causing harm to himself since Frank is not real. Frank is someone Flynn made up in order to finish his novel, but now Frank is torturing him.
“I was then lifted up from my body. From high above I peered down onto my dying self. Suspended in time. At that moment, out of my body, I felt like I could see everything. Not just the entire store below me, but my entire life. The past, the present, the future. I felt embraced by a kind of tranquil serenity. Was this what death felt like? As soon as the moment came, it went, and I was shot back into my corporeal self. My entire frame was reanimated. I groggily lifted my head from the ground. I felt sublime, lucid, crystal clear. I felt terrified and torn. Happy and ecstatic all at once” (Hall, 266).
Flynn is in a battle with his inner self. I think of tv shows or movies when there is an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Flynn: the angel. Frank: the devil. Flynn needs to make this decision to finally rid himself of this inner demon, or devil. Frank was laying on the ground in a puddle of blood, taking his final breath. Flynn stood above him finally free from the demon that he had been battling for so long. Now, let’s take a shot at a controlling idea. This is what I came up with: getting rid of your own demons leads to sanity. A counter idea being: letting your demons control you will lead to further insanity and no way out.
“‘Think about it. You can do anything you want in life. It just takes persistence, determination, realism, and wanting success more than your next breath. Whatever you want in life you can attain. As long as you believe it. As long as you say you’re going to do it!’” (Hall, 21).
This foreshadows when Flynn is talking about how he is staring at himself in the mirror telling himself he is going to finish this novel and do whatever it takes to finish it. “As long as you say you’re going to do it.” Our group came up with another possible controlling and counter idea after looking over the text. The controlling idea being something like following your dreams relentlessly leads to fulfillment. The counter idea of this being complacent with your life leads to emptiness.
Read the Room 
Alexa I like your premise “What would happen if someone struggling with mental disorders dealt with his problems head-on?”. I did not expect this book to have a premise such as this. The title Supermarket does not give much insight into what the story is about, however when you read it and realize it is set in a supermarket it makes more sense. I also think that your controlling idea is spot on, in the end of the book when Frank dies Flynn says that he is standing in the supermarket. However the only difference between the end of the book and the beginning is now Flynn was standing in the supermarket with his “sanity”. Therefore facing your demons does bring sanity. All the signs of Flynn being insane really stuck out to me as well. Once I noticed one sign it was hard not to notice the rest. For example anytime Flynn talks to Frank and someone else shows up Frank always just disappears.
LikeLike
Alexa, you mention several times about Flynn having to believe that Frank was real in order to defeat him. One of the questions I still had after finishing the book was whether Flynn actually came up with that idea himself or if it was a scheme devised by Frank to gain control. It was Fynn’s friend Red who introduced the idea of accepting Frank in order to expel him. But we find out later that Red was also a figment of Flynn’s imagination. Fynn’s imagination told Flynn how to fight Flynn’s other imaginary personality. It is all rather confusing and muddled. I find myself thinking in circles when it comes to this book. In the end, was Flynn fighting Frank head-on really the most sound advice? It was a big risk. Flynn could have lost the fight and Frank could have gained complete control. The end of the book was so cryptic that some might argue that Flynn didn’t completely expel Frank at all. Is Bobby Hall suggesting that people suffering from mental illness should stop taking medication or following their therapist’s advice and fighting their demon head-on instead?
LikeLike