Sundays

Abstract

This thesis is comprised of eight short stories that explore loss, whether literal or symbolic, and the consequences upon the stories’ protagonists. In “Blue Dreams,” “September,” and “Fathers and Sons,” a loved one has died. In “5th and 53rd,” and “Love,” a marriage has failed or is in the process of failing. In “Almost Midnight,” a friendship has been destroyed, and in “Andrea and Julia,” and “Sundays,” innocence has been lost. What the characters in the stories have in common is that they must attempt to bring order back to their lives, and in doing so, they make discoveries that enable them to better understand their losses. These discoveries, such as the meaning of home in “September,” or the meaning of family in “Fathers and Sons” allow the stories’ characters to move on to the next stages of their lives, wiser now than they had been before.