Brown has become tramatized by the random violence of the city and the intense alienation of human existence. In an effort to escape, he 'disappears' into the rural landscape of America, where he encounters an eccentric family and much more than he had ever bargained for.Becoming Brown is an existential examination of the American Psyche, as the novel explores both man's indifference to himself, as well as his fellowman. It is only when Brown's environment changes and brutality takes on an immediate cause, that he comes to realize the essence of being a human being in the world.