Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Influence Of Alcohol On Ernest Hemingway's Fictional Characters, Gary Nelson Thomas

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Oedipa In Quest Of Herself In The Crying Of Lot 49, James Edward Osborn

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Melville And Beckett: A Legacy Of Pessimism, Jeanette Elaine Bahnke

Masters Theses

Though separated by nearly a century and by two different cultures, Herman Melville and Samuel Beckett complement each other's concept of man and his world. This concept is the concept of pessimism, which each man adopted and expanded throughout his works.

Both authors lament the concept that man must struggle to attempt unachievable goals, yet both also insist that the only way to maintain a type of balance is to "go on."

The Beckettian-Melvillian hero, consequently, is a "thought-diver." As he strips layers from the Self, he simultaneously strips layers from the cosmos. Thus, the stripping of the Self and …

L. Frank Baum And The Technology Of Love, Robert Bruce Goble

Masters Theses

L. Frank Baum, throughout his books of fantasy, especially the Oz series, gradually resolves the conflict of pastoralism and technology by developing a technology managed by love. Baum uses magic as a representation of both pastoralism and technology. Fairy magic, the capacity for love, represents pastoralism, and ritual magic, the capacity for good or evil depending upon who wields it, represents technology. Baum deals with the ways in which ritual magic or technology can be misused through selfishness and ignorance and points out how destruction can be avoided if technology were managed by not greed for power and money but …

The Rite Of Initiation In Pinter's The Birthday Party, Richard C. Slocum

Masters Theses

The paper is an attempt to give full treatment to elements in Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party which suggest the rite of initiation practiced in primitive societies. A few critics have touched upon the subject of initiation in the play, but they fail to discuss it in detail.

Extensive comparisons are made between Charles Eckert's summary of initiation rituals and the actions and characters in the play. The initiate is isolated from society as a preliminary to the rite of initiation; Stanley is isolated in a seaside boarding house. The initiate is secluded in a dark and threatening place; Stanley …

Depiction Of Blacks In The Works Of Ernest Hemingway, Sheila Marie Foor

Masters Theses

Ernest Hemingway, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, is one of America's outstanding literary figures. Criticism of his work has been voluminous--ranging from bitterly derogative to superlative--with most of it focusing upon the famous 'Hemingway code hero,' upon his crisp, concise writing style, and upon his much-publicized personal life.

One example of negative assessment by critics is the one concerning black portraiture in Hemingway's fiction. However, no work deals exclusively with this aspect of his writing. The purpose of this thesis is, first, to present a general discussion on the nature of prejudice and examination of black …