Browsing by Author "Hollis-Locke, Niamh Victoria"

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Critical and creative explorations of the role of environment in ecological fiction : comprised of "The frailty of everything revealed at last" : environment as antagonist and the warnings of Cormac McCarthy’s The road ; and, In the distance, smoke, a novella : a thesis submitted to the Department of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Creative Writing at Massey University, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2023) Hollis-Locke, Niamh Victoria
The critical portion of this thesis aims to examine the use and depiction of the natural world in Cormac McCarthy's 2006 novel The Road, as well as the impacts that the state of the environment has upon the novel's characters. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which the environment is positioned as the primary antagonist, and the role of memory and dreams within the text for adding nuance to the novel's exploration of our species' reliance upon nature. Unfortunately, in the course of my research I have been unable to identify any critics who argue that the environment is positioned as the antagonist of The Road. Due to this gap in current scholarship this analysis is mainly supported by the ideas of ecocritical academics, as their ideas are the most relevant to the ideas I am exploring because McCarthy's text is primarily concerned with the impact of the state of the environment upon its characters' lives and well-being. By proving that the environment occupies the narrative niche of antagonist, as well as examining the mechanisms by which this is achieved, this analysis looks to make up for a gap in existing academic discourse around McCarthy's novel. The creative portion of this thesis is a post-environmental-collapse novella, which aims to expand upon McCarthy's innovative use of environment. By foregrounding the threat posed by the natural world, and ensuring that moments of significant tension are at least partially driven by need or threat generated by the environment, I hope to emulate the way The Road positions its environment as antagonist. However, where McCarthy creates an environment so utterly hostile that the only thing the characters are able to care about is their basic needs for survival, I have tried to craft a slightly less harsh one, in order to explore other facets of the characters' experiences and the human psyche. This has enabled me to explore some tensions between survival and emotional needs, and examine the way characters interact in situations where their basic needs are not guaranteed, yet are still striving to have their emotional needs met as well.