Term of Award
Spring 2025
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 English
Committee Chair
Olivia Carr Edenfield
Committee Member 1
Bradley Edwards
Committee Member 2
Joe Pellegrino
Abstract
As a product of its time, Ernest Hemingway’s short-story cycle In Our Time explores the modernist struggle for human connection in a post-World-War-I landscape. This search for meaningful connection is demonstrated through various forms of relationships, but specifically those of the romantic nature. These relationships are brought to the forefront by a series of marriage stories along with multiple Nick Adams stories that feature dysfunctional couples who are often alienated by their inability to properly communicate. The tension surrounding these imperfect unions often features a child at the center of the conflict, exacerbating the preexisting issue. If the short-story cycle is examined under the lens of Dialectical Theory, another cycle is formed within the stories that works to explain both the complexity of the children and the seemingly perpetual isolation of the protagonists, all while reinforcing the cyclical form of In Our Time.
Recommended Citation
Garrett, Holly A., "Children at the Heart of Dialectical Tension in Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2914.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/2914
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
