The Boundaries of Weather

Kathleen Connor, Purdue University

Abstract

The stories in this collection are concerned with the crossing of boundaries. On a physical level, the characters venture into unknown lands, ranging from the house next door to a foreign country to the womb. Once the barriers of culture, sexuality, reality, and sanity begin to fold, the roots of identity are shaken, leaving the characters to explore new territories of pain, wonder, and fear. The novella, set in turn-of-the-century Blue Ridge Mountains, follows a misfit boy living in a town that suffers from a disorder. Mental illness is described without using clinical language; rather, the peaks and valleys of his parents and classmates mirror the weather and landscape that surround their settlement. Once the boy is forced to leave the town, the novella becomes picaresque of the nature of sanity. The collection provides allegories of comfort and vulnerability, with characters caught in situations where they feel powerless and must do battle to save their skins.^

Degree

M.F.A.

Advisors

Patricia Henley, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Literature, American

COinS