Date of Defense

12-11-2025

Date of Graduation

12-2025

Department

English

First Advisor

Richard Katrovas

Second Advisor

Kyle Battle

Abstract

This thesis is a creative work in the form of a collection of three short stories. Throughout the project the idea of “Americanism” and what it means to be an American are examined. Counter-culture and the fringe of American Society are at the forefront, and all the characters and circumstances within the collection are inspired by those in the fringe. To begin, we open in the expatriate era of US history in which many people left the increasingly binding and growing regulations brought by the globalizing and emerging super-power.

Within this story, an American couple finds themselves in Europe, at the time and place of the founding of Fascism. This is used to juxtapose the shifts found around the world at the time, and that the emerging superpower included its people, and how we are viewed around the world. This viewpoint of luxury and leisure was shared with much of the world, at the same time that alcohol was illegal within the country. This project and story aimed to insert wealth alongside instability. The fact that such wealth was achieved through the violence of the 1910s and is leading to more instability.

This leads to the second installation, as we skip World War Two and key in on the largest, and most influential counter cultural movement in American History: the 1960s and the “Free Love” movement. By skipping the generation of trauma, the effects of war and the lasting imprint can be shown through a family member to a veteran. As the son of a veteran finds himself strung out at Woodstock, attempting to navigate familial and cultural expectations while discovering what is actually possible and more important, what is wanted. This expulsion of trauma and feeling served as a breath of air for the country and the second story was an attempt to capture that shift in the country brought on by countercultural movements.

The final story serves as a final insertion of the past within where and who we are. It sees the return of a veteran as a character and the events and choices that made him who he was. This is meant to tie the previous two stories together by attaching similar premises, time frames and traumatic events. This was designed to show the individual trauma held by soldiers, and their loved ones manifest into the most powerful movements in our countries history.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Restricted

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