Date of Award
Summer 8-19-2022
Level of Access Assigned by Author
Campus-Only Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
Advisor
Gregory Howard
Second Committee Member
Hollie Adams
Third Committee Member
Ryan Dippre
Additional Committee Members
Dylan Dryer
Abstract
Night of the Comet is a novel which attempts to work within literary and science fiction genres to weave together two storylines, one set on eco-dystopian Earth and the other set on a space freighter traveling to Ganymede. The narrative in space follows two stowaways, brothers Oliver and Finley, as the ship’s destination grows close. As Oliver moves between the present and his memories on Earth when the nameless freighter still dwelled in a refuse island called Tarca, hallucinations start appearing to each person on the ship. The narrative on Earth begins with a lighthouse keeper, Lulu, and her granddaughter, Anya, finding an amnesiac boy adrift in the ocean. As the crew in space tries to determine the cause of their hallucinations, those who found the boy attempt to determine where he came from and what he is. The convergence of these two storylines is intended to make the reader experience a state of mind similar to the characters in the text where they are unsure about the nature of and their relationship with reality. The similar trajectory of Oliver identifying with a ghost as he impersonates one aboard the ship, and the nameless boy’s potential identity as a ghost brought to life, is meant to explore the entanglement of memory, identity, and the subjective experience of being alive.
Recommended Citation
Morgan, Haleigh, "Night of the Comet" (2022). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3691.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/3691