UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1997 Walter Macken: Life in literature Megan Lyn Denio University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Denio, Megan Lyn, "Walter Macken: Life in literature" (1997). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 3360. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/0r78-3664 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. 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WALTER MACKEN: LIFE IN LITERATURE by Megan Lyn Denio Bachelor of Science University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1995 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Department of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1388624 UMI Microform 1388624 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition Is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ® 1998 Megan Lyn Denio All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval UNW The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas 21 November 19 97 The Thesis prepared by __________ Megan Lyn Denio Entitled Walter Macken; Life in Literature is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Examtrithon Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate College xamimtion Committee Member / s ------ xammqtJiÀipiqt^i Committee M ^nber Graduate College Faculty Representative 7 U Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT W alter Macken: Life In Literature by Megan Lyn Denio Dr. Richard Harp, Examination Committee Chair Professor of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas Walter Macken: Life in Literature introduces Walter Macken, a Galwegian novelist, playwright, short-story writer, and children's novelist, to an American audience in order to make his works better known. The themes in Macken's novels show common elements among Irish authors. The use of the common man and the use of Ireland's history are most prevalent in Irish literature. However, Macken's use of autobiographical elements in the midst of his presentation of life in the West of Ireland, in many ways, sets him apart from the other Irish authors. Few have chronicled the lives of the farmers and the fishermen in the West. And even fewer could have done this in the manner Macken did because he was one of them. Walter Macken needs to be reconsidered within the pantheon of Irish authors. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2 BIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER 3 THE EARLY NOVELS.....................................................................................23 Quench the Moon..................................................................................................... 24 I Am A lone..................................................................................................................30 Rain on the W in d .......................................................................................................34 The Bogman ...............................................................................................................40 CHAPTER 4 THE LATER NOVELS................................................................................47 Sunset on the Window Panes .................................................................................48 Sullivan........................................................................................................................54 Brown Lord of the Mountain ................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 5 THE HISTORICAL TRILOGY....................................................................... 63 Seek the Fair Land .................................................................................................... 64 The Silent People...................................................................................................... 67 The Scorching W in d................................................................................................. 70 Conclusion..................................................................................................................75 VITA ......................................................................................................................................... 77 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the assistance of my advisor and chairperson. Dr. Richard Harp, without whose teaching and help I may have never come to know Walter Macken's work. Included with him, I acknowledge Dr. Joseph B. McCullough and Dr. P. Jane Hafen for their editing of my thesis. I would also like to acknowledge Father Walter Macken, Tom Kenny and Ultan Macken for their invaluable help with interviews and materials regarding Walter Macken's life and works. With them, I would like to thank UNLV's International Programs and its director, Susan Thompson, for their scholarship assistance in getting me to Ireland to conduct my interviews and to obtain the literature of Walter Macken, which is mostly unavailable for purchase in the United States. I must also acknowledge the grace of God for keeping me sane while I attempted to formulate all of this information into a coherent work and while I pulled my hair out doing the rewrites. I want to acknowledge the assistance and support of my parents, Mike and Linda McDaniel and Rich and Jane Denio; my grandmothers, June Denio and Marge Ewing; and various other family members who assisted me financially in my trip to Ireland and prayerfully while I wrote and rewrote my thesis. I also want to acknowledge my many friends who assisted me prayerfully, and my colleagues—Jennifer Donahue, Justin Hayes and Les Plooster— who read my thesis and gave me their assistance in editing my drafts. I dedicate this thesis to my beautiful niece, Abigail Ruth Denio, whose laughter on my brother's answering machine always made me laugh with her, and whose picture always revived me to continue writing. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Few critics have addressed the works of Walter Macken, a Galwegian author. There are excerpts about him and