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Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Interpersonal relations--Fiction; Interpersonal relations; Fiction;

Abstract

Hazards is a collection of seven stories that looks into the mystery of relationships in which emotions are discovered, but in the end, never fully realized. Often through a series of flashbacks triggered by a singe event, these characters collide and struggle with the boundaries between love and friendship. Occupying various point of views that span gender and sexual preference, these narrators often fall into situations too complicated for blame with feelings too new and sincere to be cautious. By not always passing judgement on other characters, these sensitive individuals tend to leave themselves exposed to harsh realities, sometimes arresting their sensibility to act, but not their ability to feel and learn. In not thinking before they act, or by analyzing too much, people often create hazardous circumstances for themselves. Some rush into situations not properly thought out or explored, placing themselves in precarious positions that are eventually dangerous. Others linger too long on a shared emotion, a friendship that is too close to be tested. In the conclusion of each story, a kind of circularity is formed where the end frequently leads the reader back to the beginning. This structure is usually reinforced through a rhyming action, an altered repetition of a particular symbolic image, theme, or action. The story's end places the character in a similar situation as before, but its significance has been transformed. Through the character's journey, the circumstance now can be interpreted from a different angle, enlightening the narrator's perception of the truth. Although these endings often leave the reader with a particular uncertainty about the character's future, there is constantly an assured hopefulness within the ambiguity, a vague optimism just over the horizon, just out of reach of the narrator, and the reader. Though these narratives are always initiated with the best intentions, all of these characters soon discover that people are not always what they first seem, and that with love and a little understanding, things are continuously open to change.

Year of Submission

2002

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of English Language and Literature

First Advisor

Grant Tracey

Second Advisor

Vince Gotera

Third Advisor

Julie Husband

Comments

The creative works referenced in this graduate thesis, consisting of pages 1-94, currently are not being made available in electronic format through UNI ScholarWorks.

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

2002

Object Description

1 PDF file (11 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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