Date of Award

Fall 2000

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

Program/Concentration

Creative Writing

Committee Director

Janet Peery

Committee Member

Sheri A. Reynolds

Committee Member

David Metzger

Call Number for Print

Special Collections; LD4331.E64 C615

Abstract

False Starts depicts a variety of characters—a single mother, a dishwasher, a philosophy student—who discover the mendacious nature of their world views and concepts of self. The worlds they inhabit are not as sensible as they supposed. Some quietly acquiesce to the chaos, like the single mother in "Still Tank," who gently continues in her role despite the death of her pet jellyfish. Some fight this revelation like Lea in "Another Love Story." Lea assaults her ex-boyfriend, a dishwasher who broke up with her for no fathomable reason. In "Fly Trap," the anchor of False Starts, Allison, a college student, tracks her disillusionment with meaningful relationships with the scenarios she studies in philosophy. Allison symbolically embraces the translucence of many human relationships by physically embracing a stranger. All of these characters become disillusioned with morality and meaning and must come to terms with the absence of these markers in reality.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/0rt4-jd13

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