reflecting on the person one might have been theme

also known as: the road not taken

A character reflects on how their own life might have turned out, typically for the better, had they taken a different path in life.

Examples

In the TV short "The Jolly Corner" (1975), Spencer Brydon couldn't stop thinking about what type of man he would have become had he not scuttled off to Europe in order to avoid the national trauma that was the American Civil War.

2 total · 1 choice · 1 minor

StoryLevelMotivation
theamericanshortstory03 choice Spencer contemplated about the man he might have become had he not spent the duration of the Civil War living comfortably in Europe.
columbo1971e6x02 minor The spinster Ruth contemplated what it might have been like to be a mother when interacting with her niece, Janie.