First Name:
Ariel
Last Name:
Parsons
Major Department:
English
Thesis Director:
Joseph Bathanti
Date of Thesis:
May 2011
Out of Many Waters is a series of five linked short stories exploring key events in the life of a single protagonist. With the exception of the fifth story, Osmosis, the pieces appear in reverse chronological order, creating a "nesting doll" effect: stories within stories. While each piece stands as an individual entity, each subsequent story offers greater insight into those that come before it. The first story, Borrowed Skin, introduces the lead character at a breaking point, while the following three stories travel backwards in time to examine the accumulation of circumstances that culminate in her collapse. Osmosis, the final piece, creates an ultimately cyclical effect, linking the protagonist's past and future. The series also employs elements of magical realism, inspired by such writers as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Julio Cortazar, Isabel Allende, and Toni Morrison. Dealing with such topics as grief, guilt, and self-empowerment, Out of Many Waters experiments with a number of unconventional techniques to convey intense emotion while also drawing attention to the psychological interdependency of circumstances.