Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-10-2024
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
English
First Advisor
Tom Franklin
Second Advisor
Vivian Hobbs
Third Advisor
Darren Grem
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Can people change? We ask this of ourselves, and of each other. We want the person we love to change so we can make it work. We secretly never want that person we hate to change because then we’d have to change our minds. We say we’re gonna change, and sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t. We hit the gym more but we still fly off the handle in traffic.
This is a collection of stories for my thesis project. And a thesis is theoretically a collective that works to one central idea, one that you’ve studied enough to back up your argued truth. But I’m not sure what conclusion I’ve reached. I don’t like answering for my characters, because we only catch them in a moment of their lives. We shake their hands for a brief glimpse, and then have to reckon who we are in relation to them. Some of these stories have more hope than others, and some you will believe can change more than the others. But aren’t all stories about readers? About the audience? A short story collection, to me, is about walking through a hall of mirrors, and through the distortions, we can make ourselves out in some way. Some are more distorted images, but all have a reflection of our lives in some way. Maybe in one you relate to knowing that offhand mentioned character, or another you find yourself in the main plot line. It doesn’t matter. What matters is the application in your life.
I’m not promising that Hollywood, Mississippi will change your life. I can’t promise you change.
But could you?
Recommended Citation
Barnett, Allison, "Hollywood, Mississippi" (2024). Honors Theses. 3074.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3074
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