Term of Award
Summer 2019
Degree Name
Master of Arts in English (M.A.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Literature and Philosophy
Committee Chair
Caren Town
Committee Member 1
Richard Flynn
Committee Member 2
Amanda Konkle
Abstract
While scholars and critics have explored various aspects of young adult literature, few have focused on the popular, but odd, use of dead narrators. When examining the dead narrators of Veronica Roth’s Allegiant, Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why, Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall, and Jess Rothenberg’s The Catastrophic History of You and Me, it becomes clear that the dead narrators are used as a foil for adolescent growth and maturation, and they also allow young readers to empathize with and accept death through the protagonists. These protagonists experience a proto-adulthood as they die too soon to mature through time and are instead forced to grow up quickly. Narrators Tris, Hannah, Clay, Sam, and Brie all struggle with coming to terms with death and, in doing so, they learn to appreciate life.
OCLC Number
1112109945
Catalog Permalink
https://galileo-georgiasouthern.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01GALI_GASOUTH/1fi10pa/alma9916232876602950
Recommended Citation
Branton, Jessica L., "From Beyond The Grave: Dead Narrators In Young Adult Literature" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1947.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1947
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
