Date of Award

Spring 2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

Program/Concentration

Creative Writing

Committee Director

Janet Peery

Committee Member

Sarah Appleton

Committee Member

John McManus

Call Number for Print

Special Collections; LD4331.E64 S833 2012

Abstract

Benefit Road is a work of realistic fiction composed of six short stories. Each protagonist is an individual in contemporary society, living an isolated existence, while struggling to connect with others and construct moral order out of chaos. A blind disabled child attended by his uncomplaining mother, geckos scrambling up a freshly painted wall to escape from a cat, a drowning boy, the revelry of a Fasching celebration, a toddler in a crib shrieking for his mother's attention, and an old dog on a wintry trail: A common thread linking these particular stories is the presence of an animal as a stand-in for absent or lacking human relationships. The predominant mood is one of resignation to the fact that life lived alone is a continuing struggle. Epiphanies highlight the recognition that connections and relationships present the only possibility of resolution.

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/aw0m-ez21

Download

Share

COinS