The stories in Tenth of December suggest that many of the ways Americans conceive of empathy are hollow, misunderstood, or even actively harmful. What Saunders presents, through characters that are capable of true empathy and characters who aren’t, is that empathy is much more difficult than people believe, but that arriving at a real, purposeful empathetic stance toward others is the only way to do meaningful good in the world. The empathy that Saunders focuses on can be explained through Edward Said’s concept of problem between the Self and the Other: In his seminal work of postcolonial theory Orientalism (which is focused on empathy across cultures but could be considered for any Self relating to any Other), Said puts forward the idea that most understanding of the Other is actually self-reflexive. That is, it’s based on preconceived notions or established values rather than on true engagement with a person outside of the Self. Instead of seeing the Other for who they truly are, a person sees the idea of the Other that they’ve created for themselves.

This is a key problem for many characters: The kidnapper in “Victory Lap” can only see Alison as a conquest to alleviate his own insecurity; Marie in “Puppy” cannot recognize value in a version of parenting that doesn’t mirror her own; the narrator of “The Semplica Girl Diaries” cannot fathom why a Semplica Girl would run away rather than serve as a living decoration if it is financially advantageous; Al Roosten cannot see beyond his own self-loathing to comprehend the humanity of the people around him.