Mag. Phil. Jennifer-Raphaela Kraßnitzer, BA the Apples' Journey
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Mag.a phil. Jennifer-Raphaela Kraßnitzer, BA The Apples’ Journey off the Tree An Analysis of the Meaning of Family in John Green’s Young Adult Fiction Masterarbeit Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts Masterstudium Anglistik und Amerikanistik Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt Fakultät für Kulturwissenschaften Begutachter: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jörg Helbig M.A. Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik August/2015 Eidesstattliche Erklärung Ich versichere an Eides statt, dass ich - die eingereichte wissenschaftliche Arbeit selbstständig verfasst und andere als die angegebenen Hilfsmittel nicht benutzt habe, - die während des Arbeitsvorganges von dritter Seite erfahrene Unterstützung, ein- schließlich signifikanter Betreuungshinweise, vollständig offengelegt habe, - die Inhalte, die ich aus Werken Dritter oder eigenen Werken wortwörtlich oder sinn- gemäß übernommen habe, in geeigneter Form gekennzeichnet und den Ursprung der Information durch möglichst exakte Quellenangaben (z.B. in Fußnoten) ersichtlich gemacht habe, - die Arbeit bisher weder im Inland noch im Ausland einer Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt habe und - zur Plagiatskontrolle eine digitale Version der Arbeit eingereicht habe, die mit der gedruckten Version übereinstimmt. Ich bin mir bewusst, dass eine tatsachenwidrige Erklärung rechtliche Folgen haben wird. Klagenfurt, 26. August 2015 (Unterschrift) (Ort, Datum) ii To my grandfather (January 1927 - December 2008) iii Acknowledgements At this point I want to thank my family, especially my mom and grandma, for their support and guidance I would not want to miss in my life. Thank you for always believing in me. I also want to express my gratitude to each and every one who inspired, motivated, and supported me. iv Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 1 2. Young Adult Literature ………………………………………………………... 4 2.1. History of Young Adult Fiction …………………………………………... 5 2.2. Young Adult Fiction Today ………………………………………………. 7 2.3. Characteristics and Importance of Young Adult Fiction …………………. 9 2.4. Family Life in Young Adult Fiction ………………………………...…….. 12 3. Looking for Alaska ……………………………………………………………... 15 3.1. Family Structure ………………………………………………………...…. 15 3.2. Family Life ………………………………………………………………… 17 3.3. Influence on the Protagonist ………………………………………………. 20 3.4. Structure of the Protagonist’s Social Environment ………………………... 23 3.5. Importance of Friends ……………………………………………………... 24 3.6. The Roles of Family and Friends in Comparison ……....………………….. 26 4. An Abundance of Katherines ……..…………………………………………….. 28 4.1. Family Structure ……………………………………………………………. 28 4.2. Family Life…………………………………………………………...……... 29 4.3. Influence on the Protagonist ……………………………………………….. 32 4.4. Structure of the Protagonist’s Social Environment ………………………… 34 4.5. Importance of Friends ……………………………………………………… 35 4.6. The Roles of Family and Friends in Comparison …………………………... 36 5. Paper Towns ………………………….…………………………………………. 39 5.1. Family Structure …………………………………………………………….. 39 5.2. Family Life ………………………………………………………………….. 40 5.3. Influence on the Protagonist ………………………………………………... 44 5.4. Structure of the Protagonist’s Social Environment …………………………. 46 5.5. Importance of Friends ………………………………………………………. 47 5.6. The Roles of Family and Friends in Comparison …………………………… 49 v 6. Will Grayson, Will Grayson ………..……………………………………………… 52 6.1. Family Structure ………………………………………….…………………… 53 6.2. Family Life ………………………………………………………….………… 54 6.3. Influence on the Protagonist ………………………………………….………. 55 6.4. Structure of the Protagonist’s Social Environment …………………………… 56 6.5. Importance of Friends ………………………………………………………… 58 6.6. The Roles of Family and Friends in Comparison ……………………...……… 59 7. The Fault in our Stars ………………………………………………….…...……… 63 7.1. Family Structure ……………………………………………………………….. 63 7.2. Family Life …………………………………………………………………….. 65 7.3. Influence on the Protagonist …………………………………………………… 67 7.4. Structure of the Protagonist’s Social Environment …………………………….. 70 7.5. Importance of Friends ………………………………………………………….. 72 7.6. The Roles of Family and Friends in Comparison …………………...…………. 73 8. Differences in the Novels ………………………………………………………....... 75 8.1. Family ………………………...………………………………………...……… 75 8.2. Friends ……………………………...………………………………………..… 79 9. Identity and Character Development …………………………………………….…. 83 9.1. Looking For Alaska ………………………………………………………...…... 83 9.2. An Abundance of Katherines ……………………………...……………...……. 85 9.3. Paper Towns …………………………………………………………………… 87 9.4. Will Grayson, Will Grayson ………….………………………………………… 88 9.5. The Fault in our Stars ………………………………….………………………. 89 10. John Green and Family ……………………………………………………...……… 90 11. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….. 93 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………… 95 vi “I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.” Emily Dickinson “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lightening of a fire.” W.B. Yeats vii 1. Introduction Family is an important aspect in Young Adult Fiction due to its impact on the young protagonists and their further developing processes during the stories. Although it is not always chosen as a major theme in his novels, U.S. American author John Green includes different approaches to his protagonists’ parents and relatives in all of his five novels. Due to the diversity of subjects and characters in his novels as well as his considerable popularity in the field of contemporary Young Adult Fiction this particular author is chosen as basis for this Master’s thesis. His significance in modern popular culture and youth culture is additionally verified by the movie adaption of two books (The Fault in our Stars, released 2014 and Paper Towns, released 2015). Further, his texts are exemplified to demonstrate currently prevailing narrating structures in terms of teenagers and their parents. Each of Green’s novels is analyzed according to the meaning of family. Therefore, Looking for Alaska (2005), An Abundance of Katherines (2006), Paper Towns (2008), and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (2010), The Fault in Our Stars (2012) serve as primary texts in this paper. The novels are discussed in this specific order due to their dates of publication. Aside from the described scenes of upbringing and their interaction during various life situations, the inclusion and its method of parents’ appearances in the stories play an essential role in the analysis. Hence, these factors build the main interest of the thesis. An additional subject of examination is the structure of the families’ portrayal in the chosen literature. Within the chapters discussing family structure, effect and depiction of various constellations of families with children and teenagers are examined. While the focus lies on the described families, their structures, and tools of influence, an additional part of the thesis is dedicated to the comparison between family and friends. In the course of this comparison the meaning and extent of the protagonists’ social environment is explored. 1 The purpose of this analysis is to detect the differences of families’ and friends’ impact on the main characters’ development. According to this, the role distribution of relatives and peer groups can be extracted and compared in their function and significance. While the first chapter of the thesis deals with the role of family in Young Adult Literature, its history and recent developments, as well as a particular approach to the characteristics of the genre, chapter three to seven examine the five primary texts by John Green. Each example is analyzed according to the subchapters ‘Family Structure’, ‘Family Life’, ‘Influence on the Protagonist’, ‘Structure of the Protagonist’s Social Environment’, ‘Importance of Friends’, and ‘The Roles of Family and Friends in Comparison’. The first subchapter describes the construction of the portrayed families including the number and constellation of members as well as relations between them. The depiction of the everyday life of the protagonists’ families is subject to ‘Family Life’. Aside from domestic life, the social environment at the characters’ homes is examined. The aspects discussed in the previous subchapters are set into relation with the adolescents in ‘Influence on the Protagonist’. Furthermore, the impact on the characters’ development and the storyline are shown. The following subchapter, ‘Structure of the Protagonist’s Social Environment’, examines the fictional figures surrounding the main characters. Hence, the focus on family life is eventually shifted to friends and acquaintances. These analyses are intensified with the fifth subchapter of each primary text chapter. The role of peer groups is thematized and examined according to its meaning in terms of the protagonists’ character developments and the often connected change of the storylines. The purpose of the last subchapter serves the comparison between family and friends in the novels, already suggesting which group of people impact the main characters the most. This order is chosen intentionally to emphasize the significance of the theme of family within the theses. Therefore, the chapter describing the fictional characters’ social environment is consciously placed between the description of family structures and friendships. 2 Similar to the subchapters restricted to the comparison between the two analyzed groups of characters, chapter 8 discusses the meaning of family and friends in the five novels and their importance within