Gaining ground

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Deborah Seabrooke (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Fred Chappell

Abstract: In these three stories, the major characters become aware that they can change their lives. The final outcome such a change might bring is never known, and sometimes never considered by the main character. Through the use of an omniscient narrator, the reader has an easy vantage point from which to see the characters and judge their actions. However, by using the main character's point of view, we are permitted to know his thoughts and feelings. We see a large part of the story unfold within this inner life. In the first story, Marcy loves a familiar surrounding. He treats his sister's probing questions as a threat to his happiness. He fights to preserve his own isolation. "Gaining Ground," the title story, is different. The isolation imposed upon Francis and Suzanne is from the outside. Leaving home can only mean a change for the better. Unlike Marcy, the unknown thrills Francis. The last story has its main character, Angela, standing on strange and precarious ground all the way through. She is an American transferred to a new life in Greece. Like Francis in "Gaining Ground," Angela wants to be an individual, but she feels an emptiness inside. Her change comes in the company of two strangers.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1975

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